15Likes
|
|
25 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: London
Posts: 11
|
|
4x4 in Sinai - Egypt to Israel?
I am travelling South to North and would like to take a ferry to Europe from Israel rather than from Egypt. I know that 4x4s are banned from entering to Egypt through Sinai (from Jordan or Israel). Anybody knows how it may work in the opposite direction?
The plan is to take a ferry from Hurgada to Sharm and then drive 200? kilometers to the Israeli boarder. If I manage to reach the boarder would the Egyptians let me cross the boarder? I guess the Israelis do not care whether it is 4x4?
|
26 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Tallinn
Posts: 403
|
|
I fear your 4x4 would not be permitted on the Hurghada ferry. The ban for 4x4s is for the Sinai (the twisted logic being that they could be hijacked and then used against security forces), it does not matter from what direction.
|
26 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 45
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by africano
I am travelling South to North and would like to take a ferry to Europe from Israel rather than from Egypt. I know that 4x4s are banned from entering to Egypt through Sinai (from Jordan or Israel). Anybody knows how it may work in the opposite direction?
The plan is to take a ferry from Hurgada to Sharm and then drive 200? kilometers to the Israeli boarder. If I manage to reach the boarder would the Egyptians let me cross the boarder? I guess the Israelis do not care whether it is 4x4?
|
Hi Africano
I have also considered this option when we depart from SA beginning Jan
See Mehmet's post on a similar
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nderum-66987-3
Reg
|
26 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 45
|
|
If you scour around the forum you will find that there was recently a family who went through the Sinai and exited via Taba with a 4x4 into Israel and tried returning that route to no avail. I recall them also trying to return via Nuweiba which was a no-go as well
Also remember them unning out of options, after numerous attempts at the embasy and eventually having to ship their vehicle back to CApe Town from an Israeli port.
Further research will also lead you to an overlander coming across from Aqaba on the ferry and ended up having to pay again to ship his vehicle back to Jordan.
So, it seems like travel through Sinai via Taba and Nuweiba into Israel with 4x4 is no problem but definitely wont allow you to return into Egypt.
My 2c worth!!
|
26 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 831
|
|
Quote:
So, it seems like travel through Sinai via Taba and Nuweiba into Israel with 4x4 is no problem but definitely wont allow you to return into Egypt.
|
That too what I have read at severall travel blogs.
Surfy
|
27 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: London
Posts: 11
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by lAbArYnth
If you scour around the forum you will find that there was recently a family who went through the Sinai and exited via Taba with a 4x4 into Israel and tried returning that route to no avail. I recall them also trying to return via Nuweiba which was a no-go as well
Also remember them unning out of options, after numerous attempts at the embasy and eventually having to ship their vehicle back to CApe Town from an Israeli port.
Further research will also lead you to an overlander coming across from Aqaba on the ferry and ended up having to pay again to ship his vehicle back to Jordan.
So, it seems like travel through Sinai via Taba and Nuweiba into Israel with 4x4 is no problem but definitely wont allow you to return into Egypt.
My 2c worth!!
|
Thanks everybody for the replies. I will try and will let you know if it works or not. What I can hear so far is that the ferry to Sharm is not operating yet, so I may have to drive around. I am not planning to come back to Egypt -I am going HOME.
|
28 Nov 2014
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Beirut / Lebanon
Posts: 197
|
|
Hi Africano,
To my knowledge, too, it should be possible to cross the Sinai coming from mainland Egypt. The ban seems to be enforced in the other direction only. The problem is that this regulation can change at any moment and the last reports about this topic are already dating a while back.
There used to be a ferry between Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh, but this has ceased to operate more than a decade ago. With the little tourism that is left in Egypt I am pretty sure there won't be any new ferry!
Safe travels,
Achim
|
25 Feb 2015
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 36
|
|
Egypt Israel border (Taba Eilat)
Heading that way soon but have heard recently that the Sinia Israel border has been closed? Anyone have any info? We're on m/bikes.
Thanks in advance
Last edited by Chris Scott; 5 Oct 2015 at 12:34.
|
1 Mar 2015
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: London
Posts: 11
|
|
Egypt to Israel experience
I have now completed the London to Cape and back to London. My last country was Israel. Some practical information about it.
Nobody in Sinai ever asked any questions about my foreign registered 4x4. There were two roads in Sinai where I was escorted by police/military.
Ferry Hurghada to Sinai. My knowledge is limited to the answer a guard gave me at the Hurghada port - "Kaput". So from Hurghada I drove to Sharm via Suez. Given that fuel is very cheap in Egypt driving around is proably cheaper than taking a ferry. If you start very early it is possible to make it to Sharm in one long day. The road is good all the way.
