Khartoum

Hi all

Well, we've left the cool mountains of Ethiopia and are now in the heat and hurly-burly of Khartoum, well and truly into the zone of Arab Africa. And what a different world it is.

We crossed over into Sudan from Gonder on Thursday. The road to the border on the Ethiopian side was atrocious and cost me one flat tyre (our first in 8,000 kms) and one fancy rear shock absorber (which must have been hit by a stone and subsequently lost all its gas). As soon as we crossed over to the Sudanese side, we were on tar, much to our pleasant surprise.

One of many pleasant surprises Sudan had in store for us that day, as it turned out. We were expecting the people to be friendly (it's the one thing every traveller tells you about Sudan), but we were still taken aback by the extent of their hospitable welcoming. Everywhere we looked we were greeted by warm, friendly smiles, bereft of the begging hands we'd become used to in Ethiopia.

That night we camped wild, our first night in the desert and a special landmark for all of us. It was also a relief just to be camping again, after so much time in hotels (camping wild not being much of an option in Ethiopia, simply because of the numbers of people everywhere).

The next day we made it all the way through to Khartoum where, once again, we've been the recipient of amazing hospitality from our friends, Sean and Amy Hughes.

Just as well, because we've had to deal with some serious bureaucracy. Driving in from the border we had to stop at every town we passed through to have our passport details entered into a register. Once we got here, we then had to go and register at the Department of Aliens (visions of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones!). And now, before we leave Khartoum for the northern desert, we have to secure travel permits from whichever government department it is that issues travel permits. By the time we've figured that out, our 14 day visas will just about have expired.

 A wonderful moment today when we met our tour guide contact for help with securing the permits (we're hoping to cross into Egypt via the land border with Sudan). Having already admitted that there wasn't much in the way of tourists in Sudan, he then confessed that in his two years as a tour guide, the sum total of groups he had guided was…..four! Not exactly a booming growth area, then!

We're in Khartoum for one more day, servicing vehicles etc, and then we head north towards Egypt. It's an utterly new experience for all of us, and we're enjoying every moment of it!

More from Egypt.....

Gus