Day 211 Egypt 17/4/2011, Aswan. Bike maintenance, supplies shopping, a dip in the pool and a lot of packing.

Hooray our last full day in Egypt! We are sorry to anyone who likes the country, but it has to be our least favourite place in the world. We have met some nice people, but they have been so overwhelmingly outweighed by the hassling, money grabbing, thieving, lying rest of the population, that we will never return. For anyone planning a visit I would say book a five star hotel complete with tours, see the sites from the comfort of an air-con bus and never leave your hotel unless there is a fire and you have to! Better still, stay at the Luxor hotel in Vegas and visit the British Museum, all the best stuff is there anyway! Rant over, back to our day.

I finally got round to changing Debs' tyres for the wider Marathon extremes. Hopefully they won't slow her down too much, at least they won't sink so badly when we encounter sand.

With the tyres changed, I went to go and buy some petrol for our stove. I hope I have bought petrol, it was all a bit confusing. Every other country we have been to has had fairly well marked pumps. Egypt it seems is different. I wanted unleaded petrol but making the attendant understand was a bit of a struggle. I really must look up the word for unleaded in Arabic!

Mission completed, I went back to the hotel to get Debs so we could go supplies shopping.

Once again it was bit of a effort to find a stall that didn't quote ridiculous prices, but eventually we managed. Having a much better idea of what everything should cost certainly helps.

Back at the hotel I was greeted by a flat tyre on Debs' bike. It was better that we spotted it now than in the morning, but it was still pretty annoying. This time after fixing the puncture, I took her bike out for a ride to make sure it was ok. This served the useful purpose of checking our route out of Aswan for tomorrow morning. To prove that there are still some nice people around, I was invited in for tea by a shop keeper who had worked as a fisherman in Grimsby. He told me that it was his dream to return, which seemed like a strange thing to say about Grimsby!

In a cheerful mood, I cycled back to the hotel and went to meet Debs on the roof for a quick dip in the pool. It was lovely to escape the heat for a while, but our bags aren't going to pack themselves, so for me at least it was only a quick dip.

While I was happily spreading my gear all round the room, Debs was getting stuck in the lift! It was a slightly traumatised Debs that eventually made it back to the room. Fortunately despite no one coming to help when the alarm button was pressed, she eventually managed to get it to go down to the ground floor and then wisely walked back up. We hope it is working later as I don't fancy carrying all our gear downstairs tomorrow morning. I suspect Debs will be taking the stairs though.

It may be some time before we get to blog again so take care all. The next entries will be from Sudan.

Day 210 Egypt 16/4/2011, Aswan. To the ferry office and a felucca ride.

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.

Day 209 Egypt 15/4/2011, Aswan – High Dam – Aswan. Directionally challenged in Aswan and the cheapest restaurant in town.

Deciding that Debs didn't really need to accompany me on the ferry port finding mission, I set off with the google map directions fixed to my bike. It must have taken me all of 5 minutes to realise that with no signposts and limited road names, that the directions were going to be of no use. After about 7km I ended up back at the hotel having had a nice tour of Aswan, some of which I would happily not see again. Especially the part where I was pursued by children demanding money!

Remembering from the map that the route seemed to run along the train lines, I headed to the station and then followed the lines south. The time I had spent directionally challenged, (being a man I am obviously never lost!) meant that my early start to avoid the heat of the day had gone slightly awry. What I really didn't need when I found myself on the correct road was to get a puncture. It was only fortunate that I had a puncture repair kit with me as I had neglected to take a spare inner tube. The puncture turned out to be another one of the old patches failing; I will have to keep an eye on them as it could be that they aren't coping with the tyre pressure and the high ambient temperature.

Having fixed the puncture I set off once again towards the port. When the road forked, a passer by flagged down a bus to ask directions for me and I was soon pointed the right way.

The route to the port was pretty desolate, but largely flat. Riding through the desert has given some indication of how tough it is going to be through Sudan. I needed to sip my water constantly just to keep some moisture in my mouth.

Eventually after about 16km I arrived in the small settlement of High Dam and was pointed once again in the direction of the port. Riding through the town would have been easier if I wasn't swamped by over exuberant children all keen to involve me in a game of chicken or to just hang from the back of my bike. With a quick check that my pannier was still attached, I sped up and headed to the port.

