Update : 06.12.2005
Place : Khartoum/Sudan
Day : 52
Distance traveled : 8,724km

Have I found myself a Sudanian girlfriend? Was I swallowed by an Anaconda in Sudan or accused of being a "spy" and thrown into jail? Nope, none of the above. I am in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan and I am fine. It is just that, I had a pretty rough and adventurous "15 days" since leaving Egypt and at the end of those 15 days I have encountered a technical problem which meant I couldn't even turn on my laptop to complete my updates. Here I am again and I hope I will be able to continue sending my scribbles as "regularly" as I used to.
I have told you about the first night in Bawiti; the meeting and greeting at the hotel I stayed at, but didn't include the contact details of this hotel which was quite comfortable, neat and clean for a small oasis settlement (a largish village) like Bawiti. In case you want to go on an adventure holiday in the Western Desert of Egypt and spend a few isolated days in a real oasis in the middle of the desert, here are the details:
Western Desert Hotel
Sameer Saada
Bawiti, Bahariya Oasis/Egypt
Tel : +2 2 847 16 00
Faks : +2 2 847 18 00
GSM : +2 12 433 6015
www.westerndeserthotel.com

Chris was sipping his tea at the restaurant across from the hotel, when I joined him at 10am on Wednesday, November 16th. The restaurant owner has been inviting me for tea several days now. It also meant we could kill some time waiting for Sameer to arrive. Then at 10:30 we took some pics as we bid our goodbyes, and left the hotel.


"Western Desert Hotel" memento with Sameer...

Dakhla

Food and fuel stops included, it took us 7.5 hours to complete a 490km drive. We reached Dakhla at around 18:00. After looking around for a little while we arrived at Bedouin Oasis Village, our last choice of accommodation. Since we couldn't communicate with the kids who didn't speak English, we all waited for Islam to return to the village so we could find out the rates and check out the rooms. A little later Islam, the boss-man showed up. He runs the hotel which is essentially a group of "bungalows" built in Bedouin hut style (which actually resembled the Nubian adobe huts more with their mud domes and earthen plasters). Looks, walks and talks like a "smooth tourism operator". Clearly the door was open for a bargain which started from LE200.00 for 2 people half board down by 50% and at that stage we figured we have pushed our luck as much as we could. We joined a Dutch group of 6-7 families on a makeshift event, called the Bedouin Night. The next morning when we found out that this "event" was indeed an extra we had to pay for, just like the tea we had for breakfast, it became apparent that Islam was determined to take back what he has given the day before. He was even in the process of writing a "tip" invoice for the staff when he had to be reminded quite clearly that we weren't about to get ripped off. As he saw us off in disappointment after not being able to collect the extras he planned for, I have already selected him as the "entrepreneur of the year". This kid will go far and this is exactly what a tourism entrepreneur should be like!


Bedouin Night and İslam (standing on the right)

The next day on the way to Luxor the number of vehicles I saw after Baris turn-off during the last 235 km of the 550km drive wouldn't have exceeded the number of fingers on one hand. The busy traffic and my non-stop banter (!) must have exhausted Chris so he complemented his night sleep by catching some shut-eye. Actually the road was so deserted that even the police checkpoints were unusually infrequent. I haven't told you about the police checkpoints on Egyptian motorways. The Islamic extremist movement which began in the city of Asyut in 1970 became a concern when it took the form of attacks on the foreign tourists especially from the 1990's. Following a major attack on the tourists in Luxor in 1997 which resulted in deaths of - if I remember correctly - 27 tourists, the government decided to tighten security measures in the country. As a consequence there are police control points everywhere, more so in the areas that attract large numbers of tourists. In places, such as Luxor, you can see these control points almost at every step of the way. What happens at these checkpoints? Usually 2 police officers approach the vehicle and one of them asks you in English which country you are from and where you are going - in short sentences such as "What from?" or "Where to go?". Once you tell them where you are coming from and heading to, the other officer jots down this information either on a regularly kept record book, on a page from a note pad or on the corner of a newspaper in his hand, depending on how serious he takes the task at hand. If there is more than one person in the car from different countries, the officer frowns since now he is faced with the inconvenience of recording more than one piece of information. But of course there is a remedy to this situation: he turns to the other and says: "mukhtalif!" [Various, miscellaneous]. You see, since I have figured this out whenever the police stopped me while Chris was sitting next to me I would say "Mukhtalif" and the police would smile happily for they didn't have to take too many (!) notes. Personally I thought that these security measures were taken partly to intimidate the terrorists and partly to give tourists the message "you are safe with us".

