The Egypt Index

[uk_vette]

But it's still not the eagerly awaited road that does away with the water crossing though is it?

One still needs to get the vehicle onto a barge, boat or some thing.

vette

[Richard Washington]

Welcome to the Sahara forum Presto and thanks for the posting on the Egypt crossing. You must have a wealth of background info by now on this part of North Africa. It would be great to hear some of the details in due course.

[mandisha]

Just came back from the Qustul border crossing where i helped out turbo with his mission.

The crossing was opened on an exceptional and very costly basis, the structures for the officials are all still under construction. Officials say that the first opening stage will begin mid march and the final opening will be somewhere mid this year.
Well it is getting close but there will be definitely delays in these dates...

For bigger groups i think this crossing can be an option while for individuals i think it is better to wait for the official opening.

mandisha

[achim-in-jordan]

Hi Vette,

It seems there is a slight misunderstanding: If and when the road opens it will avoid loading the cars on a barge and ship it, together with general cargo, all the way from Aswan to Wadi Halfa.

Instead, overlanders will drive to Abu Simbel and take an ordinary ro/ro ferry from the Western side of Lake Nasser to the Eastern side at Qustul. Instead of the haggling in Aswan and Wadi Halfa and the uncertainty of ferry departures, there will be a quite normal border crossing (though I am sure the Egyptians will know how to make it a bureaucratic nightmare again). In any case, instead of the four to five day tidious process it is today in order to cross from Egypt to Sudan or vice versa, it will then be a one to two day crossing of borders.

Greetings
Achim

[Chris Scott]

When this news came out I think what many of us were expecting was an all-overland drive down the east side of the Lake - ditching the boating element. Even though Google shows a road reaching down from Aswan to some 100km north of Qustul (and maybe further) it's clear that is not going to happen, perhaps because most roads existed and it was a short run to seal Qustul to the Sudanese border.
So let's hope it's a simple, regular and reliable RoRo ferry service from Abu Simbel to Qustul. Is there such a ferry down there already?

Ch

[mandisha]

Hi Chris,

yes such ferries exist and operate many times a day. There are two army ferries and one from another government agency who operate on this route. The army ferries operate on demand while the other one has a kind of a schedule. It takes about 1hr 20min to cross the lake, and then 44 km to the border crossing.

The only problem now is that the border crossing is not finished and manned with the necessary officials.
Once completed it will be definitely a much faster and reliable option then the aswan - wadi halfa ferry.

mandisha

[uk_vette]

It looks like some guys in the north built the connecting road on the east of the lake.
While in the south they built the road on the west of the lake.
Typical I suppose for Africa.

vette.

[omar mansour]

Originally Posted by presto

I thought that you guys may be interested in this morning's events (7 Feb) in what may be the first official crossing using the Qustul/Eshket route as part of the Africa Record Run attempt, a project that I have some involvement with.

The event website is Africa Record Run

A few hours ago, Philip Young and Paul Brace crossed from Qustul to Abu Simbel, having driven up the new road from Wadi Halfa via Eshket to Qustul.

Quoting from the latest blog on the website:

For the last nine months our Egyptian ‘fixer’, Mahmoud ‘Turbo’ Ezzeldin, and his Sudanese counterpart, Midhat Mahir, have been working with the cooperation of many government officials and with the assistance of letters from Lord David Steel, president of the Endurance Rally Association to make this border crossing possible. It is hoped that the route we have used today will be ready for a public opening as the regular crossing route between Sudan and Egypt in a few months’ time.

Philip, Mahmoud 'Turbo' and Midhat are all HUBB members.

If you click on the map page on the website , you can see the approx route they took from Wadi Halfa to Qustul and the route of the barge across Lake Nasser. The tracker only updates every 15 mins so the route is only approx.

NB This was a specially arranged army barge by Turbo and not the more regular barges that will come into operation in due course.

Anyway just thought it may be of interest.....

Thanks
Anthony Preston

hi
well on my way to Sudan (had to take the damn ferry again and again pfffff ) i met on over land truck was drivin by a lady called Susannah ,she managed to use the same road ,and that was on early November
she pad 3000 $ for the truck and 16 person ,so if it was divided by the amount of people its not expensive ,at all ,
and yes she managed to cross officially
cheers and travel safe all

[achim-in-jordan]

Hi Chris,

Yes, Mandisha is right, the ferries do exist and actually look quite nice (see attached picture in post #73 above)!

