Sussing Sudan

[JohnM]

Our destination. Abdul giving a summary of our trip. Normally it would be an introduction on the first day as to what was to come, but the wrap-up was a good reminder and revision.

The museum very helpfully provides a .pdf of its very good guide online for those who may be interested in scoping Sudanese history: https://sfdas.com/IMG/pdf/livretmuse_etenglight.pdf



The museum is not large, but it is well-presented and curated. The top floor is devoted to Christian-era art. It’s deliberately kept fairly dark to protect the exhibits and no photos are permitted there. Lion consuming a bound prisoner is grisly.





The original of the altar from Naga. And some may recognise the bust of Augustus. It’s a replica of the original in the British Museum that was found beneath the threshold of a temple at Meroe and is thought to have been plundered from Egypt by the Kushites in their raids on the frontier late in the 1st century BCE.





Outside, within protective shed-like buildings, are re-assembled sections of various (Kumma, Semna, Buhen) temples from major historical sites in Sudan.







Well worth a visit when you are next in Khartoum....

 

[JohnM]

Then it was back to the Holiday Villa hotel – about a k away on the same road. Everyone else was departing late that night and they had day rooms. My flight was not until the following evening, so I had booked an extra night. They had plonked me in a suite – which explained why I thought the extra night cost was a bit high (but not excessive) but I didn’t bother querying it at the time.





After a freshen-up. We went over to Omdurman and strolled the market (It’s not the done thing to take pics in the markets in Sudan.) before heading over to the site of the Friday evening Sufi Whirling Dervish ritual at the Hamed el-Nil Tomb that is built in a large Islamic cemetery.

As the crowd builds up and the chanting starts, they clear a large circle in front of the mausoleum that the leaders circle. There were not as many of the participants ‘whirling’ on the spot as I intrinsically expected. Nevertheless, a colourful and noisy spectacle to finish off the day and the tour.

For the next day I organised a private tour to fill in the morning before a quiet afternoon and late checkout from the hotel.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning, I had a driver to take me to the very large Saturday camel market on the western outskirts of Khartoum and then to a couple of other sights before a boat trip to the confluence of the Blue and White Niles.

The camel market and the adjacent cattle market covered a large area. A fresh wind and the milling of thousands of animals, and with fodder trucks moving about, stirred up plenty of dust.




Most of the camels seemed remarkably docile and happy to sit down and chew the cud or stand quietly looking imperious, despite the vast numbers and rather chaotic scene. Many of the camels were hobbled to stop them bolting when being herded about on three legs, which looked somewhat comical.

I was unable to figure out how the selling was organised; it had either not started in earnest or the method was subtle.



Back to Omdurman and remnants of embattlements from the siege of Khartoum which resulted in the massacre of British and Egyptian forces under General Gordon. The shell of a paddle-wheeler gunboat was in the same display but there were no explanatory signs in English. All this stuff is well covered in many easily-accessed accounts of the British 19th century involvement in Sudan.





Kitchener’s last gunboat, the El Melik, lies slowly being engulfed by trees in the grounds of the Blue Nile Sailing Club. It was floating on the edge of the river until an unusually high flood in the 1980s left it stranded on land.

 

[JohnM]

Oops, sorry about the duplicated pic. Won't try to fix it,

 

[JohnM]

A glimpse of St Matthew’s Catholic Cathedral from the sailing club, then along the riverfront drive to take the boat ride.





The route. Tuti Island is a substantial mass of land and forks the Blue Nile (the one that begins here (post #39) in Ethiopia: A North Africa and Middle East ramble), so it’s arguable where the confluence actually is. I was taken to the closer one. It looks less like a ‘confluence’ than at the tip of Tuti Island but it’s the first meeting point of the two flows. Semantics, I guess.

The flow rate was low, so there was no colour differentiation to get a spectacular view of the meeting of the waters.

Here’s a bit of information on the Nile pinched from Wikipedia:

The river Nile has two major tributaries: The White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself. The Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source still undetermined but located in either Rwanda or Burundi. It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow.



Looking upstream of the White Nile. In the mixing area. The flow from the White Nile was more vigorous at this time.



And that wrapped up Sudan. What a blast! I have no hesitation in recommending it. And despite the expectations of many, I survived unscathed!

 

[JohnM]

That evening it was out to KRT for the EK B777 J ride to DXB. There was a general premium pax lounge of sorts at KRT but I neglected to take any pics. It was nothing to write home about but it did keep us isolated until the last stages of boarding and the dedicated bus out to the bird.

No alcoholic bevvies were served pre-take off.

But the Moet slaked my two-week thirst after T/O. I stuck with the whites with dinner as I was pacing myself for the F ride DXB-PER, with only a <2h layover in DXB (see, ye doubters, I do, despite some possible indications to the contrary, have some limited self-control…).




Cool stuff at DXB again. Arrived at a C gate, departing from C19 right next to the F lounge.

EK A380 F 1K.

Aaahhh, pre-departure - that’s more like it! Looks like only two others in F. Better keep the pics full size for @RooFlyer…

EK has certainly used the upper deck forward area much better than QF with their funny little lounge on the right and the CSM’s office on the left.








Shower time after the first bottle of Dom, dinner with a sampling of the five reds and a nap, a few hours out of PER.





Suitably refreshed, I recharged my glass and took my life into my own hands and ventured through the J zoo to the bar. The Dom discreetly followed… I spent a polite amount of time there before retreating to the sanctuary of 1K…

Aaahhh – Rotto (aka Rottnest Island) – the scene of many a gargled wine… For those who have viewed Rotto from the mainland coast, the E-W axis is vastly greater than the N-S frontage.