Luxor
There is a backpacker's hotel in Luxor, famous for its cleanliness. You can find this hotel in nearly all the guide books. Name: Happy Land Hotel. It has a wide variety of rooms suiting different budgets: from dormitory type rooms to single rooms with baths. Destination: Happy Land Hotel. With a co-pilot who navigates for the driver reaching the destination was too easy. The hotel is in a residential area and doesn't particularly look impressive. But once you enter the hotel and especially see the rooms you understand why it deserves the praises in the guidebooks. It is incredibly clean for a hotel of its kind. Everything is clearly explained: what is included in the room rate (number of towels, soap and toilet rolls) and what is served for breakfast, etc. It is quite inexpensive and a wide range of rates is available to suit any budget. For instance, the room I stayed at was the most expensive, had a bath and toilet and cost LE45.00 (approximately USD8.00). Of course these rates might sound ridiculous to some of my friends who are following this page. But while I was planning this trip I have set a target budget of USD50.00-60.00 per day all-inclusive (*). As opposed to those who target a more modest budget for journeys of this kind, I set mine to include a safety net -in my own way- to offset certain negative factors: 1. Since I am not much used to the types of accommodation such an adventure involves, I allow myself a little more luxury (i.e. I entitled myself to stay in a luxury hotel once a week on the average), 2. I am traveling alone with a car so I don't get to share the expense with anyone but myself. Even though I haven't been able to realize this target budget, it is still my goal and to achieve it I need to turn to cheaper and more modest hotels as I have previously mentioned. What would happen if I keep staying in expensive hotels? 1) It will defeat the purpose of such a trip, becomes a luxury "safari". The purpose here is to get to know the countries and the people, which is something I can't do in a luxury hotel. Just only means I can successfully add more to your luxury hotel knowledge base. 2) This would be a pointlessly expensive trip for me. 3) It is not possible to find a good hotel everywhere anyway.

(*) "All-inclusive" means all the expenses incurred from October 15th, the date of my departure from Istanbul to the date that car boards the ship in Cape Town. That is, all the payments to be made when crossing the borders with the vehicle, ferry costs, costs of fuel and any maintenance and repairs, visa fees, etc in addition to the costs for food and accommodation. And it excludes the cost of sending my car back to Istanbul on a ship.

Mr. Ibrahim, the hotel owner is our protector, he is also a teacher to me so I can learn and be a good Muslim. Also he is in the position of a key person trying to help us in everything. Every now and then he pulls me aside and preaches that I should go to the mosque five times a day for prayer and also read Quran.

Well, Luxor, as you know, was build on Thebes, which served as a capital city during the reign of the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt. Luxor is Egypt's most popular tourist destination and it makes the highest contribution to tourism which constitutes a significant source of revenue for Egypt's economy. The reason is mostly the historical artifacts majority of which are currently on display in Cairo Museum and the New Kingdom heritage, all of which brought fame to the history of Egypt with their splendor and constantly attract crowds to these artifacts and historical sites.

Thebes (or Luxor which was built on it) has earned its fame as a settlement thanks to two big temples; the temples of Luxor and Karnak important parts of which have been brought back to life. Temple of Luxor located in the city centre was built by Amenhptep III of the 18th dynasty which was the first dynasty of the New Kingdom era.


