Avoid Egypt going up - Saudi Arabia or shipping?
 

Hi guys

The situation in Egypt seems to go worse by the day, so we're not to keen on driving through. We would be there mid-August, but as we don't have the luxury of unlimited time for our journey, we need to plan ahead how to get to Europe.

We have read some older posts on going from Port Sudan (or rather Suakin) to Saudia Arabia and then to Jordan (ferry or drive from Saudi to Jordan). Any recent experiences with this route?

Alternatively, we could ship the car from Port Sudan/Djibouti in a container or Ro/Ro. Any (recent) experiences with this option?

Any guidance (or better solutions) is much appreciated!

Thanks!

I am in the same spot of borther. Heading south. In athens currently, wanted to take the roro from Turkey to Alex but dont know anymore. Please keep this post updated with any info.

Thanks
Riaan

we've checked this alterantive via SA 8 months ago, as we wanted to avoid Egypt anyhow...

Saudi Arabia doesn't allow women to drive vehicles, so we couldn't get in as Mirjam drives her own bike. As far as a know, it is possible to transit through... but where to go from SA?
Don't know if you can get straight into Israel in the NW, because from Israel you can take a Grimaldi-boat to Europe.

Visa
 

Hi

getting a Visa for SA is a tough also ....

mainly you get only a 3 day transit visa and they issue it only to residents ... new regulation for Dubai and UAE, probably the same in Sudan

couples have to be married ( travelling by car) and to prove it ...

So, if you got your paperwork done ...

take the ferry from Port Sudan to Jeddah, drive to Jordan (3days), get to Israel by landborder at Aqaba and take the ferry from Haifa to Turkey (Iskenderun) or RoRo to Greece (Athens)

Good Luck

TuA

Any info on the roro from Haifa to Athens? I cant seems to find it in the net...

Hi VanGS,

This is the website of "Rosenfeld Shipping" in Israel

A.Rosenfeld Shipping Ltd., Israel, Contact Information

If you are coming from Greece, this is the contact information of Salamis Shipping which runs the ferry:

Salamis Shipping Services in Greece
Head Office
GREECE - PIRAEUS
Salamis Shipping S.A.
5-7 Filellinon Str.
Piraeus 18536
email: info@salamis-hellas.gr
tel.: +30 2104529555
fax: +30 2104284975

Greetings,
Achim

Achim, You are the man!

Achim.I am travelling in a VW van and am considering taking the ferry from Iskenderun to Haifa towards end on August and the through Jordan to Aqaba and then a ferry to Egypt on my way home to Cape Town. I believe visas are not necessary for either countries for my passport.
I have read posts about having separate papers stamped in Israel etc.What are your views about this route iro of safety and the sudan question re Israel.
I am keen to see jordan and avoid Port Said !
Thanks

Hi Atlas,

I know people who have even managed to cross from Israel directly into Egypt at Taba and then changed the passport and headed on to Wadi Halfa. Nobody seemed to really care there. But then there is the carnet de passage which will be stamped upon entering Egypt. So the detour through Jordan - which is a wonderful, safe and easy country to travel - is certainly worthwhile.

What you could do is have either the second passport stamped in Israel AND on entering Jordan or have the stamps on a separate paper (no guarantees that they actually do it even if you ask them to) both in Israel and entering Jordan and then have only the exit stamp of Jordan in the "Sudanese" passport.

Greetings,
Achim

Thanks Achim. That sounds great. Do you know of any ferry from Turkey to Israel ?

The problem is that even if you get Israeli Immigration to stamp a separate piece of paper (which you can't guarantee) Customs still record the import of your car in your passport .. . in Hebrew.

Customs is also "thorough" in terms of searching the car (every item in car removed and put through scanner, spare wheel removed, boxes unbolted etc). Total time to unpack, scan and repack for us approx 5 hours. Total time at border 8 hours. All very polite and pleasant. And although it was expensive Israel has some amazing things to see and some of the best free camping on our entire three year trip.

