Leaving Luxor early the next morning I was delighted to find that there was no police vehicle waiting to escort me, so I could get on with my 300 km trip to Aswan. The first 50 km I drove along the eastern side of the river, with it’s numerous speed bumps as well as many small fires right next to the road. It’s the Egyptian way of getting rid of all their rubbish. You just cannot avoid the smoke and it gives off really nauseating fumes, which on the bike with a helmet can be quite sickening. At the first opportunity I turned onto the Western Desert Road, moving from lush green fields and plantations along the Nile, to stark desert with long straight roads and barely any traffic. 

Watching a program on the Nile or seeing pictures of the river will give you an idea of the scale of this waterway, but driving along the river you start understanding the mind-blowing significance of the Nile. On my journey I have followed the Nile for many kilometers. It is - I think - the longest river in the world, starting out as the White Nile in lake Victoria, Uganda and as the Blue Nile in lake Tana, Ethiopia. In Khartoum, Sudan the two rivers meet and become the Nile. It snakes it’s way through this African country like a life line, and brings life to this dry land. The rainy season in Rwanda and Uganda fills up the Nile, that carries all the water up north and irrigates everything in it’s path. The value of this river to all the countries it flows through cannot be overestimated. The minute you leave the river, you find nothing but desert. Many times I have been riding along green fields on one side, and sand and desert a stone throw away on the other side. It was a no-brainer for the pharaohs to figure out where to build their temples - close to the Nile, of course!

A few hours later, just before arriving in Aswan, I was welcomed by the Egyptian army who wanted to check my passport and asked me to open the bags on the bike. About 30 minutes later I could drive the last 10 kilometers and check in at the Nile Hotel Aswan, situated right on the Nile river. The only reason for visiting Aswan, was to apply for my visa at the Sudanese Consulate, so I could continue my trip further south into Africa. It is generally acknowledged by “overlanders” that the exit from Egypt at Wadi Halfa, some 300 km from Aswan along a desert road and a ferry ride across lake Nasser, and the entry into Sudan can be one of the most challenging, frustrating and time consuming border crossings in Africa. We will have to see. But first I would have to get my visa.

I got to the Sudanese Consulate bright and early at 08.00 to be told that they would open at 09.00 only. Already waiting at the consulate were a woman and a young man with crippled legs in a wheelchair. Just after 09.00 a police car arrived with two men in handcuffs, who were escorted into the consulate. Eventually, just after 10.00, the doors were opened to a tiny room where we were told to queue, and present our documents through a small hatch. At one point the officer stuck a hand through the hatch window, pointed at me and told me to come into his office. He handed me an application form which I filled in and handed back to him with 2 photos and my passport. The woman who had been waiting when I arrived was also in the room. She turned out to be Ethiopian, and spoke reasonable English. While we were waiting for our applications to be checked, a young American turned up in the office. He did not have a certain letter from his embassy, and was asked not to come back before he had obtained that. Sudan and America are not on the best of terms at the moment!

An hour later I was told to pay the $ 50,00 fee, and come back two days later to fetch my passport. Before leaving I went to say goodbye to the lovely Ethiopian lady I had chatted to, only to find her in tears in the office. I tried to find out what was wrong, but she wouldn’t say anything.

At the Consulate, I finally met my first fellow overlanders since leaving Denmark, a newlywed couple from Holland, driving an old Toyota 4x4 from Cairo to Cape Town. They were going to use an entire year to do the trip - their honeymoon! They had shipped their car from Italy to Alexandria in Egypt, and had tried themselves to clear the car. It proved impossible, and after paying a fixer a substantial amount of money, they finally got their car back. It had been broken into, parts stolen or broken. They had to have it repaired before they could be on their way. Along the way from Cairo to Aswan they had also been escorted by police. They got so fed up with it, that they decided to write a letter where in they stated that they would take full responsibility for their own safety while in Egypt. The following day they went off on their own, without escort. The wife told me that they were not planning ever to come back to Egypt again.

Thursday morning 13/8 at 11.00 sharp, I will be at the consulate to collect my passport, and start the 300 km through the desert to Abu Simbel. I the meantime I will enjoy another sunrise and sunset over the Nile, where the felucca boats are moored and waiting for a new day.