by Red

28 – Xmas in Kadogli

Fri 25th Dec, South Kodorfan Hotel, Kadogli
I spent my day just relaxing. I’m the only foreign guy at the lokanda. Everyone else seems to be a middle aged guy in white robes. Just how many of them there are i cannot tell, since they mill around the courtyard and go in and out of the surrounding areas. Below is the piece of granite on which i have my bucket shower.

Slept in. Enjoying the slow pace of life. I am an anomaly here, since there are no tourists. Abdellah from the hotel who speaks good English tells me there were more tourists back in 2007, but the number dried up. Any UN personnel still around are from the Arabic speaking countries, and anyway the UN people aren’t tourists. He also tells me about the upcoming elections in April, vote rigging by the ruling party and many other interesting stories.

I am actually picking up quite a bit of Arabic, the problem is that there are so many versions of the same word, depending on whether it is MSA (modern standard arabic) or the Egyptian or Sudanese (i am assuming both are the same). After a while i’ll pick up common words and speak the local lingo. I think I must sound pretty stupid conversing in MSA when everyone else does it in the local dialect/speech. It of course helps that I can actually read Arabic (albeit without understanding), so once in a while, i’ll indulge and impress the socks off the locals. =)

I went out in the afternoon to get tickets for tomorrow (two bus companies with tix to Khartoum, 11 hours, 70 SDP, Hafawa and El-Shihaab Express). Then went through the local souq, which was arranged in an organised grid. It looks like the handiwork of some NGO. This is really rural Sudan, where people come in from the nearby villages. Took some photos, it gets a bit sensitive here with the shots, since i can’t be bothered to get a photo permit back in Khartoum. Plus with all the military clothed guys (i’ve seen at least 4 different patterns/colours of uniform, what gives?), i only sneaked a shot here and there. Whereas up in the Nuba mountains and nearby villages yesterday i was just snapping away.

Food is cheap, in general a good meal sets you back 8 SDP max (about 4 SGD). Since I am blessed with a strong stomach, the untreated water I drink everyday does not really bother me, unlike one guy i met in Khartoum who told me he gets sick drinking the water. I probably should consider getting some multi-vitamins. It is very dry and the skin holding my nails are beginning to recede. =( I am starting to like fuul, which is the staple of stewed fava beans. With a little bit of salt added, it is quite tasty. And eat like the locals, tear off a chunk of bread, use it as a ladel and scoop a chunk of fuul. Yummy. And I’ve also taken to halib, warm milk served by the roadside shai ladies.

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 by Red

27 – Traipsing across the Nuba Mountains

Thu 24th Dec, South Kodorfan Hotel, Kadogli
It is 530pm, on xmas eve, with no Internet in rural Sudan. Firstly, the South Kodorfan Hotel has only bucket showers, with well water, so that’s a first for this trip. But the place is very comfortable, with mosquito nets. Here in Southerly Sudan the risk of malaria is substantially higher so I would take extra precaution.

The first thing to note here in Kadogli is that this town is like UN center. There was conflict in this region and now post-conflict, there are the UN and many other NGOs based here, though I suspect many went home for xmas. There’s a whole UN encampment ringed by barbed wire fence nearby. Even now, post-conflict, I see the military around town. There are the usual tamma’ams (which means “OK?”) with the thumbs up sign, except this time the greetings are by someone with a loaded M16. If I do see anyone from the UN later tonight, I’m going to joke that I’m here in Kadogli for a job interview with them. Hahahahah!

The second point is that Kadogli is in the middle of the handsome Nuba Mountains, which is home to the Nuba tribes, in the surrounding areas. These assortment of tribes are completely different from what Sudan has offered me, and I may yet visit these should I find the means to.

In the meantime, I will trek up the mountains, which are essentially rolling hills that cover the size of Scotland, according to LP. In typical fashion, I have been brought up to be unable to resist a trek up mountains, so off I go toward the peaks. Abdullah the hotel guy tells me the highlight are of course the mountains and dam somewhere around. He says to not go too far in the interior of the mountains, since there is a risk of unexploded landmines. And snakes. Er…. ok.

