Place: Khartoum
Tunes: Armin van Buuren
A street view from the better part of town.
Camels on the way to town.
More camels.
Men at work. What else do you need to fix a pannier?
The box looks pretty good.
Some details after the drilling. Could you do it better?
Very useful drawers at the hotel.
The better taxi we took today. 8 people, some smoking candles and very questionable music in this Christmas tree on wheels.
500km covered today. The first 150 km went like a breeze in a modest 30 degrees but that yellow bastard on the sky did it again. There are many kinds of adventures and today’s was about fighting the heat and boredom. There was not much to look at out there. Just sand and some rocks. Throw in the odd camel and there you go. The BMW showed 43 degrees making this the hottest day so far. After 500km we hit the traffic in Khartoum and 45min later were at the hotel. Of course in the city we had to slow down and this is bad news for the engine, which is running so hot that it is difficult to stay on the saddle. The sides of my calves have burns on them. And my iPod melted!
No registration in Khartoum, which is good, or maybe our travel agent dude took care of it for us. The traffic is lame here, nothing exciting. People do not race us, they stay in the lanes sometimes and we are not getting very close and friendly with the cars overtaking us 2cm away. If this is African traffic, where are we going to get our adrenalin fix and what the hell am I going to write about?
The two transamericans gave the rest of us a head start in the morning and we did get to the hotel first. Ha! We won! Apparently they went to see some pyramids and learned how to ride a camel.
So far, the Sudanese people have been very easy to get along with and there is no "intensity" that we experienced in Egypt. The merchants don't try to shove their produce down your throat and apart from taxi fares, the prices are reasonable.
In the evening we decided to head out to town. After cramming ourselves into a tiny taxi, the driver took us for a ride (this must be the exception that makes the rule). This driver guy was so pathetic that we actually had to intervene and grab the controls of the car as he simply refused to stop after being told to several times. I think we left the handbrake on so tight that the kid probably could not get it off once we were done.
Apparently you do not need to know how to read, or how to read a map to drive a taxi here. We did eventually find a place that looked like a restaurant and the hot dog pizza was pretty good. The scenery in Khartoum is nothing to write home about but there are supermarkets here, adventurers best friends! There are some brand new business districts here and there but the oil money has not turned this place into a modern city. Maybe in time.
The day ended and the only adventure we got was an idiot driving a taxi. We need to do something. Khartum is probably the last safe place we are going to see. The other bigger cities ahead of us are probably going to be worse, so let's see what happens.
Day two:
Our local contact here, Mr Waheed sorted out a bike repair shop for me to sort my panniers out and off I went after a taxi. The repair area had all sorts of car and motorcycle repair shops but looked a bit like a scrapyard. The guys took a look at the problem and got to work. Amazing things can be done with a hammer a couple of blocks of 2*4 and a bit of rail. They straightened the box (which was bent) and made some new fasteners for it. Now the pannier is on more rigidly than it ever was. The operation took three hours and it was hot to just watch the guys work. The whole group also got a dinner invitation from Mr Pedro, but unfortunately other plans had been made elsewhere at the same time.
The pannier repair was well done, fast and no advance notice was needed. From an European viewpoint it was also very cheap. In Belgium you could not have done it by just showing up at a workshop and it would have cost you as much as the pannier was worth.
The whole repair experience showed that it is easy to get things done here; the people are very friendly and easygoing. Some people speak good English, but not everyone. Usually there are a lot of people around and everyone is interested where you are coming from and an English speaker will be produced from somewhere. While I waited, everyone around the garage was asking all sorts of questions and buying me tea. The scrapyard may have looked a bit rough, but it was all right.
While you can read about the management of "official" Sudan from the newspapers and about all sorts of fundamentalists, the ordinary people here have an undeserved bad reputation. Tourists would be very welcome here.
The others went on to find some beer (Becks non-alcoholic) and to a museum with some old things on display. In the evening some food and stocking up water for tomorrow's all-day sauna.
