Getting to know Khartoum

Every morning in Khartoum we woke up to the Muezzin’s loud call to prayer – the mosque was only a couple of metres from where we were camping. Way too early to get up, however, we would just lie on our sleeping mats until it became too hot and sticky to lie there any longer. I would then jump in the ‘shower’, and I use the term shower very loosely. The men’s showers were better than the ladies’ which had only a small trickle of water. However, you’d have to contend with two resident red tape-like worms who seemed to survive every effort to flush them down the drain. The water was cold (of course) and only a little bit more than a trickle but it was still just enough to cool you down until you got dressed again.

On the first day, Shaun, Karen, Dom and I were keen to explore Khartoum so we headed out in a taxi to the Omdurman souq (market). We managed to find the souvenir section after much asking around (only a few locals spoke English and I wish I spoke some Arabic!) Most of the souvenir stalls seemed to contain either antiques or dead animals. There were lots of croc and snakeskin purses and handbags; one even had a baby crocodile head as the clasp! Gross. 

 There were also croc-head ashtrays

and stuffed geckoes were hanging above our heads. Whilst the dead animals weren’t really my thing, what was nice was that we didn’t get harassed at all in the shops; the shopkeepers would simply invite us in, show us their wares and otherwise leave us alone. It was such a nice change. The one thing I really wanted to purchase though I could not find for the life of me. I wanted a hand-held fan as it was so goddamn hot but I couldn’t find one anywhere. Either no-one understood what I was asking for or they simply don’t have a need for them. I just had to ‘suck it up’ once again as Princess would say.

At around 1pm, we started getting peckish but of course knew we would have trouble eating as it was Ramadan. We’d thought about finding some fruit and sneaking off down an alleyway to munch on it or bring it back to the confines of our campsite. But we ended up finding a shelf of boiled eggs that were peeking out from behind a semi-drawn curtain.

Thinking we might be able to buy some and eat them later, we went to investigate. As it turns out though, it was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with about 10 seats and some locals were inside eating and drinking. We were just as surprised to see them as they were to see us! We settled in and had some deliciously fresh pineapple juice and felafels in tasty, fresh bread with spicy sauce and fresh salad. Delicious and so surprising! We didn’t think we’d find any food at all during the day but I think these places exist as many people (e.g. if you’re sick, pregnant, travelling, etc.) have exemptions to Ramadan – one old man for example was clutching some over-sized pills. In actual fact though, I think I can nearly handle not eating during the day. But I certainly cannot handle not drinking during the day, particularly when it’s over 40 degrees and humid - oh and you have to cover yourself up which makes it even hotter! When you can only manage to sneak a drink here and there you only narrowly end up avoiding a headache each time. I can’t imagine how dehydrated you would get if you didn’t drink all day long and were not used to the heat!

We stretched out our touristy activities given we had a lot of time here. One day we visited the Sudan National Museum where I spent an excessive amount of time at the exhibits with fans or air-conditioning in front of them! And another day, we went to see the confluence of the Niles (where the Blue and White Nile meet). That excursion was a bit of a saga. After waiting two hours longer than expected, we finally got into our ‘speed’ boat with a 75 horsepower engine whose battery went dead as soon as we arrived and promptly had to be changed. When we finally set off, however, we got there in no time at all - the Blue Nile was flowing very swiftly. Unfortunately we couldn’t see a change in the Nile river colour at the confluence – it was all brown.

After a few minutes, we turned around to head back, we soon realised we weren’t going anywhere at all. The river was flowing so fast and the engine was so ineffectual, we were struggling just to stay in the same spot! We realised we’d never make it back in time for dinner so we ended up getting our guide to pull over to the side of the river so we could get a taxi back!

Night time during Ramadan is a completely different world. Everything opens and everyone is out and about. One night we went to Little India for Jo’s birthday. Most restaurants we went to, this one included, have outside cooling systems – like little sprinklers above you that let out a cool mist of water that gets blown about by a fan. It’s still pretty hot though even at that time of night. Weirder than the heat, however, was not being able to have an alcoholic drink to celebrate Jo’s birthday and cheers’ing with water, soft drinks and fruit juices! Another night, Midhat, our local contact, took us out to dinner at Delicious restaurant, again with the sprinkler system overhead.

The outdoor restaurant was packed and tables were overflowing with food and non-alcholic drinks but no-one was eating or drinking. We realised it was because there were a few more minutes to wait until they could. What discipline it would take seeing all of that food and drink in front of you after not eating or drinking all day long and not being able to touch it! After dinner, Midhat took us out for coffee and tea on the pavement where everyone gathers around on plastic chairs and ladies in stalls make you tea and coffee. The sweet mint tea was delicious. And the vibe was incredible at night. It was such a relaxed atmosphere – not once did I feel unsafe or harassed – a complete contrast from Ethiopia!

Eventually though, we finally left Khartoum, and whilst sad to leave the hospitable Midhat, we were happy to leave the Blue Nile Yacht Club and its two red tapeworms in the ‘shower’. On the drive out of the city, we saw many incredible buildings, some even in the shape of planes and cruise liners!

We then left Khartoum altogether and began driving through semi-arid desert with blown-out tyre fragments littering the roadside and men walking by in billowing white robes. We knew this next stretch of driving through the desert to Wadi Halfa in the North was bound to be an experience of a lifetime.