Even when I reached the port there was no sign advertising it as such. The security guard who I went to check with, looked slightly amused when I enquired as to whether the Sudan ferry left from there. He was probably more puzzled because the boat wasn't leaving today, I tried to explain that I had just come to check where the port was, but he didn't really understand.

Already filled with joy at the prospect of riding back through the High Dam terrors, I was slightly on my guard when two slightly older children rode alongside. They seemed quite friendly, asking my name etc before getting round to the 'can I have a pen?'. Not to be put off by me not having a pen to give them, even if I had wanted to, which I didn't. We then moved onto 'can I have your cycle computer?, phone?, compass? and finally bicycle pump?! Having said no to all these requests, I thought it prudent to also say no to the request to ride my bike. Eventually I sped up and soon left them behind, all I had to do now was get through the other group of kids in the main street.

If they were excitable before, it was nothing compared to when I rode back through the town. This time a few of them swung leather belts at me and the rest grabbed on hard to the bike as I passed. Still managing to keep moving, they eventually gave up when one of the local men started shouting at them. Aside from the belt swingers, none of them were particularly aggressive, but it was a shame as I was going to stop in the village for a drink!

The return journey went without more punctures or any further incidents. At least I now know largely where we are going, although I will have to try and find a better route out of Aswan.

Back at the hotel Debs had had a restful time and I was glad of a cool shower. It may be only spring time but the temperature is very high. Larry and Sharon had already forewarned us that we may see temperatures close to 50ºC/120ºF in the desert.

After a rest we headed back to the Movenpick jetty to check our arrangements with Mr Aboda for tomorrow. I know that he had said he would meet us in our hotel lobby on Saturday, but the phone line was very bad and after the trouble we have already had booking ferry tickets I wanted to make sure. Everything was still as we had arranged, so we left and went to the bazaar to buy some snacks.

Asking how much peanuts were at one stall, the shopkeeper said 25LE per kilo, to which Debs asked why the label said 16LE. Shopkeeper nil, Arabic numeral learning Debs 1! To be fair the shopkeeper was apologetic and a bit surprised that Debs had learned the numbers, also 25LE wasn't an overly excessive amount to ask.

Neither of us could face going out again that evening, so having bought some food we cooked in the room. Fully aware that over the horrendous traffic noise our stove wouldn't be remotely audible. Tonight room 302 was the cheapest restaurant in Aswan, although possibly not the best. It depends how you feel about noodles and tinned meat!

Entertainment was provided for us this evening, by a wedding party taking place on the street outside the Isis hotel oppposite. The singing, dancing and drumming made for a great spectacle even though it did go on for most of the night.

You would never be able to describe our hotel as quiet, even if we did close the windows, which we don't because of the heat, the traffic noise is quite incredible. Debs is glad of her earplugs and I have clearly just managed to blank it out.

Fingers crossed for the ferry tickets tomorrow, we really don't want to be here for another week!

Day 208 Egypt 14/4/2011, Aswan. Elephantine Island, Nubian villages and the Botanical Gardens.

Having done everything we could about booking the ferry to Sudan, we decided to have a day of sightseeing.

Leaving the hotel, we walked to the public ferry that would take us across to Elephantine island. The island is home to two Nubian villages, some ruins and the not particularly attractive Movenpick hotel.

After the noise of the East bank of Aswan, the island is an oasis of calm. Getting off the ferry we were greeted by mud brick houses, some colourfully painted, and narrow sand covered streets. Following the helpful signs, we headed first to Baba Dool, a traditional Nubian house, which has been opened up to the public by the owners. Inside, the painted walls are covered with traditional handicrafts, some of which are for sale. The house is charming and the owners very friendly.

After a look round, we had a cup of mint tea and were then taken by boat over to Kitchener's island, home of the botanical gardens; so called because the land was given to Lord Horatio Kitchener when he was commander of the Egyptian army. The gardens are a pleasant place to while away an hour and if it wasn't for the school children and the man who was convinced we wanted to hear the music from his mobile phone, a peaceful place as well.