The terrain is completely different that that I have seen previously. The only other place that had invoke similar awe was Dahab’s craggy mountain meets ocean landscapes. This time it is green bushes, trees in a very savannah setting. I headed in a general south easterly direction up the first hill, caught a full view of Kadogli below me. I headed deeper in, met many local women villagers ferrying straw back to town. There were trails to follow, and as long as I followed these human / goat trails, I should be safe…Over the first hill were more valleys, grazing herd of goats and an isolated hut or two. It was after the 3rd valley or so that I realised hey, I am getting quite lost. I started taking bearings with my trusty field compass, as well as taking pictures of prominent trees and landmarks. I carried on into the interior. After about 4 hours of travel, the sun was high up, and i was getting tired. There was definitely more to see, but the trails were getting sparser, and i was getting more and more disoriented. There was of course the option of climbing one of the many peaks to get my bearings, but that’s probably the most obvious place to stick a landmine..

I headed back in a general north westerly route along a different trail and came out elsewhere from where I originated. It seems I’m near one of the outlying villages linked to Kadogli. I asked for directions, ended up having lunch with some youths, making conversation with them and a whole bunch of their friends over sheesha (i had shai). Yes, I know they look like they’re about to beat me up, but they are actually very nice.

Made the long way back towards town, but it was easy once i found the highway. I’m going to check later the transport times. I could stay longer, but I really want to be in Khartoum by Sat night so that I can check out the status of my Eritrean visa application and be off to Kassala by Sunday. I might leave for El-Obeid on Friday and spread out the travel back to Khartoum over two days (which also allows me time to explore El-Obeid properly). Or i might stay here in Kadogli another day, and do the painful long journey to Khartoum (provided there is a direct bus).

Some shots (since I have time)

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 by Red

26 – 900 kilometres across Sudan

Wed 23rd Dec, South Kodorfan Hotel, Kadogli
Here I am traveling alone again. Kang took a flight to Addis, maybe our paths will cross again in Ethiopia. Ben went off to Wad Medani, somewhere just southeast of Khartoum. Hany still back at the hotel. Oh yes, Hany… Every night, Hany the cheerful Egyptian from next door, who speaks good English will come over to our room and and the four of us (them mostly!) will talk stuff, from travel, our countries, politics.

I was up at 5am, took no chances and decided to flag a cab to Mina Bary (Khartoum’s Land Transport Terminal, 10 SDP). It was less chaotic in the morning, but nevertheless just as confusing. Fortunately I came here yesterday so I got my bearings easily.

The bus for El-Obeid (I took Al-Manakhil Express) finally left the terminal at 9am. I had really little leg room; the ‘helpful’ guy from the ticket counter chucked my bag in front of my seat, whether for security or because there were so much other big luggage. Two movies later, “bus service” which was just a packet of cake and a soft drink this time and 7 hours later, I reached El-Obeid. Oh, about the travel permit, I was not checked even once during the journey. There were a few police checkpoints, but the bus went through without a hitch. For town-to-town travel on public transport, as per previous buses / minibuses, my name was written down on a roster, presumably to be given at the police checkpoint. I think it could be because the fellow at the ticketing counter wrote my name down in arabic, so it “blends in” with the other names on the bus. =)

In El-Obeid, I inquired about onward travel to Kadogli on the same day, and a helpful local from back on the bus sent me packing in a cab to another bus station with buses bound for Kadogli (15 SDP). I don’t really understand Sudanese cabs, I think they overcharge the foreigners, but even when I ask hotel staff cab prices (to get a more accurate fare), the fares they quote are similar to what I have been paying. Unsual, because a 5km cab ride is 10-15 SDP, and a 300km bus ride is just double that.

On reaching the bus terminal, I asked for Kadogli buses and was ushered into a car. Yes, a car (30 SDP). It was only 15 minutes later that I found out there was some illegal vehicle sharing activity going on. This was when the driver kept driving around in circles. He tells me this is to avoid the police. At one point he even sped away to the highway before uturning back when a couple of cops were nearby. And there were a few cars hanging around the terminal with this “service”. A few posts back, I remarked on how expensive Sudan coach fares were. And now, out here, far from Khartoum, I now see how this can be exploited. When the car filled up (4 people, so thats 120 SDP), we departed. It was not even the driver who in the end made the journey. Another designated driver took the wheels. I didn’t get a chance to find out the cost of the bus, or even if there was a bus at 5pm to Kadolgi for that matter. But based on the distance, 30 SDP sounds about right. Anyway, it was much more comfortable traveling by car in the front passenger seat. Plus, going at 120 km/h, we reached Kadogli in 3+ hours instead of the 5 hours stipulated in LP.