Temple of Luxor, the Sphinx Avenue

The temple was later renovated by Ramses II; was used by Romans and then was deserted for a long period of time. A village was then built on site of the temple which, in time, was largely buried under dust and sand. Then a new life began within the walls of the temple. When Archeologist Gaston Maspero discovered that there was a temple at this location, the decision was to move the village outside of the temple in order to carry out the excavations. The only memory preserved from the village is the mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj, built in 13th century. Since the section where the mosque stands could not be excavated, the difference in height between the base of the temple and the mosque reveals the thickness of the sand-silt layer which the temple has been buried under.


The Mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj.
The difference between the level of mosque and the temple gives
an idea about the depth of the layer which covered the temple.

When the temple was built, there was a 2km causeway lined up with sphinxes on each side stretched between the main entrance of Temple of Luxor all the way to Karnak. Only a small portion of this avenue near Luxor is still standing. To the left of the magnificent main entrance is a 25m pink granite obelisk and its twin which was supposed to be standing on the opposite side of the entrance was taken to Paris in the beginning of 19th century, where it now decorates the Place de la Concorde. Why? It was given as a gift to the French people by Mehmet Ali Pasha (Kavalali). (My dear Ahmet, please correct me if I am wrong?) Grand, isn't it? To give the historical heritage of one country as a gift to another country without bothering to ask its people…

Temple of Karnak (originally known as Temple of Amon) was built as a modest temple during the reign of 11th dynasty. However, each dynasty thereafter made expansions to it and at the end it became this impressive structure. Naturally such a great temple came at a great expense. During the reign of 19th dynasty, including the priests and the servants approximately 80,000 people served in the temple. It was 19th century when the excavation work commenced on the temple remained buried under the sand for over a thousand years. The excavations continue to date. The most impressive part of the temple is the Great Hypostyle Hall whose ceiling was supported by 134 giant columns.


The Great Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Karnak

As I was crawling back to the hotel, semi-conscious because of the heat and the exhaustion after visiting the "top-of-the-list must-see" temples of Luxor and Karnak (Amon) I could not even attempt to get away from the "felluka" [a kind of boat] and the horse carriage operators who wouldn't refrain from inflicting the tourists with displays of affection. Since I showed no resistance or reaction, they used all kinds of sales strategies known to men but nevertheless I ended up disappointing them. I am sorry but it is not my fault that felluka operator no. 123 wouldn't give up trying to get me on his felluka despite witnessing 122 failed attempts before him.

Chris and I met in the evening and went to this Irish Pub which Chris discovered. We wanted to decide to plan the ferry trip from Asswan to Wadi Halfa (Sudan) and also to have a few last drinks we could have until we reached Ethiopia. As we sipped our beers in this place that actually resembled to a hall where Bayram guests are entertained more than an Irish pub of any kind, we finalized the Asswan Plan. According to our plan Chris would take the train to Asswan the next morning and try to buy the ferry tickets. In the even that he succeeded he would than call the hotel and leave a message for me, and I would drive to Asswan the following day (Sunday, November 20th).

The next morning I left the hotel to visit the famous valleys of Thebes. Thebes which was built on the site where today's Luxor is standing and served as the capital city during the New Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt. Today, when Thebes is mentioned the Valleys of Kings and Valleys of Queens as well as the Hatshepsut Temple come to mind. These valleys where the magnificent tombs of new period Pharaohs (Valley of Kings) and their wives and children (Valley of Queens) are located on the west bank of the Nile. Most of the tombs including the tomb of Queen Nefertiti and the tomb of Ramses IV, which are essentially two of the most impressive of all, were closed to visitors either for restoration purposes or to give them a little break (the tombs sustain wear and tear due to flow of tourists and to reduce the detrimental effects of this, they open the tombs to visitors in alternating hours). I still went to see them despite the 36 degree centigrade heat. The flow of bus loads of tourists moving from one tomb to the other with a sense of great duty, for some reason reminded me of ants rushing to carry to their nests the food remains that they have discovered on the ground. I joined the masses with the sense of responsibility thrust upon me by being there and I entered 3 of the tombs I could pick by the help of the guide book. The tickets they sell at the Valley of the Kings allow you to enter a total of three tombs only. The Tutankhamun's tomb is excluded from this; you have to pay separately for it. So if you have one ticket, you have to pick three -from those open to public- that you want to see the most.