I did read the blog of some people who came through Israel and went onto Sudan recently (Family in Africa). I'm not even sure they knew it was a potential issue. I guess it just depends who checks your passport when you apply for your Sudan visa.

Hi Atlas,

As you already wrote in your other thread, Sisa has stopped its Israel line and so there is, unfortunately, no other connection to Israel by ship but the two Grimaldi services from Italy and Salamis Shipping from Greece.

Safe travels,
Achim

Now I am not recommending this, and you might get into trouble if you get caught (ok, I think I covered the disclaimer part :wink3:), but should you happen to cover anything in your passport by mistakenly sticking your Egyptian visa sticker right over it, it wouldn't show, would it? Of course I don't know anyone who managed to 'clean' his passport that way...

Further disclaimer - you can get visa stickers which you have to insert into the passport yourself at Egyptian airports, I don't know if the same works at land/sea entries.

Important info on Egypt - Turkey ferry!
 

Hey Guys!

We're now sitting in Port Said waiting for the ferry that should take us to Iskenderum. Unfortunately, we've just received an email from Sisa shipping telling us that because of the unrest in Egypt, the Ferry will be redirected to Duba in Saudi Arabia. They may or may not come back to Port Said one last time to pick up already booked customers.

They did not give us any dates, but I'll update as soon as I know more.

Espen & Malin
www.unurban.no

Idiots! I knew something was up when Ozlem never returned any of my mails. I was about to leave for Turkey(2000km trip) when I decided to take the ferry to Isreal...

I hope you guys come right. Otherwise you can leave for Haifa via Taba Border. I am supposed to dock on Thursday, you should get a lift back to Greece.

Here is the contact... Eleni- e.dimitriadou@salamis-hellas.gr

She is the lady that arranges the tickets in Athens. She hardly replies to email so I suggest a phone call. She speaks English.

If you hurry I am sure you can catch a ride on Thursday. I am meeting up with her on Monday for loading if you want me to ask her if there is space...

Salamis shipping costs
 

Hi Van GS,

Do you also know the Price for shipping the bike from Lavrio to Haifa?
Whats the Price for the cabin?

Thanks for your reply
Stefan

Price from Lavrio to Israel was 500 euro, cabin (if you can find one) 280euro...

I am in Luxor. Egypt is fine like I suspected. Slept at Camp Salam in Giza and Camp Rezeiky in Luxor. Taba was Bella Donna.

Enjoy!

Thanks for this helpful information.
We will follow you in december and we will also enjoy this trip ;-)

Best regards
Stefan

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Van, please let us know how you get on re getting into Sudan with Israeli stamps in passport / Carnet as we may need to follow your route in August / Sept.
Regards
Scott

Hi Scott will do!

Thnx all for sharing your experiences, we are planning to drive to Cape Town in October (from Holland)

A ferry from Turkey to Duba doesn't sound like a bad alternative? I 'd guess you can drive down to Jeddah and take the ferry to Port Sudan? Plus you dont have the Israel-Sudan hassle. Anyone experience on this route and more specifically on travelling through Saudi Arabia and the ferry Jeddah- Port Sudan?

I'm gonna contact SISA ...

Of course in this case we'd miss Egypt, but with all its tensions (and negative travel advice) this might not be a bad option after all...

Good luck , Van!

Hi Mousse,

This might be an option if you can convince the Saudi embassy in the Netherlands to issue a visa that is valid long enough (and if you are married and have the relevant papers should you happen to be a mixed couple). There is most certainly no way to get the visa on the road. The Saudi embassy in Amman, Jordan, did - at least in 2012 - not issue transit visas to continue to Sudan (all other destination countries were OK; this was even for residents).

Greetings,
Achim

Hi Van,

Keep us to date please about your trip about the visa and carnet to Soedan with israel. I will follow your website also!

We still would like to take the ferry from Iskenderum to Egypt. There is a company called Sisa shipping who stopped doing the ferry, but another company called unroro does still make the ferry twice a week. They mailed me directly a response on my questions. They do the ferry twice a week. It costs 350 +65 for the car. Then if you are multiple persons 150 per person. I don't know yet why. I'll figure that out.