By then it was around 9pm and I was hungry enough I could eat a cow. Sitting in a vehicle all day can be exahusting, but I was glad to make Kadogli in one day. Found the South Kodorfan Lokanda (10 SDP for dorm), and the owner kindly put me in an empty room with 4 beds to myself. The other  occupants in the lokanda were all Sudanese, and it feels i’m the only tourist far out here off-the beaten path.

Put my things down, went out nearby and had some fuul and berde. That’s stewed beans (you know, the foule medames off NTUC shelves, and scrambled eggs.) By 10 o’clock, my things still unpacked, I was asleep.

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 by Red

25 – The Wait (part 2)

Tue 22st Dec, Hotel Al Nadi
The amount of time I’m staying in Khartoum, I can probably start to pass off as a local, or at least a foreigner working here. It’s Tuesday afternoon 3.15pm and I’ve had no luck with my Eritrean visa. The guy at the consulate tells me that they would need a longer time to review my application since I do not have residency in Sudan. I explained I traveled from Egypt and they fella understood, but those guys doing the approval will only feedback in a few days, maybe a week, maybe two. SIGH.

So, what can i do next? Two choices, I can choose to wait till the weekend and return to the embassy. Or i can say screw it and head towards Ethiopia (this visa was done back in Sg). After much thought I decided on the former, and the opportunity cost would be a delay of about a week. But of course i’m not going to sit around in this hotel in Khartoum and wait like an idiot.

I took 3 minibuses from the Riyadh area to Mina Bary (Land Transport Center). I had no idea where this big bus station was, locals had to advise me to change minibuses here and there. After 5 buses today I kind of get how and where to flag these buses down. But you need to roughly know the routes of the buses, or get someone to direct you to the correct sidewalk to stand on, where the buses pick people up. And stand with the group that’s normally around waiting for these minibuses. Each bus is manned by a conductor-driver tag-team. The conductor leans out the door and calls out the destination. He carries coins (bus fares are 50 piastres max, i think), and you have to hand the fare to him (think pass the parcel). To get off the buses, you snap your fingers to alert the conductor. He will make the hissing sound (a bit like ‘tsktsk’, also a bit similar to the Egyptian hissing to tell you to get out of the way) and the driver will stop.

Mina Bary was the terminal where all buses going south of Sudan leave from. It was 1.5 SDP for entry into the compounds and there are likely 50 over bus companies here. A bit overwhelming, with all the shouting out for all the destinations. Actually it kind of resembles an enclosed Malaysian bus station (like Larkin), other than the fact that everything is in Arabic.

I got myself a bus to El-Obeid (39 SDP, 7 hours), leaving tomorrow at 7am in the morning. From there I will try to find a way south to either Dilling or Kadogli. Stay there for a day or two and get back to Khartoum hopefully by Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, i will head for the Eritrean embassy again and see if my application result is favourable. Whatever the outcome, I will be off to Kassala the same day (found a company at the station that sets off at 2pm on Sunday). From there I will head on to my next destination.

Bus to arabi, is central khartoum, where most likely you will stay
Bus to mamoora, is the Afra bus
Bus to mahali, mina bary, is the long distance bus terminal
Bus to al-morda, omdurman souq
Bus to riyadh, riyadh district

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 by Red

24 – The Wait

Mon `21st Dec, Hotel Al Nadi
Not too much too say here. Early in the morning, I took a walk to the Humanitarian Affairs Office and picked up my travel permit. Which was free! It was listed at 87 SDP in LP, so that must not have been updated. That or they liked me. Either way, I’m not going to question my good fortune. Nothing else to do but get on the Internet. I was at the netcafe for a full 6 hours (around 3 sgd) and it was good barring the dodgy connection which went off a couple of times. I even caught my favorite reality show Survivor’s final episode!

Dinner was spent near the bus station. I had a lamb’s head. We ended the day with shai and a chat with our local friend (the one who gave me the wrong address >< )

Kang didn’t get his visa, apparently cos he’s chinese or something, and he needed to fly to Addis Ababa. So he’s now at the travel agency. He tried the big chinese hotel nearby which couldn’t really help much.

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 by Red

23 – Round and round the merry-go-round aka Khartoum, permits and visas

 19th Dec, xxxxhrs, Hotel Al Nadi
I picked the wrong one of the two addresses to go to. This sent me far far away to some other district of Khartoum (i paid 10 SDP for a cab!) and when i reached there, the lady promptly told me it was the wrong place. Gave me another address, which ended up being in the Arabi area of central khartoum (to take a bus back to central its easy, just stand by the road in the direction to central and ask for Arabi, normally 0.5 to 1 SDP). When i reached there, (beside the American embassy), they told me it was the wrong place. This was apparently the Alien Registration Office. So i got yet another address to head towards. I walked south down to past the train station along Quasar Street for about 500 meters before i hit the Humanitarian Affairs building. I needed 1 photo, passport photocopies of front page, Sudan visa and alien registration sticker. 4 copies of all of these.