From the gardens we got a boat back to Elephantine island where we wandered through the villages towards Animalia, another Nubian house, this time turned into a museum. Passing the village school one of the teachers, Mr Badry, greeted us and invited us to have a look round. The school was surprisingly modern and Mr Badry was an enthusiastic host. Debs mentioned that she had been an English language teacher and he was soon getting her to help with his pronunciation.

Eventually we waved goodbye and carried on the short distance to Animalia where we were met by Mohamed Sobhi, the owner, who took us on a fascinating tour of his house. He has collected lots of traditional Nubian implements, some interesting photos of the Nile prior to the Aswan Dam being completed and rather worryingly, if you are about to be camping in the desert, a collection of somewhat moth-eaten stuffed animals, among them vipers, jackals and scorpions!

Walking around the villages and the Nubian houses had been great and has hopefully given us an insight into what we are going to encounter along the Nile in Sudan. The people that we met were a lot friendlier, which has made us feel better about moving on.

Back on the mainland and it was straight into an argument with the public ferry staff about the fee for our trip. We knew it only cost 1LE per person, so why they thought we would be happy paying 4LE per person, we can't say. Looking at us with a 'it's nothing to you face' failed to impress. In the end begrudgingly I paid 3LE for the two of us, only because we would have been waiting all day for him to give us the change. Debs wasn't impressed at all that I had caved in, but sometimes it is just too much effort to keep arguing.

After the rushing round getting visas, catching trains and trying to buy ferry tickets, it was nice to have a largely relaxing day. A nice dinner at Aswan Moon restaurant finished the day off well. Tomorrow I plan to make a practice run to the ferry port in anticipation of us getting tickets.

Day 207 Egypt 13/4/2011, Aswan. Back to the ferry office.

In spite of the traffic noise and fact that we are too tight to pay for air-con, we slept really well.

After a simple breakfast we went back up to the room to avoid the heat until it was time to ring Mr Aboda. Once again the line was terrible, but I managed to hear the words that we should go to the ferry office.

At the office we received the same level of customer service and joy that we had got the first time. This time though we were told that Mr Saleh was sick and to come back tomorrow. Slightly frustratedly we said that that was what we had been told the last two times, which was greeted by laughter and more dismissive hand gestures. While trying to decide what to do next, I went to talk to two western guys who were filling in paperwork on a wall outside the office. It turned out that Kurt and his friend had been in Aswan since last week when there wasn't space on the ferry for their vehicles. Since their first meeting with Mr Saleh they had been told to come back to the office everyday to no joy. The whole situation seemed to be turning into some kind of farce.

Eventually Kurt managed to get hold of Mr Saleh who told him that he was on holiday, but would be back on Saturday when he would sort the tickets. With the boat leaving on Monday, this seemed to be cutting it a little fine. What was more annoying was the fact that the staff clearly knew he wasn't going to be in until Saturday, so were just taking the p**s when they told us to come back tomorrow! Chancing my arm I gave Mr Aboda another ring and explained that the office weren't helping at all. He asked me to pass the phone to one of the staff and a somewhat heated conversation seemed to ensue. Eventually getting the phone back, he told me that he would meet us in the hotel lobby on Saturday and he would go with us to get the tickets. The whole situation is not ideal but we have no choice but to hope that it all works out. There is clearly no point in going back to the ferry office on our own. The sooner we leave Egypt the better and when we do it will be for the last time.

Just before leaving the office we asked Kurt where the ferry port was, as we had heard that it was about 25km from the city centre which would mean an early start for us the morning of the ferry departure. He told us that it wasn't very easy to find and there were no signposts, but he thought it was under 20km from the city. While we are here we will ride out to try and find it before Monday. Waving goodbye to Kurt and his friend, we wished them good luck and said that we would see them on the boat, if not on Saturday at the office.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the day, we had tea in a nearby park and then wandered down through the bazaar. After the experiences of the ferry office we weren't really in the right frame of mind to be walking through the bazaar. Buying a meal at a snack bar ended in failure when the stall holder continually changed his mind about what he had for sale and then tried to sell us food we didn't want. We then had to fight to get a sensible price for snacks and water at another stall. In fact the only success was that I bought a pad to write my blog on for when I can't charge the laptop.

By the time we got back to the hotel through the taxi drivers, carriage drivers, felucca owners and touts, it was time for a rest. Sometimes you just feel like shutting the world outside and this was one of those days. It was just a shame that we had to go out for dinner!