Does anyone has experience with this company?

Hi Simon,

It seems that the 150 $ are for the flight with Air Cairo from Antakya (Hatay airport) to Alexandria. As I understand, only the cars will be allowed on board, but there are no cabins for passengers (with the exception of a few truck drivers).

Best wishes,
Achim

I heard the same. What are your experiences with RoRo? A number of companies across Europe have told me that no personal possessions can be shipped with the car - and I must admit I'm not keen on leaving my keys with someone when the vehicle is loaded with all of our gear.

I do not have any personal experience. It certainly depends on the shipping line. But then there is the port - Greek, Turkish, Egyptian ... By the way, the only time I lost something through theft while shipping my personal effects was in a German storage facility - so much for the cliche. I know this doesn't help much.

Greetings,
Achim

Ferry from Israel
 

I'm going to cross Africa from Cape next year, I have checked the Israel option as an alternative to Egypt.
The Rosenfeld's web page it's not impressive but their staff answers very promptly:

... Usually we have departures from Haifa to Cyprus and Greece every week on Thursdays

Price per person to Limasol Euro 250 including a cabin/meals and taxes (arrive Friday morning)

Price per person to Greece (Lavrio) Euro 300 including a cabin/meals and taxes arrive Sunday morning

Price for the motorbike to Cyprus 250 Euro not include port taxes at Limasol about Euro 100

Price for the motorbike to Greece Euro 400 including taxes at Greece

Not include for both cases port taxes at Israel about 300 shekel

For more information please contact me

regards


Alicia Rozner
A.Rosenfeld Shipping Ltd.
Reservations Dept.
T + 972 4 8613 671
F + 972 4 8537 002
alicia@rosenfeld.net

So Achim.. if I get you right - Saudi Arabia does provide transit visa but NOT if your next destination is Sudan specifically?

Now summing it up altogether - what is the best option down south if the Turkey-Egypt ferry does not sail?

Hi Mousse,

This was the situation in Amman / Jordan in October 2012. At that time, the Saudi embassy in the UAE was still issuing transit visas (also to the destination of Sudan) to non-residents which does not seem to be the case any longer.

In Khartoum, I was able to get a transit visa with the destination Jordan in December 2012. I do not have any idea why it only worked one way.

I am not sure whether there is any really good solution at this moment. The best option might be to go to the UAE via Iran, try the Saudi visa and if it does not work head to Salalah in Oman and ship in a MAERSK container to either Port Sudan or Mombasa (Djibouti is extremely expensive and time-consuming if it works at all while Dar es Salaam does not seem to be a good option at all).

Greetings,
Achim

Why does nobody think to take the ferry from RoRo from Turkey to Egypt?

we try ...
 

Hi

we are trying it this way ...:D

The best option might be to go to the UAE via Iran, try the Saudi visa and if it does not work head to Salalah in Oman and ship in a MAERSK container to either Port Sudan

Still waiting for a quote for a 20' container (5,70m length), our car is about 4,60m ...:clap:

TuA

hello simon
 

the title of the thread is about avoiding Egypt going north, i am interested and coming from the south

container
 

hello tom ,
is your trip going north or south and around what date

djibuti
 

dont go last time that place is like the muja hidin off the midel east ful whid fundmentalist cocos i whent to the etiopian embassy and beag them to leat mea back in to etiopia thank good the did just that

Going south

i may be a little out of date....but it used to be

if you were going south from eygpt to sudan...to get the sudan visa you had to prove how you enterd eygpt...eg...if you were stamped in TABA then for get it...you just came from Israel...NO ENTRY FOR YOU....your eygpt stamp has to be from entry from jorden or some other place

if you cross into israel and plan to cross to jorden ...your jorden stamp will say which crossing it was...eg NO ENTRY for sudan

i may be a bit less worryed then others...eygpt looks not so bad...compared to syrya or iraq...just avoid the capital and alex as much as poss

i just did a trans via the west coast to cape......if you think things are bad in eygpt...take a look at cong/drc/nigeria/guieney/mauritania......you may think eygpt is not so bad after all

I've heard it's possible to take the ferry from Aqaba (Jordan) to Taba (Egypt). Then you're stamped in from Jordan...