Tunes: Armin van Buuren
A street view from the better part of town.
Camels on the way to town.
More camels.
Men at work. What else do you need to fix a pannier?
The box looks pretty good.
Some details after the drilling. Could you do it better?
Very useful drawers at the hotel. 
The better taxi we took today. 8 people, some smoking candles and very questionable music in this Christmas tree on wheels.500km covered today. The first 150 km went like a breeze in a modest 30 degrees but that yellow bastard on the sky did it again. There are many kinds of adventures and today’s was about fighting the heat and boredom. There was not much to look at out there. Just sand and some rocks. Throw in the odd camel and there you go. The BMW showed 43 degrees making this the hottest day so far. After 500km we hit the traffic in Khartoum and 45min later were at the hotel. Of course in the city we had to slow down and this is bad news for the engine, which is running so hot that it is difficult to stay on the saddle. The sides of my calves have burns on them. And my iPod melted!
No registration in Khartoum, which is good, or maybe our travel agent dude took care of it for us. The traffic is lame here, nothing exciting. People do not race us, they stay in the lanes sometimes and we are not getting very close and friendly with the cars overtaking us 2cm away. If this is African traffic, where are we going to get our adrenalin fix and what the hell am I going to write about?
The two transamericans gave the rest of us a head start in the morning and we did get to the hotel first. Ha! We won! Apparently they went to see some pyramids and learned how to ride a camel.
So far, the Sudanese people have been very easy to get along with and there is no "intensity" that we experienced in Egypt. The merchants don't try to shove their produce down your throat and apart from taxi fares, the prices are reasonable.
In the evening we decided to head out to town. After cramming ourselves into a tiny taxi, the driver took us for a ride (this must be the exception that makes the rule). This driver guy was so pathetic that we actually had to intervene and grab the controls of the car as he simply refused to stop after being told to several times. I think we left the handbrake on so tight that the kid probably could not get it off once we were done.
Apparently you do not need to know how to read, or how to read a map to drive a taxi here. We did eventually find a place that looked like a restaurant and the hot dog pizza was pretty good. The scenery in Khartoum is nothing to write home about but there are supermarkets here, adventurers best friends! There are some brand new business districts here and there but the oil money has not turned this place into a modern city. Maybe in time.
The day ended and the only adventure we got was an idiot driving a taxi. We need to do something. Khartum is probably the last safe place we are going to see. The other bigger cities ahead of us are probably going to be worse, so let's see what happens.
Day two:
Our local contact here, Mr Waheed sorted out a bike repair shop for me to sort my panniers out and off I went after a taxi. The repair area had all sorts of car and motorcycle repair shops but looked a bit like a scrapyard. The guys took a look at the problem and got to work. Amazing things can be done with a hammer a couple of blocks of 2*4 and a bit of rail. They straightened the box (which was bent) and made some new fasteners for it. Now the pannier is on more rigidly than it ever was. The operation took three hours and it was hot to just watch the guys work. The whole group also got a dinner invitation from Mr Pedro, but unfortunately other plans had been made elsewhere at the same time.
The pannier repair was well done, fast and no advance notice was needed. From an European viewpoint it was also very cheap. In Belgium you could not have done it by just showing up at a workshop and it would have cost you as much as the pannier was worth.
The whole repair experience showed that it is easy to get things done here; the people are very friendly and easygoing. Some people speak good English, but not everyone. Usually there are a lot of people around and everyone is interested where you are coming from and an English speaker will be produced from somewhere. While I waited, everyone around the garage was asking all sorts of questions and buying me tea. The scrapyard may have looked a bit rough, but it was all right.
While you can read about the management of "official" Sudan from the newspapers and about all sorts of fundamentalists, the ordinary people here have an undeserved bad reputation. Tourists would be very welcome here.
The others went on to find some beer (Becks non-alcoholic) and to a museum with some old things on display. In the evening some food and stocking up water for tomorrow's all-day sauna.
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