Day 206 Egypt 12/4/2011, Luxor – Aswan. Bikes, trains, a consulate, ferry office and finally a hotel.

We woke on time and had the bikes loaded ready to ride to the station. Being early, the traffic was light and we soon arrived outside. All we had to do now was negotiate a way of getting two fully laden 60kg bikes down a flight of stairs and then back up the other side. The Aswan train couldn't possibly of left from platform 1! Wheeling them down the stairs was not too bad, although after having mine nearly get away from me, I had Debs wait until I could go back to help. Stage one was complete, there was nothing else to do but lift the bikes up the next set of steps. With a gap in the crowds I struggled up to the platform with Debs' bike and then went back for mine. The weight isn't really the problem, it's the bulk and the balance that makes it difficult to move them. What I really didn't need was the guy climbing the stairs in front of me to stop halfway up. By the time I got to the top with both bikes I was shattered and just hoping that we would be allowed to put them on the train. Even though Mr Rezeiky had told us to buy a ticket on the train, Debs went off to try and buy some for first class. That way at least, we would know what carriage to aim for, plus we reckoned that we may be more likely to get away with it in first class.

Debs returned with the tickets and we were soon joined on the platform by two station employees eager to help us load the bikes, for a fee of course. We had always known that getting them on board was going to cost us, but at least it looked like taking them wasn't going to be a problem.

When the train arrived the bikes were pushed into the carriage and with a certain amount of manoeuvring and the removal of my panniers they were safely loaded. With a wave that they would be taken care of we were shown to our first class compartment. Obviously 40LE (£4.10) doesn't buy you a lot of luxury, in fact it was dirtier than second class and the seats didn't recline; nevertheless it was quiet and we were only sharing with one Egyptian who slept most of the journey.

An example of Egyptians ripping off tourists and the shameless way they go about it was highlighted when we decided to order a tea each. When the drinks eventually arrived they were both coffee but before we had the chance to complain the waiter had gone. The coffee was nice enough, the bill wasn't. The conversation went: “How much for the drinks?” “20LE each”, queue slightly incredulous looks, as coffee and tea is normally 5 or 6LE at the most. Obviously aware he may have got carried away, he then said “oh sorry, I meant 20LE for the two, my English is not very good!”. Still too much money and there was nothing wrong with his English, we were fed up with arguing so we paid up, feeling suitably ripped off.

Arriving at Aswan station we were helped off with the bikes and we noticed that a bag was missing. Fortunately not anything serious, just my Crocs that had been placed under the cargo net on the back of one of the bikes. So much for the bikes being looked after, thank goodness it wasn't a pannier though. With so many people getting on and off the train at the stations and food vendors hopping on and off, it was obviously too tempting for someone. The only bonus was that when I said a bag was missing, all of the porters who had been waiting for a tip were suddenly nowhere to be found. I can only hope that the thief was left disappointed.

Perhaps it was because we had got to Aswan with the minimum of fuss, but I couldn't be bothered to get annoyed about the loss. The main thing was to get loaded and then head for the Sudanese consulate. Needless to say, we had two flights of stairs to negotiate again, but at least the taxi drivers left us alone.

Having heard some problems about people getting Sudanese visas, we have to say that the process in Aswan was ridiculously easy. All of the staff were very friendly and despite reading everywhere that the visa cost $100 each, we were only charged $50 each. We have no idea why this was, unless the cost to British nationals has dropped in the last few weeks, or the information we had found was incorrect. It pretty much made up for the loss of the Crocs!

Thirty day Sudanese visas in hand, we headed to the ferry office to buy our tickets. At least we would have if the person we needed to see, Mr Saleh, had been there. Asking what have to be the rudest staff we have encountered in Egypt when he would be in, we were told to come back at 1pm. We should have known by the dismissive hand gesture and snide attitude, made more surprising by the fact that they were women, that we were being fobbed off.

By 1pm we were back at the office and surprise, surprise Mr Saleh wasn't there. With another dismissive gesture we were told to come back tomorrow. After being worried about getting the visas, it seems we should have been more concerned about the ferry!

