Kassala | The Furious Panda

December 31, 2009September 3, 2018 by Red

32 – Red, Conqueror of Toteel Mountain, Well Almost!

Tue 29th Dec, Hotel Al Nada, Kassala

I woke up early today, very sleepy, no thanks to cable movies that lasted late into the night. (I’m watching The Perfect Storm as type this). The plan today was to go to Toteel mountain, described in Wikipedia’s Kassala entry as an easy half hour climb halfway up before resting at the many cafes built into the rocks.
Set off on the Katmiya bus (0.5 SDP, ask to stop at Toteel) and got off at the houses near the base. It seems that Toteel is a local attraction as well, since there is a ticket booth (1 SDP) and at the base are all these cafes (everyone’s a bob marley reggae wannabe). Bypassed them, and turned my attention to the mountains beyond. Now back in Kadogli, the Nuba Mountains weren’t actually mountains; they were rolling hills covering really large expanses with flat plateaus alternating. The Kassala peaks on the other hand are large chunks of boulders and rocks stacked all the way to the top.

The climb was quite tough. If you have experienced trekking, think Malaysian mountain peaks’ last 30-50m or so to the summit, when all you have are rock escarpments. Take that kind of climb from the start and you have the Toteel. In addition, in my infinite wisdom, i brought two buns and a 500ml of 7UP (“yeah, so back at Nuba i brought 1 litre and had excess, this Toteel is a half hour climb, no problem”). So in the hot afternoon sun (damn these rocks are hot to the touch!), with barely a trail, I was scampering and half-scaling across rocks. It took well above half hour. The entire trek took 4 hours, my water ran out around 3 hours even after rationing. There was no one else on the mountain, and i kept comfort in seeing goat droppings. Wherever there are goat droppings, theres a decent trail and I won’t suddenly drop off a cliff. There were no goats, mind you, i was just following their shit.

So at 1pm, with my throat parched, lower part of my palms burnt, and my pants torn, i reached the prize. It wasn’t the peak. There was no way i would reach the peak without any equipment, unless I’m Spiderman. Instead i followed the ridgeline and now could see OVER the mountain. Into Eritrea. I may not have obtained the elusive visa, but dammit, i will get my glance at that country. And maybe someday, I will be back (through Yemen hopefully! 🙂 ) Lingered at the summit area, went back down. The downclimb really took its toll.With no water, and I kept following wrong trails that lead to drop offs, so had to retrace my steps or lower myself down tediously. It was tough, but really worth it. I should reconsider my itinerary though. I had ideas, time permitting, to trek the Simien mountains, Mount Kenya or maybe even Kilimanjaro, but i’m really not geared for it (yes, I’m still in my sandals, Chaco is great btw).

Reached the hotel, cleaned up and went out into the souqs again. There are really interesting looking tribal people around. Too bad I do not dare take out my camera here. Photography is sensitive here. Heck, even the women lift up the veils higher when they see me. From reading up LP’s info, the Nara or maybe Hedareb tribes are the ones I see where the men scarify their cheeks with 3 short lines. And the women with the large nose rings could be possibly Bilen (though LP says they are in Keren, Eritrea so i don’t know if they spread all the way up to the Sudan border. I know the colourful Rashaida tribe has a souq somewhere in town but was unable to find it.

I got invited to sit down with a shirt stall holder and had a shai. Talked lots, took some photos with them and went for dinner. Oh, I took a haircut (5 SDP) so I am now the proud owner of an authentic Sudanese close cropped hairstyle.

December 31, 2009September 3, 2018 by Red

31 – Enter Kassala

Mon 28th Dec, Hotel Al Nada, Kassala

So close, but yet so far. Tonight I am in Kassala, 30km from the border to Eritrea. One guy tells me they travel over the border, drink themselves silly then go back into Sudan. The trip from Khartoum was another 7 hour bus ride, aboard another made in China bus, with me asleep most of the time. I’m quite amazed at the service on these buses. I had lunch in a styrofoam box, drinks from a cup, then later a packet of butter cake and a bottled soft drink. It’s a wonder why bus companies elsewhere don’t provide such things on their long distance journeys.

Approaching Kassala (50 SDP, 7 hours), the Taka, Toteel and Aweitila mountains loom above the city. I got off at the bus station (Souq As-Shabi) and take the minibus (0.5 SDP) with the locals into the main square bus terminal (Al mawkaf al-aan). The fella beside me from the bus makes a call to his friend to bring me to my hotel. Unfortunately the hotel was full and I went round and round the central area looking for a hotel. All were full. Kassala must really be a touristy place for the locals then… I must have checked out at least 10 hotels / lokandas. Finally settled on an expensive option (Al Nada, 50 SDP!, but it comes with lousy aircon, cable tv and privacy).

From what I found out walking around, Toteel, Bashar are probably the best bets. Beside them is the more expensive Hipton. El-Sharg is just as pricey and probably as top end here too. The rest are El-Safa hotel and Hotel Africa. In Arabic were Lokanda Riduan & hotel elnoor. Every single one was full. Never mind, as I am writing this, I am watching From Dusk Till Dawn, a welcome change from movies in Arabic and Sudanese variety shows on the buses. I don’t think it is worth the room price, but the alternative is sleeping on the street.

Kassala’s main square where the minibuses leave from are surrounded by souqs. Didn’t manage to see much today but here’s my first take on it. The city feels much less developed compared to Khartoum and has a mountain town feel about it. The souqs are colourful, due to all the tribes that come into the city to sell their wares. The women wear colourful robes. And the men wear sleeveless jackets over their white jabailiyas. And they are obviously different from elsewhere. Some have frizzy hair, uncommon when everyone ive seen so far have close cropped cuts.

Dinner was your typical bread with meat dish on the many roadside setups. I’ve got so used to eating bread off tables just wiped with dirty rags and drinking untreated water that it hardly bothers me any longer (when in Rome…)