A Sudanese Summary

After a really tough eight day stretch, combining the off-road with the high temperatures, we left Sudan and entered Ethiopia, where we are getting fully acquainted with the gradients of the Simien Mountains.

We found Sudan to be a country full of warm and hospitable people, untainted the way Egypt was by the mercenaries and touts attracted by the tourist trade. Away from Khartoum, we were never harassed, and where we could communicate (i.e. they spoke some English – our Arabic is still constrained to two phrases!), we were always warmly welcomed.  The pride people displayed in their country was enormous. On two occasions, we were even welcomed by the local minister and at one campsite, the local karate and acrobatic society turned up to give us a demonstration, before we were all provided with a free Coke! 

The local Sudanese Karate Club demonstrate their skills

The contrast between the countryside and Khartoum was considerable – from goat herders and mud huts to 7* hotels and an enormous new shopping mall (it must have been the only building in Sudan with escalators as the shoppers had still not figured them out, pausing each time before uncertainly taking a large stride onto the first fully exposed step – we walked into the back of several people, expecting them to seamlessly walk on as one would in the UK!). It was not all new in Khartoum though, with a lot of colonial architecture clearly visible, although some lovely buildings had been sadly left to decay.

A lot of investment had visibly been made into Khartoum, although little beyond there that we could see. There is a considerable amount of oil in Sudan, mainly in the new southern state, and unfortunately when independence was agreed, no transit price was fixed for the oil to be piped out through the North – the two states are now at loggerheads so the South has simply stopped pumping oil, to both their disadvantages (the South are threatening to build a pipeline through Kenya but this will take at least ten years). This lack of oil revenue has led to inflation of 50% (the US$ was worth 2.5 Sudanese pounds two years ago and is now worth 7) and the beginnings of protests and pockets of unrest.

As well as the economic outcomes from the split, we were interested to hear that the Arab world felt that Southern independence was a loss, as Sudan was the real land of transition between the Middle East and Africa. Whilst in Egypt, we definitely felt we were in an Arab world, not Africa, but as we came down through Sudan, we started to notice more signs of the Africa we recognise, in landscape, food, people’s appearance, and this is even more the case in the South, we heard. So the separation of the North and the South has created a larger divide between the two areas than before.

As well as the oil, Sudan also has gold.  We cycled through a mining area where it was clear that any gold being panned was not being reinvested in the area.  One of our fellow riders, Ali, stopped and had a few cracks of the pick axe.  He found some rock with gold dust on it, and they showed him how you add mercury to gather the gold.  The miners were so taken with him that they let him keep the rock.

Whilst in Sudan, we did develop a love for the Chinese – whilst they are exploiting African mineral reserves, gold and uranium in Sudan’s case, it does mean they need to get the stuff out of the country, which means infrastructure is required. And we must say, what good infrastructure. Cycling along a silky smooth new road from Wadi Halfa, at the border with Egypt, to Khartoum, we were very grateful to the shrewd Chinese for doing our backsides an enormous favour. Very selfish, we know…

The stuff dreams are made off - thank you China

Sudan is a very Muslim country.  No matter how rural the area, the women were always covered.  Even in the expensive hotels in Khartoum there was no beer to be found.  It was no surprise then that the very first buildings upon crossing the border into Ethiopia were a bar and a brothel!