For some Egypt is a familiar, cheap-to-reach destination where they can hunt for work.
Others see it is a stepping stone before a treacherous trip across the Mediterranean.
"Egypt is not for stability, Egypt is just a crossing. We will stay there for two or three months to collect one or two thousands dollars that would take you to the Libyan border."
Sudan's economy has been in free fall.
The United Nations says food shortages affect a third of the population.
Power and water cuts are common and anti-army protests have rocked the streets since a coup a year ago.
Since the military takeover, anecdotal evidence suggests the number of those leaving has accelerated.
The owner of a Khartoum bus company said as many as 30 buses were taking around 1,500 passengers to Egypt from Sudan every day.
That's up 50% from last year despite sharp ticket rises.
One of those boarding on Sunday (September 25) was Mohamed Abdel Moniem.
He's heading to Egypt to register his brother at a university.
Sudan, he says, has "countless problems" - and education is suffering.
Two travel agents estimated that the number of young men seeking to make the journey has doubled in the past year.
But Egypt has its own economic troubles.
Inflation is running at its highest in almost four years and almost a quarter of youths are unemployed, the International Labor Organization says.
Many Sudanese youth, travel agents and migrants say, end up working menial jobs in factories, gold mines or as domestic help.
But by heading to Egypt - a country with an estimated Sudanese population of four million - they have a community they can lean on, and can earn more money than at home.
STORY: At a travel agency in Khartoum, Munzir Mohamed is trying to book a bus ticket to Egypt.
