The
Sudan
For anybody spending the muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Sudan,
this has to be the iconic image: being invited by strangers on the
street to break the fast at sunset with them. It became a
travelling art as Zac (sitting in lower left) and I trolled the streets
of Sudanese towns and villages a quarter hour before sunset and
accepted invitations to join neighbourhood fasters for delicious
outdoor spreads like this one in northern Sudan. Each of the last
9 dinners we had after leaving the capital Khartoum were as invited
guests. As the nearest mosque sings out the cue for sunset,
expectant fasters launch into the food like vultures, typically
beginning with dates like the Prophet Muhammad did. And though
I'm not a date eater, Sudanese dates were by far the best I've tasted
anywhere, topping other famous date producers like Iran or Syria.
Groups of more affluent friends may have meats and tasty desserts in
their spread. Immediately following the fast breaking, the
fasters stand up in a row for their sunset prayer, led by the most
religiously respected man in the group. Following islamic
tradition, women break fast and pray separately inside the house.
Following prayer, dinner continued, followed by tea or coffee service
and some cordial discussion. The fast breaking ceremony wraps up
as the group prepares to go to the mosque for their evening
prayer. Revitalized with energy, the Sudanese hit the streets and
shops, which open up in the evening and stay open until past
midnight. A large midnight meal is eaten before sleeping in order
to fill the belly as much as possible until the next day's
sunset. Without question, what travellers cherish the most about
Sudan is not the sights or cuisine or landscapes or the hardships of
transportation, but the simple decent hospitality of common
Sudanese people in every village along the way.
Omdurman market near Khartoum. Not as colourful as Sahelian
markets in West Africa, Sudanese markets serve perfunctory utilitarian
functions and the oil export windfall of recent years has vastly
improved infrastructure and overall wealth dramatically. It is no
longer the bargain it once used to be. As a capital Khartoum is
hot and dusty and crowded and not as clean as it should be. But
it is a great place to find kebab restaurants open in the daytime
during ramadan. And the twenty or so that have secured permits
(at great cost) to operate during Ramadan are packed with (mostly)
South Sudanese Christians, frail elderly muslims, and heathens like
me.
The main tourist attractions of the Sudan are the pyramid tombs built
by the Nubians. They can hardly compare to Egyptian masterpieces
but they're worth a quick visit. Meroe (above and middle) is the
most accessible and best preserved (partly restored) site. The
Jebel Barkal pyramids in Karima (below) sit at the base of a holy
mountain. When the thermometer is licking 45°C in the Sahara
desert, you don't hang around too long appreciating these sites.
An almost complete lack of air conditioning in the country forces
travellers to adapt to the murderous heat, day and night. It's
almost unfathomable how local muslims can survive all day in these
conditions without drinking a drop of water. I had to sneak in
Coke and other soft drinks to replenish fluids and maintain sugar
levels prior to the evening bonanza. Even Khartoum's modern Afra
Mall doesn't turn on its AC, placing feeble fans in the aisles of the
sweltering clientless interior.
Long hours in the Sahara are spent in these Bedford desert buses, which
power over dunes and rough trails to the next isolated village on the
Nile River. This one shown has arrived in the northern port town
of Wadi Halfa, from where the weekly ferry across Lake Aswan is the
only legal means of crossing overland to Egypt. This desert bus
is loading cargo for the two or three day return journey to Dongola,
where the tarmacked road from Khartoum first appears.
Some Sudanese can even sleep laying down in the aisle of a desert bus
while we bumpily grind over rough offroad tracks.
A vendor at the lively spice market in Kerma in the north of the
Sudan. I never understood what the deal was with calling the
country THE Sudan. They are joined by illustrious company such as
THE Gambia.