The Suez canal is crossed via an undergound tunnel for a very small fee. It took me about an hour including waiting time. The first time I was stopped at the crossroad from Suez to St Catherines and Sharm. From there a police pickup truck with several armed soldiers accompanied me until Al Tor (1 hour).
In Sharm I found only one place to camp - in Ras Mohammed National Park.
In Dahab I camped in the Lighthouse guesthouse. Very convinient location. In St. Catherines I camped in Fox Camp (by far the best camp in Egypt - good facilities, friendly owners and good food). In Nuweiba I camped in Helnan Nuweiba Bay Resort for 5$. Every other place in Nuweiba is called a "camp" but they have no clue about camping. Still in this very rundown town with very few tourists it is easy to find a "camp" to camp or even camp wild. Wild camping is easy in Egypt and I wild camped about 30% of my time there.
The only other road with an organised convoy is from St Catherines to the crossroad Sharm to Taba. I suggest that you top up your fuel tanks in Dahab as I could not find any fuel after Dahab- there were fuel station, but no fuel.
Egypt boarder. I arrived at 9am. Very light trafic. The first procedure took about an hour - unloading everything from the car, taking it through Xray and loading it back. The Egyptian customs and immigration were very easy - 30 minutes at the most. I had my carnet stamped within 5 minutes without any problems. So a total of 1.5 hours from start to end.
Israel boarder. This was a nightmare. I made two crossing. On the first day the shift was friendly. Again, I had to unload the car and take everything through Xray. I was lucky that the Israelis were very easy on checking my belongings. For an Israely Arab woman it took more time to go through the Xray with 2-3 suitcases than for me with the whole car load. The customs serched every small piece of her luggage manually. She was very pissed off. Then at the passport control they examined my stamps (including Sudan and Somaliland) and the next several hours I waited for a security clearance. The security office was friendly and did not ask many question but I had to wait hour after hour until I got my 90 day visa on a separate piece of paper. During that time my car was scanned in a separate building.
After going through immigration I bought insurance (approximately $150 for 30 days). If you have green card you do not need to buy insurance. Customs for the car did not take more than 10-20 minutes. The only problem I had is that I could not find my UK photo driving licence and gave them the paper counterpart. I was lucky they accepted it. It was 5pm when I left the boarder, so it took me the whole day to cross the boarder.
The good thing is that the beach wild camping area starts several hundred meters after the boarder. For several days I camped at the end of the "wild" zone by the Migdator beach/bar. The benefit of the Migdator location is 24 hour free access to their bathroom faclities.
As I could not find my driving licence the following morning I decided to cross the boarder back to Egypt to check if I had left my driving licence with the Egyptian customs. I left the Landy on the beach in Israel. I expected it to be an easy crossing. It was easy to leave Israel, it took me 10 minutes on the Egyptian side to ask questions but I failed to find my driving licence. The return to Israel was a nightmare. It was a different shift but they were aware of my situation. I was taken to a parking lot and was interegated in a very agressive military style. Luckily I was able to remain calm and answer all their questions in a friendly manner.
After that, I had to wait several hours for a security clearance going through the same procedure as the day before. By the time I was cleared I was grumpy and ready to go mad. I got my second Israeli visa without a problem.
I spent three weeks in Israel and this was a very interesting but controvercial experience.
|
1 Mar 2015
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: London
Posts: 11
|
|
4x4 crossing Egypt to Israel
I crossed the Taba boarder in December 2014 and it was painful but possible. See my today's post for details.
|
1 Mar 2015
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 36
|
|
Thanks folks, just read from Japanese embassy site that one of the terrorist groups up that way are targeting foreigners? So maybe that country is off the table anyway. Thanks for the replies.
|
4 Mar 2015
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 2
|
|
Hi, three weeks ago when transiting through saudi arabia to Jordan we had the information that the border was closed for foreigner after the attacks.
But as everything changes...
So we went to Dhiba in SA to take a ferry to Hurghada
Good luck
Arnaud
[url=http://bostrotters.overblog.com]Le Tour du Monde 2014-2017 des Bos'Trotters - Un Tour du monde en Camping-Car d
|
15 Jun 2015
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 3
|
|
Stuck in Jordan... HELP :helpsmilie:
Dear all and dear Africano,
Africano, thanks a lot for the clarifying information. My brother and I are doing the same trip with our 4x4 only the other way around. We were suppose to take the boat from Aqaba to Port Sudan but suddenly the regulations have changed. This means that we need a letter of permission of the Sudan government. Currently we are stuck in Aqaba and nothing has changed yet. We have tried a lot of things so now we are waiting for good news from our fixer. Without that letter our car cannot go on a boat to Sudan. Our entry visa for Sudan expires on the 3rd of July so we are quite in a rush. Therefor we cannot waste any time and we have to think of a Plan B.