My boyfriend has a second passport so he can get this one stamped for the car (customs) and I can get the Israeli douane stamps on loose papers.
I guess it 'd gonna be alright in Sudan then..... ?c?

You're probably right about the West Coast, but the situation is deteriorating rapidly in Egypt (see today's news on BBC and Al Jazeera). Violence is currently widespread and it's very unlikely anyone will be going near Cairo to get Sudanese visas for a while. Unless you already have one, the chances of getting one in Egypt are currently very slim.

I'm not happy at all with all these developments in Egypt. For the first time we are thinking to change our travel route and go to port sudan or ship to south africa en doing the other way around.

Does somebody has information about shipping your car from somewhere in europe to port sudan?

Thanks!

SImon

I've put a couple of contacts up on the thread 'avoid Egypt going down'. If anyone has any others please let us know.
Thanks

@ Mousse83:

The ferry from Aqaba goes to Nuweiba, not to Taba! Nuweiba is also much better because Taba would indicate you came from Israel. There is just a little speedboat for foot passengers (no vehicles!) from Aqaba to the hotels in Taba Heights a little further south, but even an entry stamp there would be refused by Sudan, Saudi or other countries since they do not recognize the difference between the two border crossings.

Greetings,
Achim

Hi, just wondered if anyone has very recent experience with the Sudan to Saudi, Jordan and then Isrel route?

I was hoping for my wife and I to get transit visas sorted while in Nairobi even though we are British citizens.

any one have any info on this?

Thanks.

would you recommend those countries? I'm not too fussed about Egypt, already went through their in the last riots and it was fine. cheap hotels too all the way down to Aswan.

These countries I'm a bit more interested in as I haven't got any information on them currently and whether it would be okay to do solo.

There are no problems with crossing Mauretania or Guinea.
Local problems in Nigeria and DRC, just stay away from the war zones.

Israel to Turkey
 

Good day,

I am coming from the Cape Town and am looking to skip Egypt, cross from Port Sudan to Jeddah then up along to Jordan, into Israel and find a ferry to Turkey.

Does anyone have contact details for Sisa shipping, or details of a ferry that will take a car from Israel to Turkey?

Regards,

There is no proplem shiping a car from egypt to turkey there is a ferry from damietta port to turkey it arrives wensday costs will be 500$ +1000 egyption pounds this is for shipping paper work is 1000 egyption pound bug you will have to take a flight there is no passengers on ferry flight ticket is 300$ alexandria air port in aswan there is no prop i know a goot contact there hop this helps

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From sudan Jordan via Saudi Arabia
 

If you managed to get a Saudi by transit visa then you are set to have the best trips of your life. Driving from Jeddah port on the red sea costal north rout to Aqaba, passing by one of the virgin costal villages onward north of Yanbo city,umluj, Elwjeh, Dubah, shrema Elbadah and Hakal is the lost saudi border to Jordan Aqaba. This part of the world is virgin when comes to nature and scenery. With modern high way with all gas stations food services etc every corner. This area of red sea is not abused by tourists yet doz it Is not open yet by the Saudi state. There many archeological and nomadic sights east side of the high way. South of Hakal city Mossas mountain and water fall. Madayen Sallah is far east of elwajeh area which is the twin city of Petra, pre historic times.. There are 4- stars hotel along the way and it is very safe to drive there even off road night driving no worries.


Good luck.

Sounds terrific!
But indeed , 'if you manage to get a saudi transit visa'. Is there anyone with recent experiences on this?
We plan to be in Sudan beginning of February. Other options to avoid Egypt would be to ship it from Port Sudan to Aqaba, or skip Sudan and drive from Ethiopia into Djibouti to ship the vehicle out. Anyone comments/experiences on these?

Driving from Aqaba to port Sudan is the most easy way via Saudi Arabia to Jedda port. There are a daily ferry to port Sudan that include passenger and vehicle.


You should contact Saudi consulate in your country for transit visa.

