The Egypt Index

[Ruulio]

According to this blog (in German) they where the first tourist to cross over the new road.
The article says there has been an open ceremony and many tv stations were reporting. they had to give interviews to sudanes tv and made photos with officials. the blog does not say what they paid.
the story says the just drived to abu simbel and gave it a try, the customs have been made in a newly opened custum building on the other side of the nile.
i try to contact the company that organized this overland trip. As I know their customers all paid USD 30'000 for a 100 day trip so they might have used some of that money for "bakshis".
Here is the blog in german:

20 Minuten - Der Tag der Entscheidung - Reisen

Ill keep you updated if there are any news

[Kissnofrog]

I just met a Russian couple with a car. They are about to take the road in the next few days. As long as you have a local person with you it seems to be possible. But is is not going to be any quicker. They are waiting here for days just like me to get the permit to travel. It will just be more comfortable than the ferry.

[TwoTwins2Capetown]

We've got an answer from a local fixer in Aswan. For two bikes and two persons we'll have to pay USD$500 including the customs etc. And for the fixer USD $150.
Although it is a lot of money (it's gonna cost us USD $270 more then the ferry)
If we take the road we can go whenever we want to. Taking the ferry, and the barge, can leave us longer in Aswan and Wadi Halfa and will cost us also some money. I think the difference will be about USD $150. Now we have to decide if paying USD $150 is worth it to avoid the hassle with the somewhat unreliable ferry and barge....

[omar mansour]

so far nothing solid about the road crossing
i heard some Sudanese cars like 3 had problems to cross and they had to go by ferry ?? didnt know why !!!!
im trying to sort my time and other things to go and give it a try to use the road and then will make full report with all info needed ,
in my opinion the ferry wont be a bad way to go between the 2 countries
if you have no problem with time
also the advantage of the opening road that i think the ferry wont be that crowded and
you may try to have your motorbike in the ferry itself instate of the sh--- barge
cheers

[Kissnofrog]

HI
I will be going on the road tomorrow morning.
I'm with my motorbike here. The Bike was shipped on the barge a few days ago. then I met a russian couple who are here by car and have arranged to take the road. I'll drive with them now.
As a tourist you need to have a local guide with you. you are not allowed to go alone. Due to this there is currently no way for cyclists. With a car you can hire a guide to join you.

Regards,
David

[grantelse]

OK, I just came from Wadi Halfa up to Aswan (bike yet to make the same voyage on the slower barge). The new road is still basically only available to locals but Kamal is able to assemble groups of overlanders in Aswan and then get permission to drive down the road instead of taking the ferry as long as Kamal goes along for the ride... As I understand it, this is only an option for motos if there is more than one (ie three cars and one moto is NOT acceptable!, but one car and two motos is acceptable)... Its still not cheap but that's whats happening at the moment. There is no option to drive the road from the South to the North that I am aware of at present.

Oh, and the ferry was certainly uncomfortable but hardly a "living hell"... Its a rough 24hours but manageable

cheers

Grant

[Chris Scott]

Great to have all these updates. So it seems after all that, for the moment at least for overlanders nothing has really changed cost wise, time wise or hassle wise. Though I suppose there at least is an alternative to the old ferry/barge system.

Ch

[grantelse]

My bike arrived on the barge today in Aswan so hopefully Im outa here tomorrow... But an update on the new road stuff before I go.

1) Kamal informs me that he is the only fixer who is allowed to run these groups along the road at present.
2) He also says he can run groups in both directions (people heading North need to contact Mazar in Sudan to arrange this.
3) He says using the road is about half the price of using the barge... Car by barge costs about 3000Epounds but car by road costs about 1700Epounds... Likewise bike by barge costs about 800Epound but by road is about 500Epound (Note you would need to add ferry ticket costs as well of about 400Epound per person)
4) He says he can do road runs 2-3 times a week no problem... arrive Aswan one day, do paperwork next day, drive road from 3am next day.

That's all I got... It feels a bit like this post is "advertising" but its got new info in it so Im posting anyway.
good luck to everyone.

cheers

Grant

[TwoTwins2Capetown]

That is good news.
Does anyone have the contact details of Kamal? Maybe an e-mail adress?

[grantelse]

The info is already in other locations but Ill repost it here too:
Fixer for Aswan side is Kamal :
kamalaswanegy@yahoo.com ph 002 (0) 1005322669

Fixer for Wadi Halfa side is Mazar :
mazarhalfa@gmail.com ph 00249 (0) 12238740

Fixer in Khartoum is Midhat:
midhat@tour-sudan.com ph 00249 (0) 912253484
...midhat is really usefull for example for getting a carne in Sudan that is valid for Egypt... its way cheaper there than anywhere else!

All these guys are great... reliable, reasonably priced, good communicators, very friendly and extremely well-connected.

cheers Grant

[lindikhaya]

Just to confirm what Gaby said, we're with Kamal now, did paper work this mornin and leaving Thursday at 3am, for E£1800 in total. Will let you know how it all goes, but looking forward to reaching wadi halfa in a day! Inshallah!

[lindikhaya]

More detail on the road:

The actual ROAD to Wadi Halfa is still not for public use, there was a long line of trucks waiting at the turn off when we went past. Kamal says they got an authorisation from Cairo to use the roa, which he says is possible but doesn't know how.

The ferry from Aswan is now totally avoidable/not in use. Instead you leave Aswan at 3am with Kamal and take the new road to Abu Simbel and hope the police don't ask to escort you as this can make you run late. You sadly don't follow the road sign to wadi halfa but go on to Abu Simbel where you take the ferry with your vehicle for an hour and a half.



You now get dropped off around 40km from the new land port, where you'll spend most of the day with Kamal teaching Egyptian customs officers how to fill in the forms (suprise E£80 fee for photocopies). You then get waved through to no man'a land where you hope Mazar will make them open the gate into the Sudanese half of the port. Here more checks and stamps an if you're lucky enough to get your police check done right there and then, youre good to go!

[schenkel]

An article about the crossing in local Sudanese papers (right click and select translate to English)

http://www.alrakoba.net/news-action-show-id-164458.htm

[Thimba]

Hi all,

This couple from the UK travelled the road just a couple of days ago:

LindiKhaya - Africa | "Take care of your home" – Our drive down Africa

Cheers from Jungle Junction, Nairobi,

Gee

[Chris Scott]

I see that a VW 4x4 on record-breaking run from North Cape to Cape Town used the 'ferry free' west side road last week.

Map | Touareg Cape-to-cape (They crashed out in Tanzania on the weekend)

All a good precedent for that becoming the normal way one day in the future.

Ch