Bikes and Boats

We have now left Egypt and arrived in Sudan, taking the ferry from Aswan to Wadi Halfa across Lake Nasser. Lake Nasser is a manmade lake created by the Aswan Dam, a hugely controversial project in the 60s that increased the cultivatable land beside the Nile by 15% through controlled flooding. It also provides around 15% of Egypt’s power. However, in order to create the dam and the lake, a number of habituated areas had to be flooded, most famously Abu Simbel, an ancient Egyptian tomb which was cut out piece by piece and relocated higher up. Imagine that happening in the UK – no nimbyism allowed here…

Abu Simbel

We were told to expect the worst from the ferry in terms of people and cargo, with strangers shuffling up to you during the night to try and share your pillow and petty theft. Once we got on, we set up a tarpaulin to shade ourselves from the sun and managed to carve out a pretty good den.  Next we prepared to wait.  Over the following six hours the ferry was rammed with more people and more stuff.   As the ferry only goes once a week, it seems it is used as a bit of a trading route - an enterprising man that set up next to us appeared to have carried on box load after box load of TV remotes which he began dealing in.

At dusk we set off, shunning our cabin to sleep on deck with the stars for a ceiling.  Having made use of their Mecca Ap to find out which direction to pray in, our fellow passengers also settled down and the night passed relatively peacefully with no amorous strangers in sight.   Trying to get around was a real adventure and you had to resign yourself to kicking people accidentally as you navigated over and under various obstacles.

Once we arrived we waited on the boat for 5 hours to fill out immigration forms in triplicate with little variation between questions that were then interrogated. The Irish chaps on the trip were even asked if they were acquaintances of Gerry Adams…

An innovative bed for the night

Having been discussed and promised for at least ten years, work is underway to build a new road linking Kartoum to Aswan. This is supposedly nearly ready to open and will bypass the need for a ferry - a move which the Sudanese port town, Wadi Halfa, is strongly resisting as the arrival of the weekly ferry provides its raison d’etre.  A shame for future travellers missing out on this experience.