19. Luxor and Aswan

After a long train ride I finally arrive in Luxor and make my way down to the hostel where Kosta is waiting. As Kosta has been in this town before he knows what is worth a visit. So escorted by my personal guide, I visit Luxor and the monuments around.

From here on we move further to Aswan.The road from Luxor to Aswan is to say a bit of a speed breaker. We have not counted but if we say that we have had a 100 speed humps along the way, we are definitely not exaggerating! Incredible! There is apparently another (faster) road but we must have missed that turn! LOL

How to avoid Egyptians talking to you

Aswan is I should say ‘would’ have been our last destination in Egypt. From here on we will put The Cruiser on a barge and take a ferry to Sudan. A ferry indeed as the road between Egypt and Sudan is still not open. Oh yes, there is a road going all the way down, no we can not enter Sudan that way. A totally ridiculous situation and more so, a very expensive border crossing. When we arrive on Tuesday in Aswan we immediately apply for a Sudanese visa and make our way to the reservation office for the ferry. The barge and ferry leave every Monday and it is advisable to make a reservation a couple of days in advance. Little bit of annoying news: we can’t book space for the car, as the barge is probably full. We have to come back on Saturday and see if there is a possibility to put the car on. 4 days later the verdict comes in: no space for the car, we will have to go on the next one… yes, not the ferry that leaves this Monday but the one that goes next Monday!

Relaxing on a felucca in Aswan

Now, we have already spend some time in Aswan and to be honest it is not the most thrilling town. We have already been here 5 days and we have more to go before ‘leaving Monday’ appears on the calendar. So, we decide to drive to the temple of Abu Simbel, about 280 kilometres further south (and about 50 km from Sudan – not so funny). We make our way down to Abu Simbel with the Dutch family Kamp. The five of them are traveling through Africa for a year. We decide not to leave with the (compulsory?) convoy nor do we get the travel permit that you should have. We heard you can go on your own and save the money for the permit as they don’t check it. So off we go!

Almost in Wadi Halfa, Sudan…. almost

Along the way we are only checked twice and not asked for the permit. When we arrive at the parking lot of the temple we are asked to sign a paper saying ‘that we will be going back to Aswan without police escort and that we will drive 80 km an hour’. Why we had to sign this ridiculous paper, we don’t know but as we see no problem with that, we just do. We sleep on the parking lot, ready to rise and shine at 5.15 am to enter the complex at 5.30, see the sunrise and enjoy the temple before hundreds of people arrive.

The temple of Abu Simbel, carved out of a mountain was relocated in the 1960s to the position where it is now after the waters of Lake Nasser started rising. Almost unbelievable, especially when you are standing in front of this huge monument. Four colossal statues guard the entrance, each of them more than 20 metres tall. Incredible how they managed to cut the monument and put it back together as if they were playing with gigantic Lego!

At around 7.30 the troops arrive: the convoy from Aswan has reach Abu Simbel. Loads of tourist are dropped for a couple of hours to enjoy the monument and then return to Aswan. So this is the daily routine on the parking lot: getting full between 7.30 and 8.00 am, becoming empty again around 10. We return to Aswan on our own. Just as we are almost in the city centre of Aswan again we are stopped and asked for the permit at a check-up. As they only speak Arabic we just smile, nod and put our thumbs up as if to say ‘yes, yes’ and carry on. : )

Parking lot at 9 am

Now all we have to do is wait, wait and wait for a ferry….

18. Scams, scams, scams

As we arrive in Suez I am ready to jump on a bus to Cairo. I will be on my way to see the pyramids and the Egyptian museum. Kosta has already seen them and will drive down to Luxor, where I will join him.

First I need to get on a bus. A guy tells me it is 50 EP. Now, I might not known the bus prices but I’m not stupid. No way a two hour bus ride is 50. Helped by a guy from the gas station who stops a bus for me I hop on and end up paying less than a third of the price. When we arrive two hours later I can’t imagine having travelled the world by public transport. My goodness, the lack of space on a bus! I had already forgotten about those trips where I felt cramped, where I could smell the toilets on the bus and where I was more than happy to get of the bus!