I drove many times along that Aqaba Jeddah many times and it is one of the nicest drives I ever made far beyond any one emaginations with landscape, saftey and fuel station in evey corner. The diesel quality is little more of spindle oil in the mixture and it os very cheep around 5 cent a liter.


Good luck.

Contacts for Egypt/Turkey crossing
 

I was wandering if you could provide me with the contact details for the Egypt/Turkey crossing at Damietta port?

Thanks a lot!

Not if you have a motorbike or a RHD vehicle. Both banned in Saudi. 3 day transit visa only issued in Khartoum, allow at least a week of pissing about. No unmarried couple either.

Is it not possible to go through Saudi Arabia on a motorbike now? Was hoping to get a ferry from Sudan to Saudi Arabia and then Jordan/Israel/Greece.

Was going to enquire about how to get a carnet just for Saudi Arabia since I won't be getting one for the rest of Africa unless I had to go through Egypt.

Gonna try to get the transit visa next week....
Anyone has more information on the ferry schedule, tariffs, and other useful practical information for Port Sudan (Suakin) - Aqaba? THNX!

It's all on here already, put these into your browser (cut and paste, you need the "site:" part at the start):

site:www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ saudi transit

site:www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ saudi visa

site:www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ ferry jeddah

etc etc etc

contact for visas for saudiand transt vehicals for rhd 4x4
 

Reliable contact for Saudi office near the Saudi Embassy ring him when you reach Khartoum for directions to the office.
he can organise visas ferry booking and transport for right hand drive vehicles. Others have used him with no problems. He organises pilgrims to Mecca. He seems a very honest person with good contacts. You need to organise his fees which are not much with him directly.
He can organise things in about 4 to 5 days.
Contact
Mr Ahmed Abdelsamie
+249912318170
Email
duaasudan@gmail.com
You need

A Jordan visa
Two pages free in the passport opposite each other
Marriage certificate your embassy in Khartoum will provide a letter if you do not have your certificate with you.

Good luck

Hi Mousse,

Just to make sure, here again: There is no ferry from Suakin to Aqaba, only to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia!

Hi Windleys,

I am sure you were describing the marriage procedure for the Saudi, not for the Jordanian visa?

Greetings,
Achim

Hi yes for Saudi Jordan you can yet on arrival but for the transit visa you need to show you are transiting . The Saudi visa if you are a couple you have to show a marriage certificate . Sorry if that was unclear..

Hi,
I don't understand very well why there is a difference between right or left hand drive regarding using this car ferry... or may be it's NOT a car ferry?
And how you can manage this problem if you have (like me) a left hand drive?
RR.

roro, the issue is not the ferry, but that you apparently can't drive a right hand drive car in Saudi Arabia. So if you ship to Saudi you also need to arrange for your car to be transported to border (usually on the back of a lorry).

Euuuh, not very practical:(

Thanks (even though).

RR.

Can anyone confirm on not if motorbikes are allowed in saudi? What evidence is there of this either way?

NO MOTORBIKES. I hope that is clear enough. Some snuck through in 2012, but they have made sure it will not happen again. I spent 24 hours in the port trying to get permission to drive a RHD, no luck, and talked with the staff there about all of it. Very firm rule.

With a RHD you have to get stuck on the back of a truck and in my case the Syrian driver tried to rob me at the other end. You are at their mercy, expect to pay about $800 for a 4x4, twice that for a truck.

You won't be able to 'wing it' as the border is very professional and highly organised. You won't have access to your vehicle when it is off loaded until it clears customs.

Motorcycle
 

Based on the information here it is clear that we are unable to drive our motorcycles through Saudi Arabia into Jordan via Transit Visa. We also do not want to go through Egypt because it would be expensive. Does anyone have any information on whether or not there is a ferry or something we can take from Sudan to Jordan? Also will it be possible to drive from Jordan to Syria and then into Turkey? We do not plan on going to Israel and therefor we would not have an Israeli stamp so I'm hoping this is possible. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

CapeTownNorth.com.au

I would strongly not advise to go trough syria.
As there is still a half civil war going on.

