Turkey to Egypt - OPTION Z - Sanity check required
 

Hi,

We are in Turkey and need to get into Africa to get home. The Sisa Shipping lines are suspended, which means no ferry from Iskenderun to Haifa or Port Said. So here is my plan ...

We are going to drive back to Athens in Greece (from Turkey) and take a ferry from Lavrio in Greece to Haifa in Israel (via south Cyprus). This pretty adventure is going to cost as 1300 EURO + 1300 Shekels for Haifa port costs.

Then we will drive to Eilat and cross at Taba into Egypt, and from there venture down towards Sudan where we will get a VISA in Aswan and cross into Sudan.

(We have the options to go into Jordan and take the Aqaba-Nuweiba ferry to make our entry from Israel less obvious)

I spoke to Mazar (the Sudan fixer) and seems to think VISA in Aswan should be OK as long as no Israel stamp is there, even though it is obvious from the Taba entry stamp. I ask him about Aqaba-Nuweiba, but he seems to think this is unnecessary.

Can I get any opinions, taking into account there are very limited options here. My main fear is getting stuck in Aswan so if anyone has done Taba + VISA in Aswan I would love to know.

No need to ride to Athens for Southern Cyprus. Ride up to Tasucu / Mersin In Turkiye and take the ferry for Northern Cyprus. Just pass to south and take the ferry for Haifa.

And do the rest as planned...

Only 2 cents...

Hi Samy,

I am no expert here but due to a specific warning from the shipping companies I understood I could not take a car from north to south.

I have now read some forums and my interpretation is that bringing a car from Turkey into North Cyprus, and taking it to the South will be illegal.

We have South African passports and I have also a brittish passport (my brother has Schengen VISA).

:(

If you're driving a 4x4 and plan to cross at Taba, you might want to take this into consideration:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...gh-egypt-71948

Happy trails,

Gee

I would recommend diverting via Jordan to muddy the waters re your routing.

There seems to be an issue crossing at Taba anyway (see link in previous post) but even if you manage it your carnet will be stamped on entry to Egypt and it will be very obvious where you've come from.

Even if you go via Jordan you may not be able to avoid evidence of passing through Israel in your passport. Immigration are used to people requesting a stamp on a separate piece of paper, but customs aren't and they are supposed to record entry of the vehicle in the passport.

It will depend on the individuals at the border post and in the embassy on the day.

Best of luck.

Thank you guys. The advice and hints of optimism are so valuable :-)

I think the Jordan via sounds like a good plan.

I have a special last resort weapon at my disposal, which is I have a UK passport as well. I could use this for Israel (customs) and maybe Jordan to erase my past :thumbup1: and use my South African passport (and my current Egypt VISA) only for Egypt. This will look like Greece to Nuweiba ferry, but my brother only has SA passport, so he could expose the scam resulting in a worse situation I guess.

Perhaps it is better not trying to be too clever.

Might be too late to chin in here, but if you do go through Jordan - consider going through the Allenby/King Hussein crossing. They are used to people not wanting stamps there. There will be a little strip of paper at the window where you submit your passport. Put your details on that and submit it with the passport - they will stamp the paper rather than the passport. Then submit the whole lot again at Aqaba.

Safe journey

I will do exactly this!! Thank you for the advice bier

I am very happy about all the information - it feels like this could work.

Does anyone know if a fixer is necessary in Nuweiba? I have read some threads of people getting helped by 'tourist police'. If yes, does anyone have a contact for me? :palm:

I am 99% sure you can't take a private vehicle over at Allenby. You have to south to Eilat or north to Jordan River.

I have only exited at Nuweiba but it is much smaller and lower key than Aswan or Alex and doesn't have the same fixer culture. That's not to say one wouldn't be helpful because everything is in Arabic. We had someone help us on exit - it took an hour and a half of constant activity ferrying different bits of paper around and getting the necessary stamps - we paid him $10 which was worth it.

I've no personal experience of this, but this thread is clear enough about the access over the Allenby bridge:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...st-issue-72019

Good news..
 

Ferry from iskenderun to damietta is going to run again very soon..
(Vehicles by ferry,passengers by air.)
More details a few hours later...

This is just a brief information approved by several bikers on the way to Africa until problems started and I just got the reply from the ticketing company for my old dated several messages.

Remon Travel is the office for reservation and all tickets from İskenderun to Damietta....Also I was told that prices would be given daytime unfortunately not until now...

Here are the links to get in touch..
https://www.facebook.com/RemonTravel
Remon Travel

What I am told are;
1-vehicles are sent by ship and passengers by flight..
2-prices will be given today!!!!!
Ship goes to damietta from İskenderun and passengers to egypt by flight!!!!!.
we are the office for reservation and ticketing for both..

For me,this is just a step to be helpful for those who are stuck on this route..
(Unfortunately several at both ports)
Sincerely hope this really helps...

All the best...