Before heading towards the hostel I make my way down to the train station. I want to buy the ticket to Luxor as soon a possible as they advice to book the train a day in advance. And as traffic is crazy in Egypt, I prefer to go on a way of transportation that can hold its course. LOL While I’m walking to the ticket booth, an officer of transport police asks me where I go. “To platform 11 to get my ticket to Luxor.” He walks along with me, asking me all kind of questions I don’t understand or pretend not to understand (you know, like if I travel alone, where my husband is,…). Anyway, as I get at the ticket booth they tell me the train is sold out. “Ok”, I say, I will take the bus”. As there is an alternative I feel no need to stand there and loose time… time the guy behind the counter and the officer probably wanted to ‘help me’ to get on that train. As I learned at the hostel, this was part of their scam: the guy at the counter tells you that there are no seats left. The officer will then try to talk to him so he searches a bit further. And bingo, look at that, there is still a seat left! Then you thank the officer with a bit of baksheesh (tip)… But as I like to get a move on, I did not give them the time to continue their scam. I just turned around and left, thanking the officer for his help (how ironic). The guys at the hostel got me a ticket. Of course I paid for that service but at least I made that choice myself. : )

Next day I am off to go and see the pyramids, the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World. I take a local bus to get there. You will not be surprised if I tell you that someone just jumped on the bus to tell me that the area at the pyramids is very big and if I want a camel… Half an hour later I see them from a distance, emerging between the houses of the suburbs of Giza. You might think the pyramids are located somewhere far in the desert, but oh no, this World Wonder is part of the view of many apartments and houses of Egyptians.

After having passed the ticket control an Egyptian asks to see my ticket. He says he works for the government and that he is there to help me not to get harassed by the many men with camels/horses/postcards or whatever they offer. Now, I admit, I have trust issues. If someone tries to help me, I ask myself why. If someone offers me something, I think to myself “where is the catch?”. I am a great believer of hidden agendas. Nothing comes for free, especially when you travel. So, this is how it goes: he takes my ticket, I ask for it back. He says his colleague will walk with me and gives him my ticket. I take it back from that guy (he holds it firmly but this is MY ticket and I will hold on to it, ‘free’ guide or not - I'm guessing holding on to your ticket is a way for touts to make you follow them). So I tell him '”Fine, if you want to walk next to me you just do that”. By then I am already annoyed and when I start to be in a bad mood, I admit I am not the friendliest of travellers anymore. So he walks with me and begins telling me about the pyramids. I interrupt him. “Listen, if you want to walk with me, fine, but don’t speak to me. I want to enjoy this in silence.” Of course he does not shut up. I tell him I will walk on my own, it is not like I am not allowed to walk alone. Again I admit, this was not in the friendliest of tones but trust me, these hawks only understand that way of talking. He leaves but quickly adds that if I want to go on a camel I blablabla… I am already not listening anymore LOL. This is how they try to get you in a camel or for sure ask you baksheesh after giving you info on the pyramids. Never trust Egyptians who deal with tourists... without LOL. ;)

In all honesty, the pyramids are great and I think the sphinx is fantastic to see but it gets a bit annoying when you are asked about a hundred times if you want to sit on a camel, in a carriage or on a horse. If you want postcards, or maybe this or that ugly thing. When they ask you over and over again where you’re from, what your name is. I don’t mind when children ask my name, but I don’t really like it when a camel owner hears it and afterwards starts calling for me from 20 meters away. "Katriiiiiiiin, Katriiiiiiiiin". Nice one. LOL

Anyway, after having seen the museum in town as well, I am more than ready to leave this busy city and join Kosta and The Cruiser again.

17. A bit of diving, a bit of climbing

Dahab is the sort of typical tourist town that has everything on offer: from fake Crocs to Billabong swim shorts, from fresh fish to burgers and from resorts to cheap hostels. Kosta and I are staying in Seven Heaven, a hostel near the sea side (I can’t say beach side ‘cos there is not really a beach in Dahab, well I wouldn’t call it a beach) where we can park our car safely inside. The hostel has a gate they close while everyone takes their beauty sleep and a guard at night to keep an eye on all the diving equipment. We don’t have any prejudices, or maybe we do a little LOL, but now that we are in Egypt we might need to be a bit more careful with the car. And so, for the first time in two months we sleep in a room with a mattress that does not need to be pumped up at night. ;)

MacGyver busy again

Dahab is known for its superb diving and so Kosta and I are looking forward to doing three splashes under the sea. Our first dive is near the lighthouse. Plenty of fish to see there and even an octopus! I tell you people, that is one amazing animal! The way it moves is just to funky for words! Fascinating! The next day we are off for some more water fun: a dive at the canyon and one at the Blue Hole. Both dives go down to about 30 meters. And the lower you go, the more air you use. For some reason I have ended up using so much air on the first dive that I have to ‘buddy breathe’. For those not familiar with diving: I have to breathe via the extra ‘breathing tube’ of the dive master. Sharing a bit of air under water. So there I am, arm in arm with our Egyptian dive master. Never dived like that before but a first time for everything!