Just like in any other tourist area in Egypt, here also the goal is to make money from every step of a tourist. To serve this purpose there is a walkway between the parking lot (where all the tourist buses and the vehicles of all other visitors are parked) and the ticket offices which forces the crowds to proceed through a line of souvenir stands and shops, both when going in and coming out… So during this procession some unfortunate souls who give in to the persistent salesmen end up getting on their buses staring at the zillionth souvenir they have bought, not even knowing who to give it to.

Another "striking" way of making money of the tourists is the pieces of cardboard handed to the tourists at the entrance into the tombs. The poor tourists who are sadly mistaken to assume that the "hand made fans" given to them at the entrance was a kind gesture to help them fight the hot and suffocating air inside are then asked for a "tip" in return for this service when exiting the tomb. So they try to find a way to refuse this generous offer by making sure to have both of their hands full when entering the next tomb.

The tombs where the rare pieces of artifacts that you see in Egyptian Museum in Cairo are discovered consist of many tunnels carved into the limestone and the burial chambers where these tunnels open up to. One has to admire the precision with which these tunnels and chambers have been carved and also the splendor of the wall decorations - those that still remain intact. Yet you still feel like asking "why all this splendor?"

The Hatshepsut temple built in honor of the Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th dynasty during her reign, was partly carved into the rocks - which constitute the background to the temple. The temple which sustained great damage at the hands of Ramses II and some other pharaohs that succeeded him was later transformed into a monastery by the Christians.

Hatshepsut Temple

In the evening Chris returned from Asswan. The situation in Asswan: there are 5 cars and 1 motorbike waiting to cross over to Wadi Halfa, all of which are overlanders like me. But it is unknown how they (and of course I) will do this.

I don't think I mentioned earlier about the ferry trip between Asswan (Egypt) and Wadi Halfa (Sudan). As you know there is a dam in Asswan called the Asswan High Dam (there is an Asswan Low Dam as well, hence the special use of the term High). And like any other dam this one has a dam reservoir, but this is not an ordinary dam reservoir which is the largest "artificial" lake. This constitutes the only "over the land" crossing point between Egypt and Sudan with the exception of the road closed partly because of political conflict and partly due to the fear for potential terrorist activities. The lake can be crossed on a ferry but the ferry is used to carry people only. Large objects and (up to 3) cars can sometimes be carried on a raft tied behind to the ferry. When this raft would be tied up to the ferry is completely unknown. If there is request for more than 3 cars, another "barge" which looks like a mini landing boat and takes up to 9 cars is put into use. The ferry leaves Asswan once a week every Monday, and arrives at Wadi Halfa - under normal conditions - in 17 hours following the departure. The barge leaves at a time close to the departure of the ferry and completes the same distance between 24 to 36 hours.

At the end of Chris' Asswan trip we understood that we were going to find out answers to our ferry related questions the next day. Our plan is to leave for Asswan in the morning with the first convoy and meet the other overlanders there, and then get all the ferry stuff done by Monday, November 21.

As I said before, especially after the 1997 attack on tourists, all the tourist vehicles traveling from Luxor to Asswan are required to travel as a convoy as a "security" measure to protect the tourists. This includes the tour buses. The convoy leaves Asswan everyday at 7:00 in the morning and then at 14:00, and travel 235 km with police escort vehicles at the front and back.


