Day 88, 2011/07/28 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt

Day 88,  2011/07/28 Wadi Halfa to Aswan Egypt

Day 88, 2011/07/28

I managed to get some sleep on the baking hot deck floor eventually, and it was the early morning light that eventually woke me up. All over deck, and in gangways and, where ever people could find space, there were bodies of people sleeping. A real safety hazard I am sure, not that that is a concern to anyone in Africa! I eventually make it to the bathroom after clambering over numerous bodies along the way, to find a guy washing his feet in the basin. Well I guess brushing my teeth can wait until we reach land I guess! By the time I return on deck, the sun is starting to make its appearance and hence the deck has been converted into an open air Mosque. I have never personally been to a Mosque, so it is interesting for me to observe how Muslims pray.
The next 6 hours appear to never end and I can not wait to finally setoff the boat and into some form of civilized environment with aircon and a number of cold beverages. At this point, that looked so far away! 
Eventually, we arrived in Aswan, and little did i know at the time that, the long hard process had hardly begun! First, the authorities would not allow anyone to disembark. Why? Who knows! So we were forced to sit in the baking sun for a further hour. Eventually,the boat docked, and we were allowed to disembark. With everyone hot and bothered from being made to wait in the heat, the disembarking became a free for all. People were trying to carry their luggage which, consisted of about 5 boxes each, off while, at the same time people were trying to board the boat! And all this was happening while the police officials were trying to do passport checks at the door. I in my desperation to get off made an attempt to join the exit queue but, soon discovered that I had bitten off more than I can chew and eventually decided just to wait until more sanity prevailed. 
Eventually,in all the confusion, I managed to disembark,nothing like finally getting off that awful boat. However, the suffering was not over, and we were forced to queue in the blazing heat. Finally, the Cytech fixer intervened and for once being a white foreigner had its advantages and we were given special priority and hustled through security quickly.
With no real idea on where to stay the next couple of evenings, while we wait for the vehicles to arrive, we decide to tag along with the truck overlanders, to their hotel. Farren, the tour leader, was such a nice guy and allowed us to travel with them in their bus. The bus had aircon and I was finally starting to feel like the end of the long ordeal was approaching an end. 
The hotel situated on the banks of the Nile, in the city of Aswan, was called Orchida, and the rooms had aircon. That is all i really needed! It was also vey well priced, and at R85 a night, I thought it was a bargain.
After a quick shower, just to get the body temperature down to something a little more manageable, I decide to join up with the overlanders with a visit NcDonallds. I am not normally a Mc fan however, after the lack of civilization and heat I had to endure for the last couple of weeks, I need some comfort food and what is better than pure junk food!