So my first impressions of Khartoum were not good. But the hotel is comfortable..and the owners most helpful..
I must digress.. When we (Rayna and I) were on Domwe island, Lake Malawi ( September 4th-7th) we met an English couple who had been to Sudan two years earlier. They stayed at this hotel a) because they issued you with a letter saying you were staying in their hotel and this was used as your contact in Sudan for visa purposes. b) because they had found the owners most helpful especially when in a pickle which they had found themselves in.. In those days, at each town you visited you had to get a green stamp in your passport, issued by the local police.. like an OK to be there.! This formality had been cancelled and only needed to be done once in Khartoum, as is the rule now. But the English couple arrived in some remote town where the news of the change hadn't got through...and they were arrested. George, in The Acropol hotel had said to them ..as he said to me.. if you have a problem just call. They called George..and it was fixed promptly..
They strongly recommended The Acropol.. and I'm pleased I took their advice. (see next day)
I awake to petrichor... ( look it up yourselves - I have spent $25k to learn this word)..I look out the window and it's pouring.. wonderful, lowers the temperature about 5 degrees and raises the humidity by 70%.
I decide to do the tourist thing.. Go to the local supermarket and see what's available.
The big Mall had lots of shops and a few closed. Go to the phone company MTN to get my data service turned on.. Two lovely girls, both of whom spoke good English, could not be more helpful.
The supermarket had everything ..Local stuff was cheap.. Imported stuff expensive.. for African prices.. about the same as Sydney ..with people earning about 20% of what the average income is in Australia.
I come out and see a money changer and change some more .. this time about 55% more than the official rate.. and with diesel at 30 cents a litre.. this makes it cheaper.
The streets are flooded.
I tried to fill up ..but the service station I went to had no diesel.
This should have been a warning ..but it is chaotic and who knows.
Next stop was the Sudan Museum ..worth every cent of the Ten pounds you pay to get in..
Worth every cent..if you are interested in Stone cut statues and woven baskets 3 - 4 000
years old. Which I know you are!! Ten pounds Sudanese about 30 cents.
I call in to the Corinthia Hotel cause i'm told that if you talk really nicely $$$ you can get a beer at the restaurant on the 18th floor. I'm up in a flash.. Very nice view. The M.D. of the restaurant says .. sorry Sir.. no beer but there will be soon.. A lot are hoping with the recent revolution things will be different.
Note the interesting architecture.
In the afternoon I wander the streets.. not tourist streets
This evening I go to a restaurant in Omdurman, on the western banks of the Nile, that has been recommended.. I have fish.. It is good ..very good! Flared and basted and crumbed and cooked on a BBQ, with a salad.
After dinner I try and find diesel.. It is bloody chaos.. 2 service stations close early .. they have no fuel ..I find one that is open. but packed.. The senior attendant looks after me.. I fill my tanks and jerry cans. I then go to apologise to the driver of the vehicle i squeezed out .. a Sudanese who spent 20 years in the U.S.A. He was most friendly .. and we chatted ..he said isn't the price of diesel good ..I had to agree.
Took me an hour to get to the hotel. George was still there. Asked me what time I was leaving ..I said 6 .. he said there would be coffee waiting in the dining room. I go to bed.
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