We watched the baloons on the other side of Nile in the morning before leaving with the convoy

The next day we get up early in the morning and leave to join the convoy. After looking for it for a while, we find the convoy departure point; and surprisingly we leave at 7:00 sharp as we were told. We are close to the end of the convoy. Once we leave all the tour buses and the minibuses get into a fierce race and they take off along with the police vehicle in the front. Apart from me and another vehicle there is no sign of the convoy ahead. The police vehicle at the back must get tired of these inexperienced drivers "who don't know how to drive" so he also disappears every now and then. When he appears he turns on his siren briefly to "motivate" us. Anyways, at the end of a 3 hour drive we arrive in Asswan. An overweight Dutch man with a white beard meets us at the entrance to Asswan. Chris introduces me to Luc. Luc gets in my car; Chris will walk all the way to the meeting point. Luc is an agitated man. He tries to force the police to open the road which was closed that day due to a marathon race held in Asswan. When he failed to get it open, we decided to follow the road that the police pointed to but that road was also closed by another police. Now we have now dozens of cars that followed behind us. They are all trying to turn around like retreating armies after a defeat. I try to reverse the car, checking my rear vision mirrors and trying not to hit the people and the kamikaze minibuses that get in the way. My speed is about 5kmph. As I was switching from one mirror to another I hear a bang behind me and the car shook a bit. A minibus behind me decided to give way to a vehicle which reversed and tried to come out from the side and the two reversing vehicles (mine and the minibus) hit each other back to back. Result: my spare tire smashes his rear window. I am sorry! Luc immediately finds a high ranking officer from somewhere and brings him over. He completes his mission, with great success as he reconciles the parties and convinces the minibus driver that he was in the wrong. I drive towards the meeting point, still dazed by the events that unfold within minutes following our arrival in Asswan.

The meeting point is at the front of the company where they sell the ferry tickets. All the vehicles are there and so are the crew members… Everyone is gathered and waiting for us. Once I join them we are briefed about the situation. There are no problems with the tickets for the ferry (that will carry the people); we can just buy the ticket and board the ferry. But we have to rent the barge for the vehicles. When we divide the rental fee for the barge by 6 vehicles including mine, the amount we each have to pay turns out to be higher than the amount they claim to charge per vehicle. This makes the others feel uncomfortable since they feel like they are being "ripped off". Even if 7th vehicle which is expected to arrive from Luxor the next day - if its repair work is done - can join the group, the price is still higher than the "official" price. Single and collective attempts have failed to result in a reduction in price. There isn't much else to do, nevertheless they convince me to try my luck as a "master of bargain - Turkish businessman". I go and meet the person in charge. I ask to speak with the company director, we go upstairs and as I make an appointment to see him I introduce myself as a "Muslim Turk" to the secretary. I tell the director that as a Turkish person embarking on this trip for the first time, I am quite disappointed with this price discrepancy and I kindly ask him for a discount that would be satisfactory. Somewhere between pleading and begging, I get a 12% discount. Everyone downstairs congratulate me for my "performance", not sure why. We buy the tickets and we all split to prepare for tomorrow's journey. I settle in a hotel that has a quite room and begin to work on the update you are reading right now. Date is November 20, 2005; that is 16 days ago…

Fellukas on the Nile. Asswan

I get fuel for the car - filling in all the spare fuel containers. From now I need to be prepared in every way. I stock up on the drinking water and food, and prepare the backpack where I put the food, clothes and camping stuff to take with me on the boat. Apart from the backpack I will also take with me my camera bag. I will leave my laptop in the car. Otherwise it will be very difficult to keep everything under control until the car arrives in Wadi Halfa.


Asswan by night

I return to the hotel in the afternoon to rest after a brief tour of Asswan.

In the morning Chris and I leave for the ferry dock by the reservoir. On the way we pass the old dam (the "low" one) and the new dam (Asswan High Dam) and arrive at the ferry pier.

In Asswan there are two dams, first of which was completed in 1902 by the British. When it became apparent that the dam built to produce electricity and regulate the flow of Nile was inadequate by itself to prevent the flooding so it was raised twice. During the period when it was built it was the biggest dam in the world.

