"Khartoum..." a Khartoum Travel Page by maykal

Well, I spent four months as a volunteer in Khartoum, and still use it as a base duing holidays, and while still very much a newbie in Sudan, I have managed to see a lot of the city. It really doesn't feel like a capital city....away from the presidential palace and a few government buildings, the whole place is very low key....sandy dusty streets, souqs, cheap eateries...there is no grand centre really! Khartoum is all fairly modern....well, when I say modern, I mean the buildings are not old or traditional...they are concrete and square but run down, nothing exciting. But across the White Nile is Omdurman, the traditional part of the city with old mosques and fascinating souqs. It isn't exactly beautiful, but it has atmosphere and character. Between Omdurman, Khartoum and the northern suburb of Bahri is Tutti Island, a rural village and farmland in the middle of the city...the ideal place to escape Khartoum's chaos for a bit.

Everyone is extremely friendly here...this is one stereotype which is true of almost everyone here. People come up to you in the street just to shake your hand, people pay your bus fare, they offer you food, they invite you to weddings if you just happen to be walking by...amazing! But internet is extremely slow here, one reason why I will have to stop now! More to come....lots more!

Although I enjoyed Khartoum, I felt it was time to move on....the teaching at my secondary school was not fun at all, in fact it was downright torture with rich spoilt brats causing havoc in every lesson. My house had its fair share of problems, mostly to do with water and the landlord....so I decided to move to another part of the country...just before Christmas 2002, I boarded the bus to Kassala, and started teaching at the university there in January...I still visit Khartoum every few months or so, to renew permits etc...so this page will continue to grow, albeit slowly.