i went to khartoum, sudan! and i loved every second of it!
until very recently, it was essentially impossible for americans to even get a visa to enter sudan. this policy was reciprocal – sudan was included on george w bush’s infamous “axis of evil” list. longtime sudanese dictator omar al-bashir was deposed in 2019 though, and the country is now slowly beginning to open up. it is still officially difficult for americans to get a visa, but a loophole exists with the services of the acropole hotel. despite recent reforms and the lifting of most sanctions, sudan unfairly still remains blacklisted by much of the rest of the world – visitors must bring in american currency in cash as the country is still completely disconnected from world electronic currency exchanges – there are no atms. rumor has it if you so much as try to make a transaction with an american express card in sudan the company will ban you for life…
khartoum is austere. dust permeates everything, and the heat is intense – it is the hottest big city on earth, with monthly temperature averages never dipping below 30c, and forget air conditioning. in fact, there are regular blackouts in the city for hours almost daily. it is surreal to be in the middle of a city of 6 million people in the middle of the night when all the lights go out, and the streets are so dark that you walk into other pedestrians.
khartoum is one of the safest cities on earth. sharia law probably helps with that. the people are also unbelievably friendly. i made some english speaking friends at the tomb of hamed al-nil in nearby omdurman, who bought me tea and paid for my ride. i stopped to buy a tomato on the side of street, and the guy just gave to me, wishing me a pleasant stay in his country. when discussing the reportedly off-limits confluence of the white and blue nile rivers with a taxi driver, he insisted i needed to see it. we turned around in his taxi, and he made some calls to his friend, the owner of an abandoned theme park near the confluence, and got me in to see the rivers coming together. this took an extra hour out of his day – no extra charge. he was so excited to show me an off-limit sight that he almost forgot he was driving me somewhere else, lol.
interestingly and relatively unknown in the west, sudan was the only country in the world that accepted any syrian refugee who wanted to come, no questions asked. today there are an estimated 250,000 syrians living in khartoum.
despite its tortuous recent history (us ambassador assassinated by black september in 1973, home of osama bin laden for 5 years in the 1990s, bombed by the united states in 1998 for presumed weapons of mass destruction, 400,000 dead in wars in darfur, ongoing sanctions for decades, the succession of south sudan, 2019 “nile spring” leading to the ouster of al-bashir but also hundreds of protestors killed, among other nadirs), the people of sudan are arguably the friendliest people i have ever encountered anywhere in the world. they are tremendously resilient, and have a bright future ahead of them. i loved my visit to sudan!
