Khartoum, capital of Sudan

Khartoum, Sudan

My next stop was the capital of Khartoum. Khartoum is huge and the distances are quite big, no matter where you want to go. Also, it was very difficult to find the youth hostel. Yes, there is really a youth hostel in Khartoum. It is clean, good and inexpensive. The location is not perfect, but it is not possible to have everything at the same time!

Sufi, Khartoum, Sudan

One of the best things to do in Khartoum is visitng the derwishes friday evening at Hamed el Nil in Omdurman. This is just great. Most of them are dressed in grren and red, the sing and dance. It is very dusty, very hot, very hot and very interesting!
After three hours there, I had the feeling, that I look like a derwish myself... 

Sufi, Khartoum, Sudan

Temples and pyramids in Karima

Jebel Barkal, Karima, Sudan

Pyramids, Jebel Barkal, Karima, Sudan

The new tarred road along the Nile makes the trip in this area so much easier. Before, it took two or three days from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum. Now, it is only 10 hours in an air-conditioned coach.

Also travelling to Karima is no longer a problem - a brand new tarred road goes all the way through the middle of the desert.

In Karima I lived in the homestay of Ahmed Moussa. This is the only Homestay and this is much better than the other "Lokandas". Women are often not allowed to sleep in Lokandas - no wonder, usually; they have only one room containing between 10 to 20 beds. Well, this is not the place I want to be sleeping as well, especially not on my own!

The Homestay, I had for myself. There was one bed to relax in the heat of the day under a huge mango tree. And there was the friendly owner Ahmed, who got the ripe fruits for me from the tree and cooled them for some time in water, before he gave them to me.

And yes, it is hot - very hot. 45 degrees centigrade in the shade where there is no shade.... Nevertheless, I was very brave and visited pyramids, graves and temples of Jebel Barkal, El Kurru and Nuri. Best time for these things is in the morning or in the late afternoon.

Pyramids, Jebel Barkal, Karima, Sudan

Family meeting in Dongola - Susa and the kids

As I met only half of the family in Wawa, I took a minibus to Dongola to visit Susa,

Susa and her daughters, Dongola, Sudan

Abdou Rabous wife and the now four children. Susa for sure was as surprised as her husband to see me and she invited me to stay. Susa was always a great cook so this made up for three days of plain fuul while staying with Abdou Rabou. 

Back to Wawa - back to my good old friend Abdou Rabu

10 years ago I was travelling for the first time in Sudan - that time I came from Chad and crossed through Darfur. Two weeks later the border was closed due to Darfur crisis. At that time I travelled along the Nile and got stuck in a very tiny place called Wawa. It is right opposite a famous temple - Soleb.

Abdou Rabou, Wawa, Sudan

The temple is the best preserved in all Sudan. And in this tiny place I ran into very nice people - Abdou Rabou, his wife and the little child. I spent two days and two nights with them.  Before I left, I promised to send some of the photos – which I did. However, after four months the letter came back with a stamp "not deliverable".

Well I was trying to find this family again.... And that is what I did. And it worked out. Abdou Rabou still lives there and the rest of the family is in Dongola because there are secondary schools.

This was a great reunion! And of course a big surprise! Abdou Rabou closed his small shop in the middle of the village when the new tarred road was finished in 2009.

Traditional lokanda, Sudan

Instead he opened a "restaurant", a small store and a tearoom. "Restaurant" stands in quotation mark, because there was only one thing to get there - the national dish called fuul. Its brown beans, they are soaked for hours in water and then cooked in big pots. Fuul can taste very good if you mix it with tomatoes and cheese. It is not that nice with plenty of oil on it - and that's what was offered in his restaurant. Fuul like this is just eaten so as not to be hungry any more... 

Abdou Rabou invited me into his wonderful big house with a big inner courtyard. In the hot time of the year this is the best place to sleep, as the rooms are by far too hot. 

Temple of Soleb, Sudan

Going to Sudan... The crazy ferry to Wadi Halfa

Today is my last day in Sudan - a country, which I have travelled around 10 years ago, and which I liked a lot because of its super nice, welcoming and hospitable people. The good news is - it is still the same.

