That's all, folks!

The trip is over. We put our car on a boat at Alexandria and flew home. The guys who work on the boat decided to have a cigarette-smoking and oil-smearing party in our car which was nice of them. Otherwise we welcomed the return to family, friends, comfort and good food. It is a strange feeling being back. The skies are grey but we don't get guns pointed at us. Life may work here but its a bit less vibrant. We are already thinking about the next trip.

Egypt is a bit of a letdown after Sudan

Since all the land crossings between Egypt and Sudan are closed we were forced to take the ferry up Lake Nasser from Wadi Half to the dam at Aswan. In many ways this was the end of our trip since once we reached Egypt we had access to ATMs, hotels and a chance to relax. Also despite the fact that we had enjoyed Sudan so much, it is still Sudan and things can go wrong. It felt to us like being in Egypt would be like being back in Europe. In fact it was a dump, populated largely by overweight tourists and pickpockets. We spent the majority of our time haggling with customs agents. It took 3 days to get our car through customs in Aswan and the best bit of 2 days to get it out at Alexandria. Because we were pressed for time and unwilling to suffer the oppression of the tourist-pickpocket hordes we skipped most of the cultural glories Egypt has to offer. We saw Abu Simbal from a distance as our ferry sailed past, drove straight past Luxor and barely managed to force ourselves to the Pyramids at Giza. The exception to this was the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo which was magnificent. Egypt is probably better seen as part of a short trip rather than at the end of an exhausting year.

Wadi Halfa

The most expensive hotel in Wadi Halfa costs a princely $5. In return for that you get 4 walls of sorts, a floor complete with cockroaches and pupae, a roof and two beds. The beds don't get changed but this is good as guests benefit from the leftovers of the previous occupants' dinner which lingers on the beds. As an added delight no real distinction is made between the loo and the shower which creates hazards for the bleary-eyed and bare-footed morning showerer. We arrived in Wadi Halfa in northern Sudan to catch the ferry up to Aswan. We arrived a few days early so spent a delightful couple of days camping out in the desert and by the Nile. Unfortunately the vehicle barge leaves before the passenger 

ferry so for the last night we had to brave the local accomodation. It was special.

Nubian desert

The journey from Karima to Dongola crosses the desert and takes out one of the big loops of the Nile. The road is now sealed unlike those further north. From Dongola north the road passes slowly through quiet villages at the side of the Nile. It is a delightful route. About half way up the road leaves the Nile and goes out into the desert. This became a little more exciting since the bush on our rear right shock was playing up again so we crossed the desert section with our shock tied on. Fortunately it held. A big new road is being built the whole way up to Wadi Halfa so in a few months people will be able to drive from Europe to the Ethiopian border on sealed roads. It won't be long before you can drive the whole way to Cape Town in a normal passenger car but that wouldn't be fun as you would miss out on the best bits.

Jebel Barkal

Nuri

El Kurru