In summary, whatever LP has on the 2007 Africa version is completely wrong:
To get to Alien Registration Office – Head towards the US Embassy to the west of central Khartoum. This is where you register your arrival in Sudan within 3 days.
To get to Humanitarian Affairs Office – Head south along Quasar Street till you hit the railway line. Cross, keep moving even though the buildings get sparse, go another 500 metres. The humanitarian affairs office is the high blue building in the triangle shape on the map (around Sharia 47).

Next i headed down to the Eritrean embassy, which was somewhere in Riyadh district. This was completely off the LP maps, so I had to get on a bus that roughly went in the direction (ask for Riyadh) and ask the locals and the bus conductor to stop me at the Eritrean embassy. This was a lot easier than hunting for the aforementioned Humanitarian Affairs office. The visa is 109 and you need to wait a week and 30 SDP more for 1 or 2 day service. I will return on Tuesday at 10am to get it. Oh, and they did ask for a letter from your embassy. Which would have been a big problem since there is no Singapore embassy in Sudan. Luckily I had the letter done up in Cairo.

So at the end of the day (7 hours of admin and running around), i still have to wait 2 days here for a travel permit and Eritrean visa (hopefully both gets approved). For the travel permit, I listed down all the places I might want to go: Kassala, Gedaref, Gallabat, El-Obeid, Kadogli, Dilling. I’m not sure what I want to do actually. Transport here can get quite expensive, so I might just go out to Eritrea.

As for my other two travel companions, Ben isn’t feeling too well and spent the day resting. Kang on the other hand didn’t fare as well on the visa front. The Ethiopian embassy did not grant him a visa but instead told him he had to fly there. He will try again tomorrow, good luck to him.



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 by Red

23 – Sleepless in Sudan

19th Dec, xxxxhrs, Hotel Al Nadi
And so I was wrong. Saturday is still the weekend and all the government offices and embassies are closed. That being said, it is unfortunate for I will stay more days here in Khartoum.

Started the day by going to the Humanitarian Office listed on the Lonely Planet map…which is a mistake because LP (the 2007 version) is utterly useless here in Sudan. I regret not reading or bringing Bradt’s guide. After the long trudge there…the office was closed… and the guard helpfully said that this was the wrong place. I needed to be elsewhere and wrote down an address in Arabic for me.
Then i made my way south across Lonely Planet’s poorly labeled map towards the Eritrean embassy. After hunting for the building for what seemed like ages, the Yemen embassy guard tells me that Eritrean embassy moved to Riyadh district, which is like miles away…I decided to call it a day, since all were closed anyway.

Came back to the hotel, Kang didn’t have much luck at the Ethiopian embassy and Kenyan embassy since both were closed, but at least he managed to find both locations. Me, i will have to look for mine tomorrow.

Went out for 3 hours of internet (its a steal at 1 SDP per hour, i caught Survivor!), and made a couple of phone calls home (net to phone is approx 5 singapore cents per minute!). Had dinner, and by a fortunate stroke of luck, met a local man and we had tea with him. Tea by the roadside is a Sudanese thing. Every busy street will have one tea lady serving on little stools. It is the best way to let an afternoon go by. The local guy wrote down for me the address to the place to register for travel permits. Now i have two addresses.

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 by Red

22 – Whirling Dervishes

18th Dec, 2045hrs, Hotel Al Nadi, Khartoum

Woke up at 9 in the morning, and walked. And walked from central Khartoum down across the Nile, where the confluence of the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers meet. Took some shots (I hope I am not breaking any Sudanese laws, I took extra care to avoid any building shots).

Made my way to the Omdurman area. Khartoum is actually 3 cities in 1, the Khartoum area, Omdurman area and Khartoum North area. The Omdurman souq is the biggest in Khartoum. It was interesting enough, both for the sheer amount of things that were being sold, and for the diversity of the locals wandering around. Dark skinned, fairer skinned, henna tattooed, some face bead tattooed, nose ringed. All sorts of characters.