On the ferry to Sudan

Let’s start with the ferry journey from Egypt to the Sudan - it was just brilliant! Getting on the ferry was not that easy. For me as a single women, it would have been very difficult to enter, getting through all controls, buying small stamps, which needs to be glued on a special piece of paper, get it stamped and give it to someone else, who is collecting it once it is complete.

But I was lucky as I ran into a man from Aswan and he took great care of me. He told me not to take it personally, but he will take my hand so we can fight ourselves together through this crowd of people. Ah, okay.... So, we made our way - this huge, big man, his suitcase in his left hand, having me on his right with me having my big backpack on my shoulders and the small one on the front....

On the way to Wadi Halfa, Sudan

But it worked out.... Later, other tourists told me that they needed three hours to board the ferry. It took me only 35 minutes. Thanks to the man with his wide shoulders - Ahmed from Aswan.

Then I was seated in the 2^nd Class area where I met a very nice family. It was there I spent the hot hours of the day. I got on board at 10.30 am, but that did not mean that the ferry would start right away.  Departure was around 4pm.

From then on it was really pleasant on the deck. At night time, I unrolled my sleeping mat and the sleeping bag. Sleeping under the stars on a ferry towards Sudan - just great!

In the morning at 6.00am we passed the temple of Abu Simbel. From the water the temple looks even more gigantic!

On arrival in Wadi Halfa, Sudan, everybody wanted to leave the ferry at the same time. Not just the four foreigners. We did our paperwork right on the ferry in the cafeteria of the first class passengers. It was very straight forward to get through the paperwork. The official even issued a travel permit. This saved a lot of time and we were able to run around in Khartoum until I reached the capital, which was also covered. Perfect! 

Cool boys on the ferry to Wadi Halfa

Stuck in Aswan

After four nights in Luxor I went by the train to Aswan. Here it is a lot quieter than in Luxor. But also more quiet than normal. Also in Aswan, there is a lack of tourists. Everywhere there are empty cruise ships.

Felucca, Aswan, Egypt

I planned 2 days for Aswan. But when travelling, things change often. Same thing happened here. For years the ferry towards Sudan was on Mondays. Now it was recently changed- for Sundays. Not a big deal, I arrived here on Friday. But the ticket sale was also earlier... And yes, of course, booked-up. First, I thought about the black market or simply get a ticket at the harbor on Sunday morning. But there were rumors, that about 70 people will do the same kind of thing...
Okay, no other choice - I will wait. At least, there is apparently an extra ferry leaving on Thursday. So, I will go today to get my ticket issued.

Well, this gives me a few more days in Egypt - there are worse things in the world. Abu Simbel is not far, or I can do a trip by Felukka, a traditional sailing boat on the Nile. It will definitely not be boring a single minute. Also, yesterday, moreover, I found a great guesthouse. It is located on the western

Nubain village, Aswan, Egypt

(quiet) side of Aswan. Clean, quiet rooms, with an absolutely charming Nubian host, in addition to a roofed terrace and great food. All that for a special price if I help him with his homepage. This is no joke. But among the blind people the one-eyed is quite obviously the king... And it is always good to know, that you need to press the save button before leaving the website...

Well, however - it really feels like holidays here. I do live in the middle of a nice Nubian village. In the mornings I hear the cocks, school children are leaving for school; women go shopping in the market, men sit together to drink some tea drink or smoke shisha....

Abu Simbel, Egypt

Luxor and the temples

Next stop Luxor - well, Luxor is already difficult, also with a normal amount of tourists.

Luxortemple, Egypt

Now, as there are fewer tourists, there are everywhere self-appointed tourist guides, horse carriages, taxis, souvenir shop assistants, spice traders and other genies without any income due to the lack of tourists.
50% less tourists than normal - so, there is always a big fight as soon as you leave the hotel. Of course, there is plenty to see and to do in Luxor - there is Luxor temple, Karnak temple, then the west bank with all graves and temples there. It is easy to spend here weeks without being bored.
In Luxor I have allowed myself something quite special - a journey with a balloon in the sunrise. I always wanted to drive a balloon, so, here is an affordable possibility is for it (45 minutes for 40 euros). What I should say - there was just brilliant, simply impressive, especially the temple of Hatshepsut from the balloon!