Greetings
Achim

[McCrankpin]

Originally Posted by mandisha

Once completed it will be definitely a much faster and reliable option then the aswan - wadi halfa ferry.

mandisha

But will it be as 'adventurous'? Or as interesting?

And provide 24 hours of time and opportunity to mix with Sudanese travellers and see what they're carrying with them? Hear where they're going and why?

It seems a funny sort of thread this - not quite fitting in with 'unlimited horizons' if you see what I mean. Shortening the horizon even.
But it's certainly an entertaining thread, and the new road should be a great benefit to the two countries and everyone who travels between them.
I hope the colourful customs man at the Aswan port (who gets written about on HU now and again), and everyone else, can continue making their livelihoods.

For me, I'll be eternally grateful to have done the ferry crossing.

As is often said about many places across the world, "Hurry up and visit before it all changes!"

[McCrankpin]

Originally Posted by uk_vette

It looks like some guys in the north built the connecting road on the east of the lake.
While in the south they built the road on the west of the lake.
Typical I suppose for Africa.

vette.

And not only in Africa.
Years ago there were a series of lunchtime lectures on the construction of the Channel Tunnel at the IEE in London.

One lecture was very entertaining, about all (or maybe just some) of the clangers that were dropped.
For instance, in the service tunnel, hanging from the centre of the roof, was a huge air duct.
On either side were electrical ducts, HV on one side and LV on the other.

Because of an error in the plans between English-language and French-language versions, the English started out fitting HV to the east of the air duct and LV to the west. Meanwhile, the French were fitting HV to the west and......
Oh, how the audience laughed!!

Seems it was fixed OK.

There were other clangers just as funny.

[achim-in-jordan]

Hi McCrankpin,

I think you are perfectly right: It is one of the "must-adventures" left on the Eastern route through Africa! I am glad I took the ferry last autumn.

Nevertheless, it could well be that there are other considerations: I was coming from Jordan and had to go back there, having only a limited amount of time for my trip. I was already preparing to go back up North from Khartoum when I finally got my Saudi transit visa and was able to take an alternative route back.

So, while it was great having done this adventure, I would not have been too keen to do it again just a few weeks later. And I could have used the precious time I had much better for new things along the way rather than spending another four days or so in Wadi Halfa and on the ferry. Just one example why people might opt for the land route. I am sure that Omar Mansour can name a few others ... Probably it would be great if there was a choice for us travellers.

For the locals, it is evident that it is much, much better and easier for cross-border commerce across to keep the goods on the trucks. Yes, there will be people who will loose their jobs. But I am sure that there will be hundreds of new jobs along the way. Trade would certainly increase and pit stops along the way would give people certainly more jobs than the few handlers in the ports.

So, even with some melancholy considered, don't worry about unlimited horizons!

Greetings,
Achim

[Endurorally]

Originally Posted by Chris Scott

When this news came out I think what many of us were expecting was an all-overland drive down the east side of the Lake - ditching the boating element. Even though Google shows a road reaching down from Aswan to some 100km north of Qustul (and maybe further) it's clear that is not going to happen, perhaps because most roads existed and it was a short run to seal Qustul to the Sudanese border.
So let's hope it's a simple, regular and reliable RoRo ferry service from Abu Simbel to Qustul. Is there such a ferry down there already?

Ch

It was just getting light as we drove onto the barge and it took two hours to reach Abu Simbel, the barge seemed fairly new and we took advantage of a chance for a hot shower in the toilet-block on board. We were the only car on board but during the crossing passed a barge coming the other way towards Sudan that was well loaded. On the drive up the new road we passed building materials stacked up - lots of bricks, blocks, bags of cement, for the building of passport control offices/customs, it appeared in the dark that they are some way off completing the infrastructure. Formalities were slickly organised by both sides - no complaints or moans. It's vital, as ever, to have a chassis plate that can be rubbed with tracing paper - officials can not (will not) write down Roman numerals, it has to be done brass-rubbing style, and raised letters helps. If its not easy to find, make your own - it saves a lot of hassle.

www.africarrecordrun.com

[Chris Scott]

Is there an actual sealed road from Wadi Halfa the ~30km to the Egyptian border. Or just a track?

Ch

[Atlas]

Hi Omar Mansour, I am going to be travelling south from Norway to South Africa in August.I am wanting to avoid the ferry into Port said from Turkey. I have found a ferry to Israel . Do you know if it is OK to travel overland from Israel to Egypt ?I will be in a vehicle.