True to his word, Mohamed Aboda came to our hotel at 10:30am and we headed down to the 'Nile River Valley Transport' office. Along the way, Mohamed explained that despite the fact that it is a government ferry, the people at the office run the bookings like some kind of Mafia agency.
When we got to the office Mr Saleh was once again nowhere to be found. An argument then ensued between Mohamed and the staff. He explained afterwards that there was no reason why they couldn't have issued the tickets, but Mr Saleh had told them that only he was to issue tickets to westerners. This would have been fine if he hadn't been on holiday all week. It seemed that, along with Mohamed, we weren't the only people slightly disgruntled by the fact that Mr Saleh had gone on holiday leaving no one else in charge. Apparently at least one of the office staff can write and speak English, so there is really no excuse for the ludicrous way the office is being run. This still doesn't excuse the staff for lying and being exceptionally rude during our previous visits.
Eventually Mr Saleh arrived, quickly followed by Kurt and his friends who we had met previously. With a brief shake of our hands Mr Saleh took us through to the office and quickly issued the tickets. Nothing special happened, there were no top secret documents to sign, so the only reason there could be for only him issuing the tickets was in Mohamed's words so he could play commandant!
Tickets in hand, we said hi to Kurt and his friends and said that we would try and save them some space on the deck when we get there on Monday. We will be earlier than them as the ferry, from all the information we can gather, is a bit of a free for all. They meanwhile, have paperwork to do in the morning to allow transportation of their vehicles. Seeing as we are not having a cabin, we will be sleeping on the deck, so securing a bit of hopefully shady space is going to be a priority.
Thanking Mohamed for his help, we arranged a sunset felucca ride with him for later that day and then headed back towards the hotel. Now that we know we are leaving, the hassle from boat owners, taxi drivers, beggars and over zealous stall holders just washed over us. We even managed to find a stall to buy snacks from at a reasonable price without too much haggling.
After a rest and some blogging, it was time to head over to the Movenpick hotel to meet Mohamed for a felucca ride. When we got to the jetty, he asked us to pass his details on to anyone who may require assistance with the ferry. Predominantly he works with overlanders who need help sorting their vehicle paperwork out, but is clearly a useful person to know if you are having trouble with the ferry office. For anyone interested his details are: Mr Mohamed Aboda +20(0)125111968. He works from the jetty just outside the Movenpick hotel, which you can get to by taking the free hotel ferry.
The felucca ride was a relaxing way to spend an hour and a half. We saw lots of herons, egrets, gulls and kingfishers as we gently cruised along the Nile. The sunset turned out to be a bit of a non event, as there had been a sandstorm nearby which had made the sky hazy. Nevertheless it was a nice trip, plus it served the purpose of letting me know that I definitely wouldn't want to be on one for longer. I am glad that we didn't take a 3/4 day trip down the Nile, I would have been bored beyond belief! Complaining about a mode of transport taking a long time to get anywhere, seems a bit harsh coming from a cyclist, but at least I can get off my bike. Sailing boats are definitely not for me!
In a celebratory mood, I made a beer run after dinner to the Egypt free shop. The only place you can officially buy beer in Aswan. Tomorrow will be a day of packing and sorting, so cheers for now.
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