Karnaktemple, Egypt

Dakhla Oasis

However, after this great time in the desert I went to Dakhla. Dakhla is also an oasis and is known for

Al Qasr, Egypt

the old city center with old Islamic architecture. Here, I was as well the only tourist! There is so much to see in Dakhla - the old town, the shady palm gardens, the slow and peaceful country life.
From the oases there is a brand new tarred road towards Luxor. The problem with that road is that except of tourists no one needs it. The locals usually do not have any reason to travel to Luxor or Aswan. If they travel somewhere, then they go to Asyut or Cairo.
That's why there is no public transport between the oases and Luxor. However, the detour via Asyut is horrible and means about 8 hours more traveling.
It was not easy, but after some telephone calls another tourist was found in the next oasis 3 hours away, who also wanted to go to Luxor. So, we could share a taxi. Very good! So, the trip was only 5 hours instead of 13.

Sleeping on the roof, Al Qasr, Egypt

Farafra and the white desert

Nevertheless, after three full days in this gigantic town it was a time for a new adventure. So, I went to the western desert.  I spent some days in the small village of Farafra in the middle of a nice oasis with a lot of shady palm trees. This was a picture book oasis, life with donkey carts, fresh fruit and vegetables, splashing water in irrigation channels and friendly people.

White Desert, Egypt

At the moment there are only a few tourists in Egypt. This for sure has something to do with the heat (40 degrees Celsius in May in the oases is not uncommon) and of course it has something to do with the revolution.  The revolution made many tourists cancel their trip to Egypt. This affects the whole tourism industry there - the camel drivers at the pyramids as well as the safari enterprises in the desert and the souvenir sellers in Luxor.  The horse carriage people, hotel owners and Felukka owners at the Nile. Everybody suffers from the fact that the tourists are missing. The fighting around the few tourists, who are there, is big.  However in Farafra I was the only tourist. I spent there three days!

White desert, Egypt

My aim was the white desert.  It is just 25 kilometers from Farafra.  I have been here before and I absolutely wanted to go back. In this desert there are a lot of white limestone rocks - and they rise in all possible formations from the yellowish sand. Every a more or less imaginative person sees all possible animals in this rock. Camels, ostriches and ducks, but also mushrooms and towers. Just great.
I was doing my desert tour with Hamdy, a safari enterpriser from Farafra. With us, there was a young man for cooking, building the camp etc.
The day in the white desert was simply great - of course also for taking photos. I had all time of the world, as we stayed overnight. So, I got good photos in the late afternoon, the sunset and the sunrise. I hope that I find a good and fast internet place here, and then I can load some photos. Most internet places are dreadfully slow and they cannot deal with a big amount of data. Then, the whole system might break down.

White desert, Egypt

After all - a new trip - from Cairo to Capetown

Finally, a big trip again and sand between the toes.  Travelling again in old busses and lame trains. The trains are sometimes so slow, that it seems you could just walk next to them without being considerably slower....

Sphinx, Giza, Cairo, Egypt

Finally, once more in Egypt - 14 years between my first visit and my current one. Things have changed quite a bit. Once again having Kushari (a mixture of lenses, noodles, chickpeas and tomato sauce).  A look at the pyramids of Giza for sure and annoying camel drivers on the whole site.  And for sure, the fact that the local people point out the obvious.  Look, there are the pyramids.  And for this breaking news, some fellows expect a big tip? Welcome to Egypt, to the country of Baksheesh...
But it is simply great. In the beginning I was still in doubt with my Hostel in Cairo for the whooping price of 9 US (including breakfast), but this hostel turned out as a very pleasant and clean surprise. 

Islamic Cairo, Egypt

The visa for the Sudan was done within 2 days. I enjoyed the days in Cairo as a tourist. Well, as far as you can enjoy a city with 25 million inhabitants.  Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo, the big pyramids, but also the bent pyramid and the step pyramid.  And then of course the gigantic Egyptian museum!
There is so a lot to see in Cairo, it would not be a problem to spend one or two weeks here without being bored.