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!