Avoid Egypt going down? - Alternate route / shipping options

[Überflieger]

Hi Simon,

Did you already get the visa for Saudi Arabia?
Do you want to travel with your wife? Was this a problem with getting the visa?

We also want to start our tour down in december and hope that the situation in egypt will get better.....

PLEASE let us know about your experience with the boarders and especially the available ferry in Aqaba or Jeddah.
Thanks a lot
Regards
Stefan

[SimonLore]

Hi Stefan,

My girlfriend is going with me yes. Like everybody says: it IS a problem because we are not married. But it seems that it will work anyway. I'm waiting for my visa for Sudan before make an application for the visa for saoedi. Because we asked a transit visa for saoedi, this is necessary!

[achim-in-jordan]

Dear Simon,

you can go through Allenby only as a foot passenger, using the shuttle bus. Without a special permit (which is next to impossible to obtain as a foreigner) you can not cross the Allenby bridge with a vehicle or motorcycle!!! For travelers, there is only the Sheikh Hussein Bridge or the Elat - Aqaba border in the South!

Take care,
Achim

[SimonLore]

Okay Thanks a lot Achim.

I just found another website: I don’t want Israel to stamp my passport

and

How to Cross from Israel to Jordan (or Jordan to Israel)

so that part of our journey will be okay! :-)

For the moment I'm searching for ferry ferry ferry's :-)

The best for the moment from Jeddah to Suakin is Baaboud.
For Aqaba - Suakin I don't have yet a shipping company
For Greece - Israël: salamis shipping company

[Africa to Brazil]

Hi all

I find your posts on this thread this thread extremely helpful and I am amazed about how many people are faced with similar challenges as I am.

I am going the opposite direction as most of you, travelling from Kenya where I live to Brazil for the next Soccer World Cup (see www.facebook.com/africa.tobrazil)

Originally, I was planning to drive up to Egypt and take a ferry to Turkey and then travel eastwards to Iran, but until I read this thread I had given up on this options as all ferry companies seem to have suspended their shipping connections between Egypt and Turkey. Reading this thread, however, I have already sent emails to Autoshippers, Unroro and Carshipping Company to get quotes for their services between Egypt and Turkey.

I have two back-up options in case there are no ferries from Egypt to Turkey:
1) Sudan - Egypt -ferry to Aqaba in Jordan - Israel - ferry to Iskenderun in Turkey -Iran
2) Sudan - ferry to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia - UAE - Iran

The main open questions/challenges I am facing are the following:
1) Israel stamps and entry into Iran
Will I have difficulties entering Iran after travelling through Israel. Even if the Israeli immigration officials don't stamp my passport, I will still have a trail of having travelled through Israel in my Carnet de Passage. Two questions here:
a) Will I have difficulties entering Iran if my Carnet de Passage shows that I have travelled through Israel?
b) Does anyone of you have any advice how to avoid this "trail" of having travelled through Israel in the carnet de passage?

2) Ferry Suakin/Port Sudan to Jeddah
I have contacted Baaboud but so far haven't received any response on the following questions:
a) What days of the week does the ship leave Port Sudan or Suakin?
b) How long does the ferry take to cross from Sudan to Saudi Arabia?
c) How long prior to the ferry departure should I deliver the car at the port?
d) What are the cost of shipping a 4x4 vehicle on this ferry?

3) Saudi Arabia Transit Visa
I will go to the Saudi embassy in Nairobi tomorrow to inquiry about the possibility of a transit visa. I will also check with them about the restrictions regarding right hand drive vehicles that some of you mentioned and will share what I find out on this forum.

I appreciate your time in addressing these questions.
Florian

[achim-in-jordan]

Hi Florian,

Just very quickly, will write more details next week:

There is no ferry from Israel to Iskenderun at the moment - the service has been cancelled. From Israel your best bet would be the ferry to Greece which also gives you a "cleaner" passport since your entry stamp will be from Greece to Turkey. If you take the ferry from Chios or other islands to Cesme you could even claim you came directly from the Arab world to there.

Nevertheless, the Sudan - Saudi - UAE - Iran option is certainly the better one and it should be easier to get the visa in this direction. It will also be easier to get the Saudi visa in Khartoum, not in Nairobi. It usually has to be direct neighbouring country.

As for the ferry from Suakin to Jeddah, there are two companies, Baaboud being one of them. You can buy the ticket directly at the port or at their main office in Port Sudan (less than one hour ride). It is convenient to go to Port Sudan and see the place before heading for the ship. They usually tell you you have to be there at noon, but the ferry does not leave before sunset und takes one night to arrive in Jeddah. I do not know the updates of the schedules, but both ferry companies are running approximately three times per week. I can't remember the fares but they were rather cheap for a Jeep, including a private cabin for about 75 US-Dollar! Compared to the Turkey to Egypt or the Jordan to Egypt ferry it's a real bargain ...

There is no way for a RHD vehicle to enter Saudi! They ask you at the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, at the port in Suakin and at immigration in Jeddah about a thousand times!

Greetings,
Achim

[Überflieger]

Originally Posted by Africa to Brazil

b) Does anyone of you have any advice how to avoid this "trail" of having travelled through Israel in the carnet de passage?
Florian

For Israel you don't need the carnet.

In Jordan you can avoid the jordanian stamp at the exit to Israel by using a so called "tryptik". This customs document should be available at the border.
Hope this helps
Good luck
Stefan



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[SimonLore]

Does anybody know a shipping company from Aqaba to Sudan?

[KevOK]

Why not go through Egypt and Libya? lot less hassle if you ask me!

[SimonLore]

Because of the political situation in Egypt...

[KevOK]

Just stay out of Cairo! Adventure motorcycling...I know someone travelling through right now and she's had no problems. In fact she's staying in Cairo right now. If you believe everything you see on TV you'll never go anywhere.

[the windleys]

Hi just a quick question
We are planning to return to the UK but avoid Egypt unless things change.
The ferry Sudan to Saudi looks a good bet BUT we have a right hand drive.
Is it possible to get a transporter across Saudi from the port?
Alternativley is there a ferry Ro/ro up to Jordan from Saudi?
Any advice welcome

[wearthefoxhat]

Originally Posted by the windleys

Hi just a quick question
We are planning to return to the UK but avoid Egypt unless things change.
The ferry Sudan to Saudi looks a good bet BUT we have a right hand drive.
Is it possible to get a transporter across Saudi from the port?
Alternativley is there a ferry Ro/ro up to Jordan from Saudi?
Any advice welcome

We were originally looking at containers from Turkey to Sudan (but now think we'll ship to Cape Town instead). I dealt with some helpful people at a Port Sudan based shipping company darkaship@darkasudan.com the contact there was Ismail Ahmed. He may be able to point you in the right direction.

[the windleys]

Thanks for that we will write to him .

Just a note it was a fantastic journey down to the Cape especially Ethiopia and Sudan.If you can and it is not too hard try and drive down but the Cape is great and an easy place to start. We drove down to the Cape last September via Egypt but shipping in to Sudan could be a good option .

[achim-in-jordan]

People at the Saudi embassy in Khartoum and at the port in Jeddah told me that in fact RHD vehicles are forced to be loaded on a truck for the transit to Jordan. So, yes, these transports exist. They are expensive though I don't know the rate. But the way insisted inquiring whether I owned a RHD made it seem less than likely that I would have been able to even enter the ferry with a RHD.

Greetings,
Achim