Does anybody know if it is possible to cross the border at Taba and if they allow a 4x4 car (not a pick up) into the Sinai. Even more important, is it safe to travel through Egypt?
We are now thinking of crossing at Taba, through the Sinai to Suez and from Suez to Hurghada, Aswan and then cross the border at Wadi Halfa.
How does it work with a Police convoy?
We have a Carnet but do they force you to get another insurance as well in Egypt?
Does anyone has a number of a fixer in Sinai who can help us out?
Thanks a lot for all the tips! All information is welcome
Best regards,
Daan & Lotte
|
16 Jul 2015
|
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 11
|
|
Egypt to Israel border crossing (Taba)
So ... we crossed the Taba border a few days ago and it was so uneventful that I almost forgot, I promised to post about it ;-)
We left on the last day of our visa and motorcycle registration validity and they did not even bat an eye. not even the slightest remark save for one who checked our passports upon entering the border post.
Entering requires a fee of 2LE pp, nothing for the bikes. There's a huge sign that states all the fees.
Then our bags and boxes got thorougly checked (for free) by two guys (but there's an x-ray machine for the bags).
Customs wanted to charge 51LE per bike but I told him that the sign said 21LE. He was incredulous and showed me receipts of other people who had all paid 51LE - but nonetheless relented and only charged 21LE per bike.
He also discovered that one stamp was missing when they extended our stay on the carnets, but he just called someone in Cairo and everything was fine. I hadn't even realised that this stamp was missing, but Egyptians love their stamps. So better check twice if you got all the stamps on all the papers ;-)
After that we went to the traffic police, they - once more - took our chassis numbers directly off the bikes, filled in a form and we gave back our number plates and the temporary registrations.We were charged 10,-LE for this service, not sure if correctly. (Friends of ours had crossed two weeks earlier and they were also charged 10LE, but they were on one bike - so I did not complain and paid).
Then passport check in the main building and off we went.
To the second very thorough search of our bikes and belongings at the Israeli border. But very professional, friendly and free of charge. Takes some time, though.
Free camping at the beach right after the border. It was evening anyways ;-)
|
17 Oct 2015
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Alexandria
Posts: 426
|
|
Egypt , enter Sinai with your vehicle
good day all
as it is not clear that if you can enter Sinai with your own Vehicle or cross the Suez Tunnel
spoke with some people i know in ministry of tourism and they suggest me that the ministry of tourism can help to get permits to get into Sinai ,
of course i spoke with those people and told them overlanders and how hard to cross Africa and it is a big dream to many of us and they come to Egypt and then they cant get into Europe and so on bla bla bla and that is not good at all for tourists to come to Egypt specially all those travellers have websites,blogs and many many people follow them and will be great if the respected Egyptian ministry of tourism can help overlanders to get into Sinai
and then they will say the truth how Egypt is great country and many tourists will come to visit Egypt
so if you are coming to Egypt and planning to go to Sinai , contact Egyptian ministry of tourism and tell them about your trip and how 1000s of followers following your blog ,diaries and your website and how is that so good to promote Egypt and ask the ministry to help you to get permits to enter Sinai
here is the link to contact them
Contact Us | Egypt Tourism Authority
of course im doing that cause i know how hard to be travelling to a foreign country and i just want to help our beloved community there is chance there that you will get help
and if you will be in Cairo go give them a visit will be faster than mails of course
here is the address link
Ministry Of Tourism, Abbasseya, Cairo, Egypt | Ministries | Yellow.com.eg |
will be waiting for feed back
travel safe
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Next HU Events
ALL Dates subject to change.
2024:
- California: April 18-21
- Virginia: April 25-28
- Germany Summer: May 9-12
- Québec: May 17-19
- Bulgaria Mini: July 5-7
- CanWest: July 11-14
- Switzerland: August 15-18
- Ecuador: August 23-25
- Romania: August 30-Sept 1
- Austria: September 12-15
- France: September 20-22
- Germany Autumn: Oct 31-Nov 3
2025:
- Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025!
- CanWest: July 10-13 2025
- France: September 19-21 2025
Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!
Questions about an event? Ask here
HUBBUK: info
See all event details
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
|
|
|