Libya to Egyptian Border Crossing - Salloum
 

Hey people!

Currently Sam and I have made it down to Ethiopia and are having a wee chill out in Addis before potentially facing Lake Turkana into Kenya (all depends on the flash flooding and rains!)

We have had one hell of an adventure so far! Blog wise we have about 25 to upload to our website but due to a combination of how incredibly POOPYSCOOPY the back end of our site is and the tremendously stupid slow internet connection speeds it’s been a mental nightmare to get any up quickly!

I am hoping the next couple of days will see a good handful of them go up but for today I have posted a blog which I have refrained from doing so for many many months until we have been very clear of the country and any potential repercussions.

The blog is on our crossing from Libya to Egypt via the notorious Salloum border. We had the worst experience we have ever had on the whole trip here, myself the worst in my life after being held at gun point for sexual favours.

Please, as overlanders yourselves spread the word of our blog to anyone who may be considering doing the same crossing as us so to help protect them from being in the same situation we were. I know it’s now near impossible at the moment to get visas for Libya unless you fly in and supposedly the border is now shut to foreign nationals (it was in theory when we were there) but this border will not change it’s way for a long time... If ever. Would hate anything to happen to anyone else there.

Take a read here:

Egyptian Border Salloum – Secret Police, Guns and Desperation | Chasing Horizons

On a more cheery note, lots more happy happy joy joy blogs to come in stark contrast to the above!! So keep watching, I will do my best to update on here the links when I can!

We are posting as regularly as possible though on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/chasinghorizons) which has OODLES of photos from Libya, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia! Take a peek at them when you get the chance!

Hope all is mega! Stay safe people x

Clare and Sam
Chasing Horizons | World Travel on Motorcycles

Sorry to hear about your experience. I have been in a similar situation on more than one occasion and I understand exactly how you felt. Sadly the old adage that power corrupts is a true one, whether that power comes in the form of an immigration stamp or a gun.

Thankfully you emerged pretty much unscathed. As I'm sure you are well aware it could have been a lot worse.

Well done for taking the time to document your experience.

Now enjoy the rest of your trip...

Hello Pheebs,

Nice writeup. Eight hours at the border is not impressive (last time we did Saloum in about four on the way in and about two on the way out). But it could be worse - search for writeups about entering Egypt through the port in Alexandria.

It's is sad indeed that entering Egypt with a car or bike is such a pain, especially for first timers. Travel in these parts offers a rather steep learing curve. From my own experience, hiring a fixer is not such a bad idea.

Everybody in Africa knows that time is money - we are supposed to have the money and they have the time, hence it is believed to be a fair deal. Trading your watch on day one is not a bad idea, but don't expect many takers. :thumbup1:

Keep on going!

Interesting. We crossed that border in August and while annoying it wasn't that bad. I just felt like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth all over that damned border crossing getting this and that stamped.

We didn't have to bribe anyone, and we got receipts for everything that was had to pay for...and all of the items we had to pay for lined up exactly with what I had read about prior to getting there.

It took us maybe 2 hours total to get in? In general I find it odd that countries try to make it so difficult to get in but for seemingly no reason. I mean, I get it if there a legit security concern...and one could argue that would be the case coming from Libya with weapons, but they didn't even check our cars. I feel that these processes exist merely to keep the stamp makers in business along with the carbon copy paper industry or something.

Hopefully the rest of your trip is great. We really really enjoyed Kenya, so hopefully you'll have the same experience. Be sure to go to Jungle Junction in Nairobi. It is a fantastic place to relax, meet other overlanders and get great food nearby. There is a Chinese restaurant down the road from Jungle Junction...you should go there! They have a trampoline to jump on while your waiting for you food!