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 65 & 66 Serbia/Bulgaria & eventually Turkey 22/11/2010 & 23/11/2010. A very long train journey and a little bit of cycling!

Still unsure how we were going to get our bikes on the train to Turkey, we thought it prudent to get to the station very early. The train was already on the platform when we arrived at just after 7am in the rain. The first problem that we could see was that there wasn't a guards van. After asking a few people who we thought were conductors, we were eventually pointed to a Turkish attendant who introduced himself as Izmir. In somewhat broken English he explained that we would be able to put the bikes in one of the sleeping cars but we would have to pay for two more couchettes (hope this is spelt correctly the computer has suggested courgette, which I am fairly certain is not what we had to buy. Although it was very early!).

Parting with $30, which was swiftly pocketed, we had our bikes safely stowed away and were shown to the next door cabin. According to Izmir all we had to be concerned about was whether the Serbian or Bulgarian conductors would want some money as well! It is very true what we had been told 'in Serbia nothing is possible until money is shown and then everything is possible'; this holds true in most of eastern Europe it seems.

The journey to Istanbul was due to take 23hrs and as the train left the platform at walking pace we could see why. Within a few kilometres we had got up to a gentle jog, just in time to pull into the next station! Slowly but surely we did pick up speed and wended our way towards the Serbian/Bulgarian border.

Never having crossed a border by train we weren't sure what to expect. First we stopped and had our passports inspected by the Serbian officials. Then Bulgarian customs came on board and set about, with the help of a screwdriver and some brute force, taking the train apart. Mysteriously they never searched any luggage, so I would guess if you are a smuggler, hiding it there is the way to go! It should be noted that although keen to take things apart, they seemed less inclined to put anything back together. It was with a slightly more dismantled train that we passed through the Bulgarian border bound for Sofia.

Shortly before we arrived in Sofia we had another ticket inspection and were suddenly confronted with demands for a ticket for our bicycles. Bearing in mind that it is impossible to buy a ticket for a bicycle in Serbia, where we were supposed to get one from was anyone's guess! With some help from Izmir, €10 was mentioned as was Sofia and the conductors left. Unsure whether this meant we had to go and buy a ticket in Sofia or that we needed to just give them €10, we decided to put it out of our minds for the time being. At least us and the bikes were still on the train, for now!

Having researched the train a bit before we booked we knew that there would be no dining car on board. This seems something of an oversight on a 23hr journey. Fortunately as we were forewarned we had brought quite a lot of food with us, nevertheless we were glad to arrive in Sofia with a bit of time to spare. A cold drink and some more water certainly wouldn't go amiss.

We should have known that the friendly attendant who showed us where to change money and get snacks from was only after cash. Fortunately the small amount I did give him was enough for him to point us back in the direction of our train. Which was just as well, as while we had been gone it had moved and looked somehow different. Climbing on board what was clearly a different carriage we had a moment of panic that our bikes and gear had disappeared off into the night! Fortunately after some confusion, we found out that the train had been joined by some Bulgarian sleeper carriages, which in the dark we had confused for our own. Feeling a little bit foolish and more than a touch relieved, we found the correct carriage and were reunited with our bikes and gear.

Settling back down in our compartment for some sleep before we reached the Turkish border at approx 1:30am, we were rudely awaken by yet another ticket inspection. This time I had my €10 ready for the bikes and to our surprise we were issued with a ticket. What wasn't so encouraging was that it was only issued for the stage until the Turkish border. We could be going through the whole thing again in the next few hours.

Sleep overcame us and we eventually arrived at the border nearer 3am instead of the scheduled 1:30am. The Turkish customs man was a lot more jovial than his Eastern European counterparts and only wanted to know what we had in all our bags. When I told him clothes, sleeping bags and a tent, he seemed amused and wished us 'good roads'. All we had to do now was get off the train, buy our visa and queue up to get it stamped.

Back on the train any thoughts of sleep were ended by another passport inspection before we were allowed to get under way. We had made it into Turkey, all we needed to do now was get some rest before we arrived in Istanbul.

Before leaving Belgrade Debs had read that this journey often took nearer 30hrs and after all of the customs delays we can see why. We arrived at Sirkeci station in Istanbul at 11am, three hours later than scheduled, which according to Izmir was not too bad.

Unloading took a bit of time, but we were soon packed up and out into the madness of the Istanbul traffic. With a combination of riding, pushing and a lot of navigational assistance we made it to our first choice hotel. We then had one of those moments when we wished we had booked. The hotel was dearer than we had seen it advertised for and they only had a room for two days. The hunt for a hotel would have to continue, which is not so much fun on steep, narrow, traffic clogged streets with heavy bikes.

By a bit of luck we managed to find the area that we had stayed in last time we were here. Trying several hotels, the first available room we found was €40 a night which was more than we wanted to pay. Running out of options we tried a nearby hostel and were shown a more reasonable €30 a night room. The problem was that it was not that nice, plus it was on the fourth floor.

Continuing the search, we were called over by a hotelier as we passed his hotel and offered a much nicer room than we had seen at the hostel for €30. The shower is unfortunately rubbish, but the room is comfortable and we can call it home for the next week while we plan our next move.

We did venture out for a while that afternoon and get some food and a beer (well it would have been rude not to!). But the rest of the day was all about catching up on sleep from the train journey.