ORIGINAL MESSAGE....13.SEPTEMBER...
Merhabalar , baya bir geç oldu ama yogunluktan dolayı sayfaya göz atamaıdk , şuan sadece araç ve motorsiklet gönderebiliyoruz , yolcuları da ucakla yolluyoruz
12:08
Remon Travel
fiyat için size dönecegım gün içerisinde , İskenderundan, Mısır Damietta limanına gidiyor gemi.. Ucakta Mısıra , rezervasyon & bilet bizden kesiliyor ,

I know this thread has moved on to Israel / Jordan options but, per above quote, cars and bikes can be taken into northern (Turkish) Cyprus. We recently did this and got the boat Tasucu - Girne, then crossed into 'southern' Cyprus at Nicosia. A bit of hassle and various bits of paperwork required, but quite standard practice.
The vehicle can temporarily stay in 'southern' Cyprus for up to 6 months on a CP5 permit that you get at Nicosia border.
The issue comes when you try to leave. There is no way Customs will let you leave Cyprus from Limassol port if you have come in from the Turkish side. We have tried containers and ferries. Even spoke to a cruise line.
Cyprus Customs officials get very upset if you try to leave from Limassol and will threaten confiscation of the vehicle. They send you back exactly the way you came in (just to teach you a lesson, I guess) as they are not prepared to officially recognise the Turkish 'illegal' occupation of the north and consider it an illegal (but tolerated) point of entry to the island.
Perverse, but it seems they're sticking to their guns.

Thanks itchyfeet and walkabout for the clarification. Indeed, vehicles can not cross the Allenby / King Hussein border! This is for foot passengers only who have to use a shuttle bus. Some exceptions are made for UN, dipolomats and the like but it's a tidious and time consuming process (about 4 weeks) to get the permit which to my knowledge is never issued to travelers.

Greetings,
Achim

This may be correct - I've only ever crossed King Hussein/Allenby in a Diplomatic vehicle - but I know plenty of people who've crossed on personal motorbikes - maybe there is an exception for them too...?
But my earlier comments about the slips of paper still stand - and I'm pretty sure they do that at the other borders too. :scooter:

Update:
 

The eilat-aqaba crossing was happy to offer a slip on which they stamp, and this includes customs. The carnet document now has a page used by Jordan customs, but that is easy to remove temporarily.

SINAI UPDATE:

As of 5 days ago no 4x4 vehicle are allowed to enter Sinai through ANY port including Nuweiba. This is now renewed and enforced and people have been turned back. As a result ABMarintime no longer takes 4x4 on the aqaba-nuweiba ferry. We have checked this with the egyptian embassy in Aqaba. They phoned and confirmed this newly enforced rule. It is not even possible to ship a 4x4 on a truck - also confirmed.

We have to choice but to ship the car in a container to Egypr mainland. This service is offered by Kawar and will cost $1500 USD including everyting except egyptian side customs clearance / agency.

A truely crap situation to be in. We will ship the car next Monday and take a passenger ferry to nuweiba and bus to Cairo to collect.

Very sorry to hear that. I'm sure you've seen others posting here in the last day or two are in a similar situation...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...459#post438365

Any chance of sharing a bigger container for a lower cost (and some moral support)?

Just a thought but is it possible to ship to anywhere on the Red Sea coast. Going back through the Suez canal is going to cost. Port Sudan may be cheaper/easier from Aqaba than say Port Said (and would save you the cost and pain of importing to Egypt)

Or any possibility of getting a transit visa via Saudi and then the ferry to Suakin? Given the "exceptional" circumstances? Probably not but may be at least worth a try.

Awesome idea! We are aiming for shipping on Monday next week. Not sure how long containers are but if the truck is < 2.3 m high then yes.

Skype: 'bergietrollie'

Frederik.lotter@gmail.com

The container ship from Kawar is from Aqaba to Sokhna so is on the Red Sea side . no Suez pass.

ISO containers
 

The commonly available containers are either 20 foot or 40 foot long with the same, standardised, height and width, hence allowing them to stack like lego bricks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermodal_container

Shipping info
 

Hi

If anyone needs to ship to Sokhna in Egypt here are some info that could save you time. These are copy-paste email replies as I am sending from a phone:

---------

Below is a reply to someone else with the same question. We investigated* many options including via Saudi. I am quite confident there is only one option if you want to go to Egypt from Aqaba which is to put your car in a container. Yes this is much more expensive that ferry services. The shipping company is in Aqaba just over the border from Eilat.

Park you car here:

http://goo.gl/maps/1hyf5

The company is Kawar and is here (walk here):

http://goo.gl/maps/n306O

You can ask for Nidal from the Containers department. His number is +962 7 9822 4454

-----------

The ship leaves on Mondays or Tuesdays. The car has to be prepared a day or two before. The price all inclusive, EXCLUDING Egypt customs are $1500.

We are planning on leaving Monday...

The standard container is 2.28m high and 5.9m long (internal/door dimensions). The price is for this one. There is a 12m container which should take two cars . i have not asked the price but I am sure it would be more cost effective.

The boat departs from Aqaba and arrives in Sokhna.

We have spend the whole day in Amman investigating a route via Duba in Saudi Arabia. This is a dead end for multiple reasons. Transit visa not available for yourneys to egypt (non gulf countries as destinations).

The only other option I am aware of is a shipping to Kenya from Aqaba. The total all inclusive cost for this is $2500.