Sunday, January 13, 2008

Mediterranean Sea - The Surprice


We made it to Marsa Matrouh, on the Mediterranean Sea, on way to Libya, but were we in for a surprise. Well this is the story.
We made our way through the Egyptian customs, over to the Libian side, and then our day went totaly pear shaped. We where refused entry into Libya due to some visum translation not in our passports. We had the Arabic translations done for us back in South Africa, but this official was not happy with our translations, and now we where stuck. With single entry visum for Egypt, how will we be able to reenter Egypt again. We will also need to re register the bikes thru customs.( A process whitch has taken allot of time back in Aswan). In all confusion, I have left my ignition on, and as we tried to make our way back to the Egyptian side, no spark! Out came the tools, and after some time only, we found the blown fuse next to the battery box.
Back on Egypt side, the officials really helped us well, and reregistrated the bikes in a couple of hours, and our passports where stamped, single entry cancelled, and we where legally back in Egypt again.
So what now?
As there is only one ferry from Africa (Tunisia), and Libya is no longer an option, we now have to airlift the bikes to Italy.
So we made our way back to Cairo, and made the 700 km trip through rain and cold, but we have our plan B in action now.
The bikes are booked in at Air France, and will leave for Milan on Wednesday the 16 th. We will make sure of custom formalities, and we will then fly out on Tuesday the 15 th, to Milan.
Once we received our bikes on Friday or Saturday, we will make our way to Monte Carlo, Paris, and YES, London.

7 comments:

Buurman Allie said...

Hi makkers. Dis Sondag. Dis La Paloma. Dis rooiwyn. Kim vermy ons, maar ons is sterk. Cape to Cairo - so far so good, well done! Net nog 3 dae uit 3rd world Africa uit. Ons sien uit na julle 1ste 1st world experience en stories! Ons wag in antisipasie. Love, Alan, Marika, Kathy en Rehan...

Rolf said...

Shit Pel.Dis erg. Ek was al gestop deur immigration. Dis 'n baie kak gevoel. Hoop julle kom reg. Sterkte man!

flythefalls said...

Awesome dudes, cant believe how far you have got in the time it has taken me to drive back from table view to noordhoek!

Jan said...

Hi Stephen and Rocco,

I feel bad hearing that you can not enter Libya. It is pitty that I take look on your pages too late, because I found ship connection between Egypt (Israel) and Italy www.grimaldi-freightcruises.com it goes to Salermo, price is around 700-800 Eur per person with motorbike.
Anyway I am at home now and hope your already start to plan your visit in prague :-).

Salty said...

Hey! Can't believe you're sitting in Milan already, have been on leave for a week and just catching up on your whereabouts! Stunning pics from Egypt, looks like you both are really in good shape and doing well! Can't believe you'll soon be home as well - so just enjoy the continent, the sights and Italian food (yum) and we'll see you soon soon! Travel safe! LOL from the Thompsons gang :-)

Rolf said...

Vriende, is julle al in die land van die pasta, wyn en Ferarri's ? Julle blog is baie stil...Ek wag in spanning vir julle in Londen!

Pierre said...

Hi Rocco and Stephen. It was great meeting fellow South Africans by chance at the Cairo airport. Thanks for the great chat! I wonder what happened to Stephen at Malpensa airport (Milan)in Italy.... so we never had our beer together after you disappeared with that friendly lady! You owe me an explanation.... Hope you guys got the bikes from the Italian customs OK on Friday. Good luck with the cold in Europe! Pierre