Asswan High Dam was completed in 1971 following an 11-year construction period. The dam wall which is 3,830m in length and 111m in height is 980m wide at its foundation. With the construction of the Asswan High Dam which accommodates world's widest reservoir, many historical sites were buried under water. The most important of all the sites that were saved is the Abu Simbel Temple. This temple carved into a single rock was moved about 210m back and 65m up from its original location - with the contribution from Unesco - and placed by carving another rock. Thousands of Nubians in the Nubia region had to leave their fertile lands which would be flooded by the water with the completion of the Asswan High Dam.

On the way to the ferry, we passed a "traveler" on his bicycle. Chris and I talk about how tough it had to be for the cyclist. When we arrive at the pier the cyclist joins us and we start chatting. His name is Nando. He is Spanish, well actually from Barcelona; that is Catalonian. He is traveling around the world with his bicycle. Wait for it… 10 years!


Chris and Nando (the crazy cyclist)

BSoon the other cars arrive and with the arrival of the 7th car we are ready to board. Let me briefly introduce the group:

- Toyota Land Cruiser HJZ75/Luc: Dutch, about 60 years old. This is his third time on a tour of Africa alone.
- Toyota Land Cruiser HJZ75/Hendrik and his 3 friends: Hendrik is working for a Swiss aid organization in Mozambique. His friends will return home from Mozambique. They have to be in Mozambique by the end of December so they are sort of racing against time.
- Land Rover Defender 110HT/Bill and Clair: A young couple from England.
- Land Rover Series III SW : A young couple from Holland.
- Land Rover Defender 110SW : A young couple from England.
- VW Minibus/Rupert and his 3 kids: Rupert who is going to cross Africa in an old VW minivan has lost his wife 2.5 years ago. He is traveling with his 4, 5 and 7 year old children. I will tell more about it later.
- BMW motorbike / Martin : Martin is from Check Republic. He is also heading to Cape Town.


7 cars, 1 bike ready to board the barge

We load our cars on the barge. Only one person is allowed to travel with each car. Hupert (and his kids), the Dutch couple with Land Rover and I, since it wasn't something I considered, gave our rights to others.

There are two alternatives on the ferry. First and second class. First class has limited number of cabins which have 2 bunk beds only. Toilet and lavatory are outside. Second class consists of seats in a dark and badly ventilated lounge in the lower deck… The ticket prices include a dinner during the trip.


I am boarding the car on the barge (Photo by Chris White)

Once boarding our cars on the barge we head to the ferry with our bags. The boarding to the ferry is done through a narrow door which barely allows for one person to go through at a time and in front of it is crammed with people. On one hand the passengers trying to board the ferry, on the other porters carrying the luggage for the passengers inside and returning empty handed, as well as the ferry personnel... We finally make it inside and find our cabin on the first deck. We can sleep in our sleeping bags; it's not too bad. Then we go up to the top deck, to open air. Nando has already prepared his evening quarters; placed his bicycle, detached his bags. It is about 11:00. Ferry will leave "after" 12:00. Don't ask how long after.


We are ready to board the ferry with all our gear (Photo by Chris White)

At around 12:00 the barge departs. It is unknown to us when we will depart. The passengers have all boarded but the "luggage" is still in the process. This ferry is frequented by people who are involved in "border trade" from Egypt to Sudan. You name it, they bring it; anything from blankets, to drills, television sets, canned foods, chips and tapes... They place a few of the many blanket bundles to the corner we are at, so we can sit on them. These will be Nando's bed at night. As you can see we are quite comfortable; kicking back and relaxing.


We are comfortable on the blanket bundles (Photo by Chris White)

The Egypt leg of the trip is complete with the departure of our ferry - finally - at around 19:30, November 21, 2005. I will write about my ferry experience on the Sudan page. I just don't want to keep you guys deprived of my updates any longer.

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