Before we left Rezeiky camp we had been given the number of a man who worked with Mr Saleh at the Ferry office. Elie Rezeiky had told us that he was a good man who could help us if we were having problems. A slightly difficult to understand phone call later and we were boarding the Movenpick hotel ferry to meet Mr Aboda, with the only instructions that he would be near the jetty. Arriving at the jetty we were beckoned over to a boat and were greeted by the very amiable Mr Aboda. He explained that with the Libyan crisis there were lots of refugees fleeing to Sudan and that there would possibly be more ferries running than normal. He told us that he would try and sort something out for us and to give him a ring at about 11am tomorrow. I can't say that we were filled with confidence, but we had got nowhere on our own so fingers crossed.

The day had been exhausting so we headed back to the hotel for a rest, only venturing out for a pleasant meal in the Nile side Aswan Moon restaurant. Hopefully we will have news of the ferry tickets tomorrow.

Day 205 Egypt 11/4/2011, Luxor – Aswan – Luxor. Trains, The Sudanese consulate and a closed ferry ticket office.

In typical fashion there were no taxis to be seen as we left the camp-site bound for the train station. One did eventually pass us and we were soon waiting on the platform for the train.

If somewhat long, the journey was pretty comfortable. The seats in 2^nd class were good, there was plenty of legroom and the air-con was also very welcome. At 25LE (just under £3) for a 120 mile journey, it was good value for money as well.

Arriving in Aswan we pushed through the hotel touts and taxi drivers and set off for the Sudanese consulate. With a quick check of the location at the tourist information office and with the help of a few locals, we soon found ourselves outside the consulate.

After the mayhem of the embassy in Cairo, the Aswan consulate was a very sleepy affair. We found our way up to the passport office, handed over our paperwork to the very helpful lady and were told that unfortunately the passport officer wasn't there but if we came back at 1pm he may be in.

Despite the knowledge that we couldn't get a ferry ticket without our visas, we headed to the 'Nile River Valley Transport corporation' to find out when the next ferry was running and the availability of tickets. Getting any information proved to be impossible when we found the office to be closed. A passer by told us that because the ferry leaves today the office wasn't open, but they would be open tomorrow. While not a disaster, the day wasn't going as well as we had hoped.

Unsure whether our visas would be done today and drawing a blank over the ferry, we stopped for a tea to discuss the best way to proceed. With our gear in Luxor and the Consulate and ferry office being in Aswan, the only sensible option seemed to be to try and get everything to Aswan tomorrow. This was going to involve getting everything on the train or the more expensive option of a taxi/minibus.

With these thoughts in mind we went to have a look at a hotel that had been recommended to us by Larry and Sharon. The hotel Hathor was not bad, so we booked a room for tomorrow and then headed back to the Sudanese Consulate to see if there had been any joy with our visas. The passport officer had still not returned so there was nothing we could do until tomorrow.

Back at the train station we queued for ages for a ticket, only to be told that we couldn't buy one and we would have to pay on the train. With the next train not for an hour and a half we had some lunch at a local restaurant. Even though I am known for being able to eat just about anything, the strange green sauce that accompanied the meal was a step too far. Although it looked like a mint sauce it had the consistency of snot/ectoplasm and just sort of hung from a fork when you tried to lift it! Having it dripped all over my trousers when a cat jumped on the table and then walked through it didn't help much either.

Back at the station we boarded the train and played musical chairs for a while, as because we had no ticket we had no allocated seat. When the ticket inspector came round we found out that the ticket was 6LE (70p) dearer because we didn't have a ticket. While this isn't very much, it's pretty galling when you tried to buy a ticket and were told you can't, but then that appears to be Egypt!

The journey passed at a leisurely pace and we arrived back in Luxor early evening. The taxi driver who eventually agreed to take us to the hotel for 10LE (£1.10) was left looking on incredulously when his demands for a tip were met by us walking away. Taxi drivers in Luxor nil, Matt & Debs 1!

Back at the camp-site we enquired about the cost of taxi/minibus to take all our gear to Aswan. Eventually the answer came back from Mr Rezeiky (the owner) that we would be better off taking the train and that it would be no problem with the bikes. We had been looking at the taxi option to avoid the train, but looking at the cost difference it had to be worth a go. With plans to catch the 7:30am train again tomorrow, we had an early night as we would need to be up just before 6am to get packed up in time. Let's hope it all goes ok!