Christi and I are not sorry to see the back of the Horus Hotel in Aswan. I think  I caught a cold during our stay there (fortunately it was nothing worse than that). We pick up a few snacks for the ferry ride as we have no idea whether the food aboard ship will be edible – at least to our sensitive stomachs –  and taxi to the ferry terminal, which lies south of the mighty Aswan High Dam. Built between 1960-1970 to a Soviet design, it took a further 6 years for the lake the dam created to reach full capacity. The newly created Lake Nasser is 340 miles long and 22 miles at its widest point and covers a surface area of over 2,000 square miles. This is the waterway we will negotiate during our 18-hour journey into Sudan aboard the MV Sinai.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We arrive at the terminal and step into absolute chaos. There is a massive, seemingly disused, shed between us and the MV Sinai. This proves to be customs and immigration. Not the ordered offices one might expect to find at a European or US airport, but just utter mayhem. Egyptians and Sudanese do appear to believe in queueing and a massive security operation is needed simply to keep some sort of order (and the women are probably worse than the men). Before we can even proceed to customs and immigration, though, security verifies that we have valid tickets and valid visas. Next it’s the luggage check.  All bags, and there are some mighty big ones, must pass through the x-ray scanner.  Naturally, the Egyptians and the Sudanese object to these inspections and voices are quickly raised. In fact, we’re surrounded by a wall of sound – if nothing else the building has great acoustics.  

Apparently Sudanese from all over the country take the ferry from Wadi Halfa to Aswan to purchase items not available in Sudan. I’ve experienced this entrepreneurial capitalism before aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. In that case it was Mongolians traveling to Moscow, going on a spending spree, and then selling the  goods they had purchased to people at the train stations in central Russia and Siberia as they made their way home. Any guesses as to the capital of Mongolia…quickly…no? Ulan Bator.   

OK, back to our story. We survived scrutiny of our passports and tickets and the luggage scan. Christi and I must be looking somewhat harassed already because customs wave us straight through (the locals are not so lucky as each of their bags is painstakingly inspected). Finally we are given a departure card to complete, which asks whether we have any Egyptian artefacts that we are attempting to smuggle out of the country wrapped in dirty underwear. Sadly, the only thing wrapped in dirty underwear is my bum – and that ain’t no Egyptian artefact!  My written response is actually a little more contrite. I go with a simple no, which earns me another stamp in my passport and I can now leave Egypt.

We walk about 50 yards and the process begins again, only this time we have to complete forms to enter Sudan. And before we can set foot on the rusty, but endearing, MV Sinai our passports are checked yet again on the gangplank, much to annoyance of the locals who are trying to load a phenomenal amount of goods onto the boat. Finally aboard the MV Sinai, we show our tickets and are taken to a first-class cabin. Our cabin is dominated by a massive air-conditioning unit, which is most welcome.  There is also a small water dispenser and a box of tissues.  The two bunk beds have sheets, blankets, and pillows (not entirely sure how clean they are though so we take out our sleeping bags).  The cabin also comes with two bright orange life jackets (fingers crossed we don’t need these).  Is it a block or a suite of toilets? Either way, two toilets and three wash basins are located opposite our room for men and a similar configuration next door for the women. Here’s hoping I don’t need the toilets for anything other than a quick pee.

The deck below first class is a fetid series of benches that from second class.  All the seats and every piece of space is covered with people and their possessions.  Above first class is deck class – open to the elements, which in this case is extreme heat.  Only the life boats offer any form of shade and the space beneath them is prized territory.  Moving about the boat is difficult due to the crush of humanity and the tons of luggage which is distributed…well…everywhere.

It’s certainly not dull aboard the MV Sinai. While still in port the Egyptian Military Police barge into our cabin (there are no locks) and attempt  to evict us in favor of a group of Italian police who are on a motorcycle expedition to South Africa.  Fortunately our tickets are valid and we refuse to move.  The police huff and puff but eventually leaves us alone.

There is a first class dining lounge on our deck and our ticket entitles us to one free meal. Christi and I choose dinner, but then we have a surprise visit from Mr. Salah of the Nile Ferry Company who sold us the tickets. He wants to ensure we are happy with the cabin and the amenities.  It’s a very kind gesture.  He also advises us to take the lunch as this is the major meal (a rather tasty roast chicken).  Lunch is available till 5 pm, so we eat while still in port. In fact we boarded at noon, but the ferry is not scheduled to leave until 6 pm. And it actually takes until 6.30 pm to load every passenger and every piece of luggage. Sitting low in the water, we slip our moorings and the MV Sinai chugs out onto Lake Nasser. It looks as if we are really going to Sudan.

Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.

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