Hi Toby,

Do you have Emma's cost breakdown from the "Venice to Alex ferry cancelled" thread? I would think they would be more relevant to you.

Nuweiba seems from all reports to be a very easy entry/exit point with limited corruption/extortion. We left that way and it was quite straightforward and relaxed. The police were very friendly and didn't ask for anything in return. We were allocated a "helper" when we arrived and told that it wasn't necessary to pay him - he was employed by the port - but we could tip him if we wanted. It took two hours of running around and we gave him 80EGP which he seemed very pleased with.

We entered at Aswan and paid approx 1,500 EGP in total plus $50 for an fixer. It seemed a lot but he was an older guy who seemed to have a fair bit of authority there and he did get us our car off the barge within a few hours whereas I have heard of people stuck in Aswan for a few days. He was very clear about what the costs would be up front and the figures held good. I no longer have the list unfortunately but can tell you we weren't charged for many of the things Neil and Julie were but obviously the prices were different (and more).

We extended our car's documentation at Alex port and that was a nightmare. We had been assured in Aswan that extending would be free and straightforward (suffice to say it wasn't either). It took 6 days (two of those to get a pass to even enter the port - which in itself involved haring around in a taxi and queueing up in at least three different places. We do have a very nice perspex pass complete with photo id as a souvenir though ...). Friends who did it at Cairo went through a completely different process, set of charges.

In short I think whether these are legitimate or not different ports of entry involve different costs/processes.