Hi Allan,

1 - can't remember the day it goes North but basically just turn up the day before and all will be sorted. Definitely the schedule is on the HUBB somewhere.... Ideally get the number of the guy who sorts things out in Wadi Halfa and give him a bell from Khartoum. As a tip for Wadi Halfa don't bother to stay in the hotels there, not very nice or particularly cheap either. Just ride out from the town a bit and camp in the desert.

2 - There's plenty of sand, some bad sections of deep deep corrugations and some good stuff too. They're well on the way with building a new tar road so you can use that for long sections. It's all quite doable though. Advice would be to take it slow, be prepared to spend at least 5 days from Atbara and carry a lot of water. There are plenty of villages most of the way and they all have shade and water which you will need to purify ideally.

3 - Yep you get the Egypt plates in Aswan and return them at the border you leave Egypt from. Aswan port is a bit away from, town so you have to leave your bike at the port and go into town to sort out the plates. You'll probably have to leave your bike at the port and sleep in town at least one night.

4 - I didn't particularly enjoy most of Egypt personally. Lots of hassle in the tourist areas and the convoys were a pain in the arse. But places away from tourists were nice and the Sinai laid back. But the ride up the Nile in Sudan was a definite highlight for me so I would strongly recommend going through Egypt even if only to see the North of Sudan.

Hope that helps. Cheers

Richard

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