The week waiting in Aswan for the ferry to leave was painless and we were in the zone for a little relaxation. Days were spent with a bit of wandering around the excellent Nubian Museum, relaxing on the rooftop, watching the stunning sunsets on the Nile at Sal-a-din, or nursing gin and tonics on the balcony of the Old Cataract
On Saturday night we sat on the roof top of the Keylany and popped a bottle of Aida, a final toast to Egypt. And then we got the call that the car ferry had not departed as scheduled. We had intended to make sure the car went ahead of us, knowing that Wadi Halfa is not the best of places for a protracted pause at the beginning of our journey. We downed the Aida nervously, but by the end of the bottle, a celebratory mood had taken over, and we banished our fears and enjoyed our last night in Aswan.
Assured that the car would leave on the Monday (and hey, why not, it was loaded the previous Monday and the barge looked full), we embarked on Sunday morning feeling hopeful that all would go smoothly. Watching the ferry being loaded was amusing; while there were scales weighing items as people entered the port, it was really a case of anything- that you can carry or push- goes. Three or four full size fridges- why not? A couple of hundred boxes of glassware- bring it on! As a result the whole boat, and all the deck space, was a minefield of boxes and bundles within hours.
The ferry trip itself was fine. We didn’t manage to score a cabin, but a small tip meant that we were able to climb to the front of the steering cabin where we could spend the journey in relative peace and we were able to spread out. Once the sun sets and the stars start peppering the sky, travel by boat is quite lovely. While dozing the next morning, we luckily lifted a sleeping eyelid in time to see Abu Simbel on the banks of the lake as we slid past.
We hit the port at Wadi Halfa on Monday, around mid-day, and the fun began in earnest. Firstly, before you disembark, you have to complete paperwork which enables you to ‘move freely around the country’ and your passport is stamped telling you to ‘register with the police within 3 days’. Then, you jostle with the fridges, dangled on ropes to be unloaded, avoid being bludgeoned by one, and negotiate your way off. Managing this, you then squeeze onto a small bus to take you to immigration. Here you undergo a cursory bag check (love how many white goods people had squeezed in their luggage- ceiling fan anyone?), and pile into a beat up Landrover (mind the fridges) for the couple of kilometers into town.
We are staying at the Cangun hotel- and it looks to be the nicest hotel in town- but that is a truly, truly, truly relative description. Activities are few- but we did kill a few hours at the police station ‘registering’, which involved forking out 430 Sudanese dollars and going from small office to small office obtaining stamps, signatures and having our names written down in very small writing in very large ledgers.
As write this, it is Friday afternoon, and we are on the 5th day of waiting for the car and ourselves to be reunited. There seems to be no explanation for why it has taken so long to arrive. I am happy to report that the car is at the port as of yesterday evening (we were imagining it may have sunk, or not even left Aswan, so phew, relief), but unable to be unloaded due to something to do with the level of the barge and the lake and the fact that nothing is likely to happen at all on a Friday in Ramadan. I am not good at waiting, as James can attest. And to be honest, this really is not the place you would choose to spend 5 days. However, in an effort to put things into perspective, I have tried to capture some of the more entertaining aspects of 5 days in Wadi Halfa in a ‘top 5’ style list.
So hopefully we will be off tomorrow, otherwise another rambling post may follow sooner rather than later.
A special shout out to Jodiecmills who furnished me with a Kindle after my pre-departure Kindle disaster- I really would not have survived without it in the past 2 week- Thanks Jodes! xx
On Saturday night we sat on the roof top of the Keylany and popped a bottle of Aida, a final toast to Egypt. And then we got the call that the car ferry had not departed as scheduled. We had intended to make sure the car went ahead of us, knowing that Wadi Halfa is not the best of places for a protracted pause at the beginning of our journey. We downed the Aida nervously, but by the end of the bottle, a celebratory mood had taken over, and we banished our fears and enjoyed our last night in Aswan.
Assured that the car would leave on the Monday (and hey, why not, it was loaded the previous Monday and the barge looked full), we embarked on Sunday morning feeling hopeful that all would go smoothly. Watching the ferry being loaded was amusing; while there were scales weighing items as people entered the port, it was really a case of anything- that you can carry or push- goes. Three or four full size fridges- why not? A couple of hundred boxes of glassware- bring it on! As a result the whole boat, and all the deck space, was a minefield of boxes and bundles within hours.
The ferry trip itself was fine. We didn’t manage to score a cabin, but a small tip meant that we were able to climb to the front of the steering cabin where we could spend the journey in relative peace and we were able to spread out. Once the sun sets and the stars start peppering the sky, travel by boat is quite lovely. While dozing the next morning, we luckily lifted a sleeping eyelid in time to see Abu Simbel on the banks of the lake as we slid past.
We hit the port at Wadi Halfa on Monday, around mid-day, and the fun began in earnest. Firstly, before you disembark, you have to complete paperwork which enables you to ‘move freely around the country’ and your passport is stamped telling you to ‘register with the police within 3 days’. Then, you jostle with the fridges, dangled on ropes to be unloaded, avoid being bludgeoned by one, and negotiate your way off. Managing this, you then squeeze onto a small bus to take you to immigration. Here you undergo a cursory bag check (love how many white goods people had squeezed in their luggage- ceiling fan anyone?), and pile into a beat up Landrover (mind the fridges) for the couple of kilometers into town.
We are staying at the Cangun hotel- and it looks to be the nicest hotel in town- but that is a truly, truly, truly relative description. Activities are few- but we did kill a few hours at the police station ‘registering’, which involved forking out 430 Sudanese dollars and going from small office to small office obtaining stamps, signatures and having our names written down in very small writing in very large ledgers.
As write this, it is Friday afternoon, and we are on the 5th day of waiting for the car and ourselves to be reunited. There seems to be no explanation for why it has taken so long to arrive. I am happy to report that the car is at the port as of yesterday evening (we were imagining it may have sunk, or not even left Aswan, so phew, relief), but unable to be unloaded due to something to do with the level of the barge and the lake and the fact that nothing is likely to happen at all on a Friday in Ramadan. I am not good at waiting, as James can attest. And to be honest, this really is not the place you would choose to spend 5 days. However, in an effort to put things into perspective, I have tried to capture some of the more entertaining aspects of 5 days in Wadi Halfa in a ‘top 5’ style list.
- Meeting mad travelers- got to love crazy Swedish folk with hare-brained ideas like cycling across the Sudan in the height of summer and their concerns about being eaten by Nile crocodiles. Also, a massive respect to solo female travelers- rockstars.
- Cafes on the street after sunset that consist of rows of chairs filled with men watching tiny TVs playing WWF wrestling or “Battle Star Galactica” with Arabic subtitles.
- Cups of tea and shisha at said café in the cool of the evening (nothing open at all in the daylight hours) with a remarkably buzzing atmosphere.
- Rotisserie chicken- yum yum.
- Tuk tuks which have been personalized- nothing says ‘get in and let me take you to your destination’ like a feather duster on the back and a shisha pipe stuck on the front.
So hopefully we will be off tomorrow, otherwise another rambling post may follow sooner rather than later.
A special shout out to Jodiecmills who furnished me with a Kindle after my pre-departure Kindle disaster- I really would not have survived without it in the past 2 week- Thanks Jodes! xx
No comments:
Post a Comment