After that, walked down to the Hamid Al-Nil Mosque listed in LP. There is the local troupe of whirling dervishes there every Friday afternoon. I found out exactly what it is they whirl: themselves. It was a fascinating show indeed. And that was where I met everyone else again. Ben, Kang, Andy, Z and the England.couple. Amazingly, Ben and Kang is staying at the same place I am staying. I moved into their room earlier tonight.

Tomorrow morning, the offices open again, so I will go down to the Eritrean embassy as well as the Humanitarian Affairs Office to see if i need to register for onward travel.

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 by Red

21 – To Khartoum We Will Go!

17th Dec, xxxx hrs, Hotel Al Nadi

So the next two entries will be short entries, since I am uploading from a net to phone line with no wifi. Set off early in the morning alone from Karima to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The bus (7am, hotel pickup by minivan to bus departure point across the river, 30 SDP) was made in China. Surprisingly good, with light refreshments, and even a packed lunch provided by the guy in the bus who goes up and down the aisle.

The bus dropped me at Khartoum in the middle of a hot Thursday afternoon. Stumped. Compared to the past few days, Khartoum is dusty, hot and crowded. The area I was in (the lonely planet recommended area) was a busy street with peddlers. Looked for the 1000 Nights Hotel recommended in LP. Well, I looked like crazy, but eventually the nice Sudanese guy from another unamed Hotel Al-Nadi called the number for 1000 Nights Hotel and found that its closed. He actually took me to see a few other “nicer” hotels, but in the end i stayed at his hotel (8 SDP a night, which is like 4 SGD). I think I am pretty hardcore, given a choice of a few hotels, I picked the cheapest and most scruffy one. I stayed in the dorm with 3 Sudanese guys. And they are nice people too! My biggest worry is security, but I think I’ll just lock up my bag and leave it under my bed when I go out tomorrow for the whole day.

Looked around the area a bit, some fellow offered me to change SDP on the black market at better rates. And also found Andy and Z, back from the boat. They have been in Khartoum for the last couple of days. Took dinner with them, and then went off for some Internet. The Internet cafe is surprisingly fast, just that the PCs are missing programs like flash which makes it difficult to run any program.

Tomorrow is 1st Muharram, the new year and I would want to walk around to see if there are any celebrations.Hmm, I forgot to copy pics from today into here. But truthfully, there’s nothing worth posting, so this will be a pictureless entry =P

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 by Red

20 – Dongola to Kerima

16th Dec, 2345hrs, Al Nasser Hotel, Kerima

When we say hotel here in Sudan (so far), I mean lokandas, which are cheap basic hotels. The one in Dongola was one room, 4 beds, shared toilet, a tap to wash up (no showers) and no power socket anywhere in the room (10 SDP). This particular one where I am typing this from in Kerima has a power socket, and fortunately a power point for me to plug the lappy. Amazingly I also had Internet for 2 SDP, a very slow connection so I did not get anything uploaded.

Started the day in Dongola. First order of the day is to go to the security office and get permission to stay in the hotel we are in. Took a tuktuk (yes they call them that here). Took our passports and got ourselves a slip giving us permission to stay at the hotel (slip was free). Next we went to the Alien Registration Office, which was luckily just next door and filled up more paperwork, attached 2 photos, photocopies of passports, visa, and got questioned on why we vist Sudan. The fee we paid was 100 SDP per person and we got a sticker in the passport for that. Overall, it was a fairly straightforward, if not tedious, process. Throughout, the Sudanese were friendly, which is a trait seen throughout the past couple days I’m here.

Everywhere we go, it was smiles, Marhabas, and people shaking our hands. Really friendly lot, I must say. Lunch was back at the unamed place beside the hotel, fish (5 SDP, huge enough portion that we skipped dinner). We checked out and looked at the map. There is a Temple of Kawa ruins on the other side of the Nile river but most of the locals cannot tell us where it was. In the end, due to lack of time, we decided to just make our way to the next town with sights, Karima. It was a 15 SDP 2 hour journey through desert landscape, this time thankfully an uneventful ride, with no funny stops along the way, a la last nights ride.

On reaching Karima, made our way to the only cheap lokanda listed in LP, Al Nasser Hotel. Which is similar to the one in Dongola, except it’s more cosy. Dropped our gear and off we went hunting for the security office so that we can register to stay at the hotel. This was to be a common thing everywhere we go. Walked around town a bit, this was really a world away from Egypt. Low-rise buildings, sand everywhere. Even in the hotel grounds, outside our room, it opens out into the sandy corridors with no ceilings.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Khartoum at 7am. While Ben and Kang will stay another day to catch the sights near the town.

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