ToewsTravels

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!

the omdurman camel market happens daily, but saturday morning is the biggest. the camels are brought in mostly from darfur, and buyers send them to egypt and saudi arabia. you’ll need a ride to get here because it is way out in the desert and the location changes periodically.

the tomb of hamed al-nil in omdurman is the place to be each friday night at dusk. sudan has a storied history of sufism (a mystical form of islam), and large proportion of sudanese consider themselves sufis. adherents gather at the graves of famous sufis to dance and beat drums for hours. it is in the midst of a modern-day cemetery as well, so the festivities were interrupted by a few funeral processions. this is the gathering place for any visitors who are in town, and as such a place for locals to practice their english. one guy came up to me and started reading rhetorical, open-ended questions off a printed piece of paper to stimulate conversation – “what is your philosophical perspective on love?;” and “if you could be any animal, which would you be and why?” i made friends with a couple friendly guys who bought me tea and we chatted for a few hours. overall there is a very welcoming vibe. great time!

omdurman is the sister city of khartoum, on the other side of the nile. its market is one of the largest in africa.

the acropole hotel in khartoum has been an institution for travelers to sudan for almost 7 decades. at present, coordinating through them is the only reliable way for americans to get a visa to sudan. the hotel is run by the 2 greek pagoulatos brothers, one of whom, george, waited up to welcome me to sudan upon my arrival at 3am. he was very nice. he told me i was the only tourist in the entire country that week. he even arranged an unexpected “vip service” at the airport, whereby i was pulled out of the regular immigration line for special processing.

the acropole was able to arrange a visa on arrival for me in advance. to do this though they needed prepayment, which involved sending money to a friend of a friend in a third country, as wiring money directly to sudan is ridiculously not allowed under current united states law.

there is tremendous and fascinating history at the acropole hotel, as it has hosted the vast majority of the foreign travelers, arms dealers, ngo workers and spies that have sifted through khartoum over the past 70 years. i met some interesting folks just during my few days there. the hotel was bombed in 1988, and thereafter moved to its current location. in the early days, the pagoulatos brothers purveyed beer; for the last few decades this has become unfathomable in the sudanese context. the hotel also currently serves as the greek consulate in sudan. during the crisis/genocide in darfur, it served as the nerve center for foreign journalists in khartoum. thanks to george pagoulatos for arguably being one of the most important people in recent sudanese history, and for staying up until 3 am to welcome me to khartoum!

sudan’s 2019 “nile spring” protests deposed the country’s dictator, omar al-bashir. you can see the aspiration for freedom in this street art, which is all around the main government area in khartoum. the blue, yellow and green were the colors of the sudanese flag before it was changed to the current arabized version; the use of those colors in this artwork symbolizes the desire that sudan be inclusive for all its ethnicities. there are also many motifs of the formerly unified sudan (prior to the succession of the south), with the same intent. unfortunately, much of the street art has already been painted over, and though freedom is increasing, things are progressing slower than they could/should be. the people of sudan deserve freedom!

the sudan national museum on the banks of the nile in khartoum is not particularly well kept, but houses some remarkable antiquities. prior to the construction of the aswan high dam and subsequent flooding of the large area than is now lake nasser in upper egypt, several ancient egyptian temples from that area were relocated to the sudan national museum courtyard. the museum was actually closed the day i tried to go, but $5 got me through the front gates.

the striking corinthia hotel in khartoum, also known locally as “the egg,” was built by the government of libya. it is one of the very few upscale hotels in the city. great views from the top.