Our second dive of that day is my favourite. We enter the water and immediately we decent head straight down to 30 meters. Just love it! This time no need for any buddy breathing. We dive towards the Blue Hole which is about I don’t know how many meters deep, but trust me you don’t see the end of it!


After a couple of days we head off to the monastery of Saint Katherine and to Mount Sinai, the holy mountain where Moses was given the 10 commandments. For many tourists it is a must do and for some it is even a spiritual journey (or maybe just a break from lazy beach bumming), for me it is more a not so must do. Now why would I get up at 4 in the morning to hike on a mountain where loads of tourists have spend the night to watch the sunrise in the morning while I could be sleeping? You see my point?! Kosta however is in a more sporty mood and before the sun has given any sign of coming up, he is on his way to the top. I, obviously, turn around and sleep a couple of hours more in The Cruiser. And although for most people it is a two to three hours way up, Kosta arrives back down three hours later. Good thinking not to go along, I wouldn’t want to wait for him all the time. ;)

16. A long border crossing

After we left Wadi Rum, we arrive in Aqaba. There really is no need for us to stay here as we are on our way to Dahab to enjoy a couple of days at the seaside. Aqaba might have the same sea to be swimming and diving in, but Dahab in Egypt offers the same for a more budget friendly price. So we are off to Egypt. Kosta and I would have preferred to reach Egypt via Israel but seeing that this country is not so popular with its neighbours and beyond, we have to change our plans and turn to the way more expensive plan B: the midnight car ferry to Nuweiba in Egypt. The choice between a 250 euro three hours boat trip or the possibility of being refused entry to Sudan afterwards because of a former visit to Israel is a painful but obvious one. You can ask at the border of Israel that they don’t stamp your passport, but any person working at a Sudanese embassy will see the link between Israel and the entry stamp at the port of Taba in Egypt. The ferry that goes from Jordan to Taba is only for passengers so with The Cruiser we would not be able to explain how we entered Egypt without passing through Israel.

And so off we go to the port of Aqaba. At around 1 AM the boat starts to head toward Egypt. We sleep on deck, on our blanket and under the stars. Not so romantic as you are probably imagining it at the moment. Yes it is on a blanket and yes it is under the stars (we will ignore the light bulbs just over our heads) but it is also on the floor… and we are surrounded by another 100 people. LOL

Three hours later we arrive at the port of Nuweiba. One hour later we are still on the boat waiting for the tide to come in. Finally, after two hours (it is 6 am) we touch Egyptian ground with all four wheels. Time to get the visas and the papers for The Cruiser sorted out. The visas don’t take very long. We just have to wait for the bank to open and buy them there (a bit strange, I know). Then I make my way down to the official who has our passport and give him the visas. For those who will be doing that crossing one day: we had to hand over the passport on the ferry and collect it afterwards at this little office. A strange way to cross a border, but oh well, all sorted out. The car however, takes a bit longer.

Picture this: you arrive at the break of dawn at the port of a foreign country. Nothing is written in English. You know there is going to be a lot of paperwork for the car. You know you need to get Egyptian licence plates. You are tired, you feel dirty after way too many hours of travelling and not showering (well, Kosta smells bad, I obviously still smell of roses LOL). You want to get this over with. What do you do? You ask an officer for help, knowing that this help will probably not be for free. And good thing we did. The guy tells us everything we have to do, from where to get the visas to how to fill out the 25 papers (written only in Arabic) that are needed for the car. Thankfully our car is not searched like all the other cars ‘cos than we would have needed to take everything out of it. I guess it is because we are being ‘guided’ by that officer.

Finally, at 8 o’clock, 4 hours after the ferry hit the docks we are sorted out. And we don’t have the feeling of being ripped off. Friends of Kosta warned us to make sure we would not pay more than needed. Their advice: no receipt, no cash. They were even asked for money so the car would not be searched. Of course they did not pay and as the car was a mess (they were travelling with their two kids) the officials did not search the car anyway. LOL But none of that for us. The officer that helped us only asked if we have a knife. By that he means a Swiss army knife. “Yes, I can give you one when this is sorted out”, said my guy. ‘Cos yes we even have a couple of old ones with us, good for occasions like these. Obviously we don’t tell him that. When all the paperwork is done and the new licence plates are in our hand, Kosta gives him the knife. The officer is a bit disappointed as it is not a new one. But what did he expect? That we would give the one we use? No, we pretend to have no other one and off we go, off to Dahab for some diving!