SAm

Hi,
Why not fly from Sudan to Turkey?
I'm in the same situation.
I'm in Sudan now and wanted to go through Saudi Arabia and Iran but was told no bikes were allowed in Saudi and really didn't want to go through Egypt (bloody expensive), so now trying to ship the bike on Turkish Airlines to Turkey and ride it from there to the UK. Or maybe fly it direct to the UK.
Going through Syria is a definite NO and through Iraq is absolutely NOT. Those are war zones.
The bike is already boxed and cleared at airport customs waiting for airline bookings.
The costs so far seem reasonable.

Regards

But will be higher than driving through the wonderful landscape of egypt!

Stefan



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With no carnet it will be a very expensive drive through those wonderful landscapes of Egypt!

managed to ship my bike today on Turkish Airlines all the way back to the UK.
Cost was roughly £342 Sterling, which is a good deal.
Very straight forward procedure and got a lot of help from the staff at the packing yard inside the airport.
So this is definitely cheaper than going through Egypt.

Can one get a carnet for Egypt at the land border(Aswan) or is it advisable to purchase the carnet from AA in SA.
I have heard that to purchase a carnet from local AA can be really expensive.

BTW: the cost of transporting your vehicle on the barge and yourself on the ferry from Wadi Halfa to Aswan seems to average around the $750 mark, is this cost just for transporting or does it include carnet/licence plates etc?

Also, what about Egypt visa. It seems like everyone travelling North is having a problem obtaining an Ethiopia visa at land border. Does this apply to Egypt as well?

Thx
Reg
PS: A friend and I are leaving around end Dec to travel up North. Any info regards carnet, visas etc would be gratefully accepted.

Shipping from Khartoum
 

Thanks for your comments, Schenkel. I'm heading from Nairobi up to Khartoum, setting off in the next 48hrs and will almost certainly a) avoid Egypt and b) use Turkish Airlines to get around the Saudi problem.

If you have any advice on the shipping process out of Khartoum that'd be gratefully received!

Hope all's well back in the UK and the culture shock wasn't too great!!

Charlie

Hi Charlie

What are you riding Charlie? and are you alone?

OK first make the bike as small as you can (remove front tire, wind screen, etc) and put it on the smallest crate you can fit the bike on.
Get in touch with Turkish airways representative in Khartoum his name is Adel Waheb based in Khartoum airport at Maks Air Services his mobile number (0912349073). He is very helpful he will get you in touch with a clearance agent. Turkish airlines will charge you by weight based on volume. I had to reduce the size of the crate to reduce the cost of shipping. The final size was (L200 x H112 x W80) divided by 6000 gives around 300 kg. Now 300 kg at $3 US per kg is $900 US. 900 $ x (5.7 official US $ rate)= 5130 Sudanese pounds. That is what I paid ...5130 Sudanese pounds.

I built my own crate by myself using wooden pallets but had to buy extra wood, so cost of the crate was minimal for me.

The crate materials would costs you around 1000 Sudanese pounds.
The carpenter will cost around 250-300 Sudanese pounds.
Transport from centre of Khartoum to Airport on small light truck costs around 100-150 Sudanese pounds.
Loading and unloading (4 or 5 guys) costs around 120-150 Sudanese pounds.
Clearance at the airport shouldn't cost more than 600 pounds.

Some clearance agents will charge you 5000-6000 Sudanese pounds for the crate, transport to airport and clearance and you still have to pay for airfreight!.

I you need more info or any help in Sudan don't hesitate to get in touch. I know Sudan very well because originally I come from there.

I loaded some pics but they seem to be up side down.....don't know why!!!!

That is the most useful advice... THANK YOU! I'm on a KTM 990 and I'm travelling alone. I came down the west coast and am going back up the middle. I travelled with two Italians and a South African from Senegal to the Congo... and did the rest on my own.

I'm leaving Nairobi this afternoon towards Moyle and will contact the agent you provided as soon as my Khartoum ETA is clearer.

Once again... you are a bloody star for providing all that info. Really appreciated!!

Charlie