Sudan to Egypt 22 Confusion

 They kept asking if my visa from last time was my new one, no matter how many times I told them I needed to buy one. In the end, they stamped me in, and as they didn’t have any stickers, added a note to the stamp in Arabic that said to issue me the sticker and take payment in Cairo. 

Ruth had an e-visa, and we were pretty sure this must have been the first time anyone had come through this particularly checkpoint with one from the amount of confusion that that caused them. But, stamps obtained, we could finally head out into Aswan.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 2 And wait And wait

 No chance, of course. We went to the counter and were told to take a seat and wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually, the colonel from the boat turned up with the passports – for all that he’d said it’d be quicker, we could definitely have been done and out of there by the time he arrived. Still, though, once he did arrive he ordered the guys working there to process ours first, with all of the confusion that that involved.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 20 Secondary Check

 Eventually, though, we docked. We waited for the rush to pass, then made our way off the boat into the dock. We joined the massive queue heading for the security check, only to be pulled aside by one of the soldiers and escorted to the front again. 

There was a secondary check after the scanners where they were interested in any medication that people were bringing in to the country, and then we were done. Just need to quickly pick up the passport and we’d be on our way.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 19 Arriving in Aswan

 Once we arrived in Aswan on the ferry from Sudan to Egypt– much to the delight of some – we, unfortunately, weren’t quite done yet. We ended up stopping just outside the harbour for about an hour, at which point I was getting equally impatient to actually get off the boat.

It was apparently something to do with security that had delayed us. During this time an Egyptian immigration officer had also collected our passports, saying that he would take them to the office as soon as docked for processing, which would save us time once we’d disembarked and made our way through the various checks to that same office.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 18 Sunrise over Lake Nasser

 I watched sunrise the next morning from the comfort – or warmth, at least – of my cocoon. We had more snacks for breakfast and then found that there were hot drinks available. So the next couple of hours were split between me hiding in my sleeping bag for warmth, and drinking many cups of tea. Once the sun properly rose, though, it soon warmed up, and we passed the rest of the voyage enjoying th- “Are we there yet?”- enjoying the vi- “I want to get off this boat already” – enjoying the views, damnit.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 17 Abu Simbel

 A few hours in, we passed Abu Simbel on the shore. We’d been waiting to pass this – or rather, I had been, with instructions to wake Ruth up as we got near – so once we’d seen it, I figured it was as good a time as any to get some rest. 

I was definitely glad to have my sleeping bag with me, it got very chilly on that deck overnight. It was never going to be the most comfortable night with two of us trying to curl up on opposite ends of the bench without kicking each other in the shins. But I managed to get more sleep than I expected to on this ferry from Sudan to Egypt. So, y’know, an hour or two.

(to be continued)

Sudan to Egypt 16 Uneventful

 The journey itself was pretty uneventful. The sun set as we departed, so we didn’t have views for very long that evening. We decided not to redeem our free meal voucher, instead just snacking on a few things we’d picked up in Wadi Halfa for dinner instead. I spent a lot of time lying around on the wooden bench – or rather, the cover for the lifejacket box that we were using as a bench – alternating between reading and watching the stars.

(to be continued)