egypt

area
population
capital
head of state
official language
currency
exchange rate

(source: lonely planet)

1,002,000 sq km
62.5 million
cairo
hosni mubarak
arabic
egyptian pound
check out oanda.com
for current exchange rates

ithis information comes from a visit to the country in july / august 2004. things might have changed since then. these are my personal impressions and it's well possible that other travellers will not share my views.

from khartoum, sudan: bring two passport size photographs. the visa costs 6000 dinars and takes 24 hrs to process.
GPS: N 15*36,265' / E 32*31,405'

on the ferry from wadi halfa (sudan) to aswan: you can get a visa on board of the ship. it only costs 15 dollars (less than in khartoum) but i don't know how many photographs you need. in any case it's straight foreward but you'll have to stand in line for quite a while.

getting in and out

to aswan: bringing a vehicle into egypt is a bit of a hassle. the ferry arrives on a thursday afternoon, after two o'clock, when most offices are closed. you are likely to finishe with customs the same day.
friday everything is closed. saturday you can start with the traffic police (sorry no GPS). they'll come with you back to customs (30 minutes out of town) and double check the serial numbers of chassis and engine.
on sunday the insurance office finally opens and you get a contract within 30 minutes.
with the insurance papers you go back to the traffic police who will then give you egyptian license plates.
with the plate return to the port to get the bike form customs

the whole procedure is long and tiring. but i must say that all officers involved had been helpful and friendly.

costs:
customs: 272.-- egyptian pounds
customs (storage): 10.-- egyptian pounds/day
police: 33.50 egyptian pounds (10.-- + 22.50 + 1.--)
insurance: 20.50 egyptian pounds (for a BMW R80 G/S, two months)

from nuweiba to aqabah (by ferry)
rumours had it that jordan no longer let bikes enter their country and that the ferries would no longer take passengers with bikes to aqabah. this has certainly changed. it was no problem to get a ticket for the daily ferry in nuweiba which cost usd 52 per person plus motorbike
the exit procedures were a bit confusing but everyting went easy once you knew where to start. we arrived three hours before departure which seemed good timing.
costs: about 20 egyptian pounds to return the license plates, 15 egyptian pounds to stampt the carnet de passage and another 3 - 5 egyptian pounds for photocopies.

places to stay

aswan: the nubian oasis hotel is cheap, clean and very friendly

cairo: not budget but great value is the windsor hotel behind alfi street. it used to be the english officer's club and has a fantastic bar. rooms cost around 30 - 35 dollars.

other

convoys:
convoys are a bit of a pain in the ass... check with the tourist police from where they start and at what time. sometimes we were told that no bikes were allowed in convoys but we were always give special permission after guaranteeing that we could drive 100 km/h.

syrian visa: at the time of writing rumour had it that it was impossible to get a syrian visa in cairo. no matter what people say try anyways. we were issued visas within 24 hrs, no probs. they cost 140 egyptian pound, you have to bring two passport photos and fill in a form where you have to declare that you have neve been to israel. (costs for US and british citizen seem to be around 600 egyptian pound).
the embassy is on 9, abdel rahim sabri, doqqi, only five minutes walk from the doqqi metro station, off tahrir road.

carnet de passage: to replace an expiring carnet de passage with a new one you first have to go to egypts automobile club in cairo. it's on 10, quasr el-nil, between the cleopatra hotel (close to the nile) and talaat harb circle. enter the back opposite of the KLM office and enter the building with the TAROM sign. the offices are on the third floor but there are no sign boards downstairs.

the people at the automobile club are very helpful and will issue a letter of customs wich costs 214 egyptian pound (50 pound are actually a deposit which is returned in the end. you have to bring your passport, both carnets and all documents for your bike.

at customs it's best to arrive with an arabic speaking friend as all forms are in arabic and the officers are not exactly motivated. otherwise look for a customs agent who will help you for a fee (i paid 100 pound). the whole procedure can take anywhere from one hour to two and they want to see the vehicle. (otherwise expect to pay another 100 pounds in bribes).

they will scribble into both carnets and stamp them. they should also give you a letter wich extends your existing egyptian license. take all of it back to the autombile club where they double check the papers and entries, making sure that you won't have problems at the borders (ask for their contacts at the border, just in case). then you'll get back your 50 pounds deposit and your finished, both with bureaucracy and your nerves :-)