Dawha Hotel Khartoum

Destination 376<br><br>km188'518<br><br>Increasing heat and the change from lush green to more and more dusty environment had lead me straight to Khartoum, where arrived late afternoon just to get stuck in rush hour to almost collapse in immense heat of well over 40 degrees.<br>Here there is to decide and organize the way to continue. Up to Egypt via Wadi Halfa or to Jordan via Saudi Arabia?<br><br>We will see and wait...<br>

... shorter, is not the one chosen by the majority of travellers. There must be some common sense in such a large proportion of travellers, so we chose to go Khartoum-Meroe-Atbara-Merowe-Dongola-Wa di Halfa. Distances of about 250, 100, 283, 200 and 400 respectively. A total of about 1200 kilometres. Now that we have reached Wadi Halfa we can say that the road wasn't all that bad, we didn't even get stuck.... Well only once just next to the tarmac near Karima so that doesn't ...

... Also on the road are prehistoric looking Bedford trucks, driving so slow that we could easily overtake them. Quite often the doors had been taken out, and a jellabiyah clad driver was stooped over wheel. The back was filled with merchandise and in order to improve efficiency, some 10 to 15 men were clinging to the loading bay sticking out for half a meter on the left and right and for a meter above the top. Imagine two of those passing too close to one another ...

... well disguised lumps and bumps in the smooth looking road. I had the front wheels airborne a few times. Bill complained of a bad back and having to catch the spare wheel table before it bounced off the beer terrace. I slowed down a bit. On the road from Getaref to the border we encountered a toll gate. Well, it was a man in police uniform and another man, with 4 bollards demanding a toll of 13 Sudanese pounds to use the road. We were able to barter them down to 7.5 ...

... of day. Hot air gushed onto our faces, a bit like standing inches away from a furnace. We decided the only reasonable thing to do was to go over to the kebab and fruit joint next door (where we had dinner last night) and order some falafel sandwiches and mango shakes. After lunch, we hailed a minivan-taxi, bartered a rate and then took a ride to the North Khartoum Railway Station where we got some information about buying a ferry ticket from Waldi Halfa to Aswan ...

... God willing)..... can you give me email?" After giving Mergni our email address, we bid him good luck and drove off with our tanks full of cheap Sudanese diesel thinking how fortunate it was to meet someone so engaging and excited to meet us, strangers from faraway lands. He is just one of thousands of Sudanese people dreaming similar dreams that are simple and honest, but for the most part, unanswered. ******** The day's drive was pretty uneventful, except for dodging ...

... the lay of the land which will be covered by a new lake resulting from a new dam on the Nile that the Sudanese are having the Chinese build for them. It will no doubt be another ecological disaster for the Nile. We are told that the Sudanese have already had one dam built which should be producing electricity about now. Abu, the Indonesian student, takes a break from his studies and meets us at the Taka Hotel. At 2 PM the three of us take a taxi back to ...

... the whole trip. Except breakfast was served to me in the morning by Ahmed's mother. Hot milk and chocolate biscuits! What a setup for the day! This is the sort of hospitality I had heard about in Sudan. I had heard this about many places but none had actually lived up to the reputation. Many people are quite snooty about it: "you need to get off the tourist trail and see the REAL XYZ", but I think these sort of incidents are few and far ...

... July. Not to mention the fact that we were 65 before Christmas. There's a bit of a "grieving" feeling ... I spent the first half of my mission building programmes, expanding the mission. Now we are on the exact opposite trends. Are the needs not there anymore? I would say no, on the contrary! BUT ... but - except for Darfur where only violence and access are, for now, slowing us down - needs cost money, programmes don't run themselves, and it seems it's the turning point for Sudan ...

... left wondering, who am I other than what's writen on my business card (which is greatly misunderstood anyway)? I'm seriously drawing a blank! The good news, I guess, is that I'm asking the question (my philosophy professor would be so proud) ... but that's what so nice about work: there's always an answer, even though it might suck or be that there is no solution. I'm not gonna venture answering here, in this oh-so-public media ...