trying to reach turkey from egypt, any way possible

[chiromal]

Hi, We are 4 motorcyclists from Cape Town stuck in Aswan, 19.02.2012, waiting for the barge to bring our bikes from Wadi Halfa. We're trying to plan the way ahead through jordan and syria to Turkey, over the next week or so. Any updated advice and personal experience is welcome w.r.t. access to syria, visa processing in Egypt, eg. how long it takes, if at all; having GPS, cameras, laptop.

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

No worries, Turkish menalines will start transferring cars,trucks and bikes between alexandria and mersin very soon...tomorrow evening will post all details here as told by the company mngr. 5 days ago...

It was planned to start the ferry services between 2 countries by first week of last december..
Hope nomore delays happen.
Keep fingers crossed until Feb.27 Mersin-Alexandria and Feb.28 Alexandria-Mersin.!!!
Best wishes.

[michnus]

This is some good news, are there any ferries from Isreal to Turkey perhaps? We want to go from Egypt to Jordan then Isreal and try to get to Turkey.

Chiromal how busy was the ferry going into Egypt and was it not possible to get your bikes onto the ferry rather than the barge?

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

First start is on feb.27.

MERSIN(TURKEY)-ALEXANDRIA(EGYPT)
every monday and thursday afternoon (certain)

ALEXANDRIA-MERSİN
every wednesday and saturday
roll on/roll off ferry service for trucks,cars,bikes and passengers

ship owner... Turkish menalines
ship name.... Rüzgar
capacity...... 120 trucks
photo.......... Below

Ticket Sales
MERSİN agent.........: Atakol (0324)2386830
ALEXANDRIA agent...: Kadmar Shipping

alexandria
32.saad zaghloul str.
(203)4862832- 4860689-4840680/3 lines
fax (203)4848326
general@kadmar.com

Also has offices in...:
cairo
15 lebanon street,el mohandesein,cairo
20-(0)-233445734 and 33052284

port said
El mahrousa building, mahmoud sedkey and banama str
20-(0)-663344016 and 18 fax.17
20-(0)-663354330
portsaid@kadmar.com

Just had a meeting with company owner in istanbul main office and will meet again a few hours later to learn prices and schedule (not clear yet)..

There are so many trucks waiting for this ship on the way to/from Gulf countries so make your reservations at once and get your tickets.

Wish you all happy and safe trips.
mehmet zeki.

[michnus]

istanbul bisiklet motosiklet thanks very much for the info

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

nomore news for today..let's keep fingers crossed for nomore delays and let's keep this thread at first page as this information is very important to all friends who are stuck in the area..
I will continue updating situation 7/24 as ı get current information from the sealines company main office mngr.

Best wishes from İstanbul Bikers Club.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/istan...00832336638060

[Anacondor]

Thanks a lot, istanbul bisiklet motosiklet! I am looking forward to read your new posts.

[roamingyak]

Thanks very much mate.

Just to clarify, especially for those of us with a 4x4 or bigger, can we drive our own vehicles on and off this boat?

As you say roro which can often mean that the port people drive on and off, which usually means many things are stolen etc.

There is no way an Egyptian port worker is driving my landy at the moment

[Anacondor]

Indeed, Roamingyak, indeed. I'm not really looking forward to having things stolen from the inside or roof of my carefully packed Landcruiser, or even worse.

Would that indeed be a realistic scenario? Can't you just stay in/around your vehicle on the ferry?

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

Information received so far:

1-you will be travelling together with 120 trucks which will continue driving to gulf countries full of goods.
2-after completing customs formalities,you will drive in and out the ship yourself.
3-cabin upstairs with beds will also be available at extra charge.
4-it will take 24 hours between mersin and alexandria.

But pay attention pls...
make early reservations as soon as they start... demand may be more than the capasity and be strong to fight with egypt customs!!! Hope new system will be more easy there.
After landing better write all your experiences here which will be certainly very useful for the following travellers..

company details..:

they promised to send the ticket prices by Email...
will copy here as soon as I get the mail.

ship.com.headquarters.
MENA Lines
Email:
info@menalines.com
Telefon : (0212) 246 4560 pbx.
Faks.... : (0212) 248 2060

mersin agent
atako denizcilik

Telefon : (0324)2386830-PBX
Faks : (0324)2382318

Şehir : MERSİN

Web Page...:
http://www.atakol.com.tr
(unreached by me)

E-Mail :
marketing.mersin@atako.com.tr / mersin@atako.com.tr

Dialing systems for Turkish telephones...:
(Still we got mails and see that some mistakes have been made in dialing)
if you call from outside Turkey forget the zero at the beginning.
90-324-2386830
if you call from other Turkish cities
0324-2386830
if you call from mersin
2386830

continue keeping fingers crossed until it starts, who knows what will happen next day in the area.


Best wishes

[Anacondor]

Is there any reasonable expectation that the RoRo will indeed depart on 27 February? I have to decide tomorrow morning whether I will drive to Mersin or to another part of Turkey...

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

@anacondor
still very hard to reply that question...today evening called directly owner of the ship and company, even he is not sure what may happen tomorrow..
But he is very keen to start running between mersin and alexandria at once...So many trucks are waiting around mersin and sure he will earn good money.
You can also ask them or mersin agent personally.
Sincerely our prays with you and others who are stuck in Egypt..Wish we could do more for you..
Wish you all the best.

[Anacondor]

Thanks for your quick reply. Do you think it would make sense to drive to Mersin now; I mean, do you think that the chnnces to get our ticket (if there RoRo will depart) will be higher than when we try to arrange that from a distance?

By the way, I understood another RoRo will depart from Mersin to Alexandria on 12 March, but no passengers are allowed.

[Anacondor]

I now arrived in Mersin, hoping for some good news from someone here at the forum or at the harbour. Please keep us updated; should I get any news, I will share it asap.

[rupertu]

hello all... this is good news. We have been in Egypt several months having motorcycled from South Africa and en route to China. We visited Israel and Jordan as a side trip but did not proceed through Syria as we are a Chinese and a British and between us pissed off either a government artillery gunner or a terrorist/rebel.

We have a following of over a million in China and writing for several adventure/4x4 publications/ TV shows and so keen to get on.

We will ring booking office and enquire whether two bikes can get aboard.

www.bigbiketrip.net