Sudan part 2!!!
As you may have noticed we have been unable to update our blog in several weeks, Ethiopia was not really blessed with fast or even cheap internet access. So in order to catch up we are going to make the next couple brief!
Khartoum
We only had a couple of days to spend in Khartoum which was shame, I could happily have spent a week there mooching around the markets and eating the fantastic street food and drink that was on offer. We spent our first full day in Khartoum visiting the national museum, where we became the main attraction. The place was packed with school children, and they spent much of there time coming and chatting with us, and taking our pictures which was a very novel experience. One group of boys gave us an impromptu concert that included what we think was a rendition of there national anthem. That afternoon we headed off to an amusement park where the guide book recommended taking the Ferris wheel to take sneaky photos of the palace and confluence of the blue and white Niles (which is a bit of a no no). Unfortunately despite our best effort and the efforts of half the kids in the park we were inexplicably able to buy the tickets. Still had a great time chatting with the kids, they are genuinely interested in talking to us, and despite the many aid workers knocking around the place for many of the kids were the first white people they have ever had a proper conversation with. They were also very interested in why we were there, when we told them that we were on holiday they were bemused to say the least, one of them even said that they thought Hawaii would be a better place to go on holiday.
On our last day in Khartoum, we attempted to visit the camel markets, they are apparently the largest in Africa, so we flagged down a cab, agreed on price and we were off, however it soon became apparent that our driver had no idea where the market was, and unfortunately nor did any of the people who he stopped to ask. One chap even asked “how many camels have you seen in Khartoum?” (answer was none) “Then why would we have a market, faultless reasoning, so we gave up. Instead we ended up in a massive souk in Ondurmon, spent the morning having a good mooch around before heading off to watch the Nubian wrestlers in the afternoon. The wrestlers were great fun, we were in a huge stadium made out of blankets and pieces of canvas, we had no idea about the rules of the fights but who cares. Also they did as much posing and posturing as WWF wrestlers. As were leaving the home side seemed to be loosing, so it was perhaps the best point to make our exit, as the police were very heavily armed, machine guns and tear gas.
The next day we headed to the Ethiopian border, and a new country.
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