And coming over the coast just N of Scarborough looking S along the PERfect coast. The City Beach groyne is near the top and the image vanishes into the City Beach-Swanbourne stretch that is my almost daily PERfect office. IK was most definitely the right choice this time…



And:


That’s All Folks!

 

[RooFlyer]

Currently planning to do Sudan as part of my next DONE4. QR flies the route, with a two class bird - F and whY . And there is an exception made here for the 'downgrade to Y if no J on the service'. For DOH-KRT-DOH, it's bump up to First

 

[craven morehead]

Another amazing and different TR @JohnM many thanks

 

[VPS]

Fascinating TR and thanks for taking the time. I have no desire to go to Sudan (and couldn't possibly cope with bush camping for that long) but found it really interesting. I loved my time in Egypt and it was interesting comparing the number of pyramids etc.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for some absolutely fascinating photos and commentary.

 

[fifo]

Great report thanks. I had planned a sudan trip in January next year, however due to work it has to wait unfortunately.

That said it seems all of the action was in the last 4 or 5 days of your trip? Would you if planning for someone else consider cutting something off the first part? Or is it an organised itinerary?

 

[JohnM]

Great report thanks. I had planned a sudan trip in January next year, however due to work it has to wait unfortunately.

That said it seems all of the action was in the last 4 or 5 days of your trip? Would you if planning for someone else consider cutting something off the first part? Or is it an organised itinerary?

Glad you liked it and that it may help in tour planning.

It was a tour and clearly intentionally put together to offer the contrast. As it was a British company, I'd say that it's aimed at including the desert stuff for Brits and Europeans to experience something very different in terms of landscapes, the 4WDriving, Formation Bogging Team tryouts, seeing lots of stars at night, experiencing solitude and so on, as well as the historical stuff. I've done a lot of travelling in the outback and in remote places around the world. So, although the remote stuff was not new to me, the endless vegetation-free landscape was a slightly different experience. I never cease to stop loving remote locations, so I was keen to do the full circuit. It's clearly not for many and there are options to do about a 6-day loop of the main archaeological sites without camping.

The Italian Tourism Company is the pre-eminent destination management company in Sudan, so scope them.

I also came across this which looked good:
Beneath the Sands of Sudan | Wild Frontiers and pointed @RooFlyer to it.

 

[fifo]

Great points, i had originally planned 4 days with a local outfit as below.

[email protected]

 

[fifo]

Im not sure what quality was going to be, but for 500ish eurs for 4 days from memory for a personal tour, seemed pretty decent.

 

[JohnM]

Im not sure what quality was going to be, but for 500ish eurs for 4 days from memory for a personal tour, seemed pretty decent.

Looking at what they list as their 5 day program, it looks fine to cover the key archaeological sites. You'll stay at the permanent tent place at Meroe and the Nubian Rest House. (It looks like just about every operator uses those Italian Tourism Company places for accommodation. I think that, outside of Khartoum, there is little to no accommodation choice apart from those places at the key sites, and camping outside of that.)

One thing to be very aware of:

If you are going to Sudan immediately from Australia, do not try to leave Australia without the entry permit which is needed to get the visa on arrival. Make sure your operator emails it to you. If it is evident that your final destination is KRT, you will be asked at checkin here to show it - and again at the port of departure to KRT - ie. I had to show it at checkin at PER and at the boarding gate at DXB.

You won't get into Sudan if there is an Israel stamp in your passport - but I don't imagine many people allow their passport to be stamped by Israel.

Once you have that (I printed the emailed version and I think a printed version would be best), it is plain sailing, if a little slow and shambolic, when you get to KRT. But the officials are all cheerful and not in any way intimidating - in fact far from it. You should expect to have a representative of your operator meet you and they will have the original of the entry permit which they will pass to you or the officials to in turn validate the whole thing.

The mysterious ways of the bureaucrat...

 

[RooFlyer]

Great points, i had originally planned 4 days with a local outfit as below.

[email protected]

I too have been looking at a shorter tour of Sudan, maybe up to a week. The Italian tour company run a two day and 6 day tour, but it's not scheduled and runs on request. For just one pax ( Moi) it would be about A$600 per day.

I'll start a thread on Sudan Tours where hopefully we can share some ideas.

I always admire JohnM's adventurness, but as I pointed out to him, I spent 10+ years of my career in swags with bush toilets; these days I prefer my stars in the hotel rating, not twinkling above me as I flick away the scorpions!

 

[fifo]

Acrople hotel in kathmandu also runs trips from memory. Some of these prices are quite a lot for a camping trip!
I feel like they price based on how exotic the destination is.

 

[drron]

Loved doing the trip through your eyes JohnM.No way will I be repeating your adventures.Awaiting RooFlyer's TR to see if that might make the grade.Certainly a truly interesting TR.

 

[RooFlyer]

Acrople hotel in kathmandu also runs trips from memory. Some of these prices are quite a lot for a camping trip!
I feel like they price based on how exotic the destination is.

Yes! If you think of the cost base of some of there places, there's a lot of money being made by someone!

 

[fifo]

I remember walking down the main drag of newtown a few months before leaving for peru and stopping at intrepid shop. they wanted 1200 aud and a local payment for the inca trail 4 day hike, i think it included a nights accom as well at the end or start in a dorm.
I had booked with peru treks for 400ish usd over booking with llama treks for around 550 or 600.
When i got to peru, i found out the intrepid guys were just hiking with llama treks. pretty much on the same schedule and campsites as us. thats some markup for sending a few emails! back when aud was around 90 us cents from memory.