Day 90, 2011/07/30 Aswan

Day 90, 2011/07/30 Aswan

Day 90, 2011/07/30

We meet Mohammed, our fixer, at reception at 830am sharp. He has quoted us $50 each to assist us with getting our bikes through customs and licensed, with new plates. That naturally excludes all the expenses we need to pay, both taxes and bribes. Yes bribes. Nothing happens in Egypt unless things get oiled along the way. Even if it is their job, they normally want to get paid for any effort they exert. Mohammed's dad is our taxi driver for the day, so we will not be hassling for transport all the time. We first visit the traffic department to purchase a set of documents which, we will complete as part of the process. This purchase at least is legal and part of the process. Then off to the port to offload the vehicles and customs. We are fortunate to find the Cytech team also there. Good news, will make the off loading of the bike easier. After the cars are successfully off loaded,it is the turn of the bikes, and just like with the loading, it is organized chaos! There is initially loads of screaming and shouting but eventually an agreement is reached on how it is to be done. Amazing! It actually turns out to easier to off load them than to load them. The fact that there are more than enough big strong guys to assist certainly does help. 
Then customs! It appears to take forever for the officials to complete the forms that we purchased earlier. Why it takes so long? Not sure, perhaps we should have added additional lubrication at some point. Eventually the forms complete, it is the turn of the "engineer" to perform his magic. Not that that is rocket science, and why we needed an "engineer" god only knows but, he eventually takes imprints of our manufacturing plates, which are affixed to the forms. At this point, we part with E£ 600, part taxes, part lubrication. Then off to testing station about 5 km away, to get his autograph on the completed forms. The finally back to the traffic department for the final time. There we purchase third party insurance and get issued a set of new plates. Then back to the port to fit the new plates and collect the vehicles. How anyone does this without a fixer, god only knows. The process is overly complex, unlike anything else in Africa thus far, and filled with corruption that our fixer appears to know how to navigate with flying colours. By the time we are finished the entire process, it is 330pm and we each out of pocket for a minimum of E£ 800! At least we finally in Egypt, together with our vehicles, what a relief. It calls for a celebration, and after picking up Naomi at the hotel, we head for McDonalds for some comfort food.