I hadn't thought about the train to Khartoum for my fiancee. Great idea. Thanks.

Can anyone comment on how often the train runs from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum please? And will it be safe for a white female?

I'll post on the "Travellers seeking Travellers" about her joining a 4WD crew.

Thanks Ali Baba

Mike

NNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Don't even consider shipping her off on the train. The trip along the Nile was one of the great highlights of our trip.

The road is not that bad. Yes there are sections were you might struggle a bit in sand and corrugations and were your Fiancee might need to walk for say a 100m across really nasty powdery bulldust but most of the way is not that bad so long as you take it easy and enjoy the view. Anyway most of the road will be tarred by the time you get there.

A couple we were travelling with did it two up on a 1954 triumph with ZERO suspension and traction (feel free to drop a comment guys) and we did Wadi-Dongola in 3 days. In hindsight we would do it much slower.

The tar road starts 16km north of Dongola (when we were there Dec 07) and is tarred all the way via Khartoum to Gallabat. Brand spanking new and smooth as a well worn tyre...

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Hi Mike
sure you can do it to on ,with the xt ,just make sure to have enough water and some food ,so far i didnt make it there ,but hopefully next November ,or bit earlier (for more than 3 years im planning Africa ,but still on papers only ,errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
the most awful track i rode on is from Siwa to BAhariya oasis in Egpyt 400 km too ,specially if you are loaded and have a heavy bike (Africa twin ) any one you guys made that route?and if you compare it to Halfa -Dongola ,is it the same or harder
cheers

I agree. She may have to do some walking, but go slow and you will love it. It is unspoiled by tourism and the people are just fantastic. A true highlight of my RTW ride. I would have done it slower too, looking back.

A '54 Triumph? Really?

The thing is we'll be in Wadi Halfa in May, and some people have said it's going to be as hot as a camel's fart. If my fiancee has to walk 100 metres in 50 celsius, I reckon my donut's cooked.
I've travelled in 50 plus before but i was fully acclimatised. I'm seriously thinking to put her in someone's 4WD...anyone out there with a Toyota and A/C for the lady?

Mike

Hey Mike,

I don't know about May specifically but more likely than not you'll be hard pressed to find a 4X4 heading south, unless there happens to be some other foreigner taking the same ferry that week.

If not, you'll have to wait an entire week to see if someone else wanders along. And as you can imagine, the boredom of an entire week in Wadi Halfa greatly exceeds the pain of a few 100 meter walks.

You can arrange for a ride in Wadi though if you are absolutely desperate. They will charge you an arm and a leg though, they greatly understand the rules of demand and supply.

The bus also runs south, but in my opinion, being squashed into an ancient bus with no shocks and sitting in that tin can in the hot sun is the exact reason that I choose to ride a bike.

You'll understand when you get to northern Sudan, but the long and the short of it is, there are not any easy solutions, it is the middle of nowhere. You and her will already be used to the 50 degree heat from your time in Egypt and the fact of it is, that the remoteness is what will make this part of the trip exceedingly memorable for the both of you. I've put my girlfriend on buses before to escape long boring sections in other countries, but I would not want anyone to miss the Wadi Halfa ride, it is tough but it is an absolute highlight, as a few people have mentioned.

If you are really worried, about the heat, the most realistic solution is to go to desert riding mode. Get up pre-dawn, no faffing around and head off before the sun has even risen. You'll get in a few hours of riding until the heat builds up. Pick an interesting village when it does, stop for the day and sit beside the Nile, it's not a real hardship.

In short, ride it. Take your time, be careful and you'll look fondly look back on it for the rest of your life. If you want, there are a couple of campsites that we found that were amazing and I can track down the co-ordinates and send them to you.

Yes it will help if you only travel in the morning and spend the rest of the day in villages. There is no shade beside the road so it gets hot.

I was not able to spend a long time because I had only three days to reach the ferry from Khartoum and I overslept in Dongola the second day (started 1200). The third day I had some problems finding petrol and didn’t start before 1300.

Thanks for your contribution, MountainManTop report and we've now decided to follow your insane advice and take the ferry from Aswan and head into the cauldron of the Sudanese desert

Will take you up on the offer of camping sites' co-ordinates please

Thanks, Mike and Tina

hello,
iwill go the trip next year.
i've heared, that there are some difficulties with the residents at abu hamed because of the katarakt there. so it will be more dangerous to go this route.

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