During our last day in Aswan some of us visited the Aswan High Dam and the Philae Temple. The High Dam was closely monitored by the Egyptian military and there was even a tank standing right next to it. All visitors got inspected and then had a look at the 111 meter high dam impounding the River Nile to form the Lake Nasser. Due to the flooding the Philae Temple is now situated on an island and we had to ask one of the locals to drive us over with their boat.

In the afternoon we were chilling out in the surrounding area of the hotel such as going to the grocery to stock-up some food for the ferry ride into Sudan or having fish soup for dinner in a sea food restaurant just around the corner. Two female travellers went off to get a full body waxing but got refused with the reason that white women only look for some kind of sexual satisfaction through this. They did not even want to wax their legs…

Tom, our driver, had some good news. All remaining travellers have obtained their Sudanese visa today so we are ready to enter the adventure of Sudan. The ferry is supposed to leave on Monday 4pm. We have reserved first class cabins which are according to Tom more like a prison room but not lockable. Therefore, we need to carry all our belongings with us at all times so that they don’t get stolen.

Once we are arriving in Sudan there will be a local guide waiting for us who will help us on our journey in Sudan. He is expected to help us through customs, guide us to points of interest in Sudan and to take care that we only travel in safe regions without any conflicts. Therefore, our route in Sudan is not yet decided. We might go to Port Sudan for diving and later on to the capital Khartoum. We plan to spend 1-2 nights in the border town Wadi Halfa until our truck arrives by boat from Aswan and then do two weeks of bush camping without any facilities until we arrive in Khartoum. I’ll expect that I’m not able to write any blog updates until than or latest when we enter Ethiopia in maybe three to four weeks.