Sussing Sudan

[JohnM]

Choice of Veuve or Moet in the PER EK lounge. The former for me...

 

[kermatu]

PERfEKtion

 

[JohnM]

Snacking along.

Pumpkin soup and smoked salmon with pickled ginger and wasabi.

 

[JohnM]

Settling in for the ride.

 

[drron]

Well that wasabi isn't the real deal.You need fresh Tasmanian wasabi for the best you will ever have.PERfect.

 

[JohnM]

Well that wasabi isn't the real deal.You need fresh Tasmanian wasabi for the best you will ever have.PERfect.

Yes, it was somewhat imPERfect. I should have said wasabi cream.

Currently partaking of breakfast in the A concourse F lounge in DXB. The substitute for bacon is also imPERfect...

 

[drron]

Well you will keep leaving PERfect PERth.

 

[JohnM]

Leaving PERfection PERiodically is a PERpetual necessity if one is to PERsistently PERuse the world before one PERishes...

Scored a win at DXB. Arrived gate A11 and flight to KRT is currently showing departing from A11, although still about 5 hours to go. Leg-stretching circuits around the F lounge is better than a long walk through the zoo below to go to a C gate.

 

[kermatu]

Two laps - and a trip to the spa - all the exercise you need.

 

[JohnM]

I’m not a spa person - my spa is the Indian ocean.

I’ll make do...

 

[kermatu]

I had this terrine last month. It's rather nice.

 

[JohnM]

Coming into KRT this evening.

Very extensive continuous agriculture in surrounding areas.

No airbridges at the terminal. Arrival procedures are a bit shambolic and slow but everyone is cheerful and friendly and it eventually worked.

No uniformed officials working at the airport were carrying weapons. It’s all very benign.

Airport is very close to the city centre.

 

[JohnM]

Out of order, but I’ll throw in a few pics from the DXB-KRT ride (4h).

Sun was just catching the ‘sail’ of the Burj al Arab hauling out.

 

[JohnM]

Grand Holiday Villa Hotel has that certain Nile River vibe. The river is across the street and beyond some floodplain flats but an elevated road cuts off the view. The only front balcony acess seems to be through rooms and my room faces the back.

 

[JohnM]

That will probably be the last live post for almost two weeks.

The plan is for a look around Khartoum this morning and then into the desert this afternoon so I don’t expect any WiFi until return to Khartoum Saturday week.

I haven’t been issued my AK47 yet....

 

[henleybeach]

That will probably be the last live post for almost two weeks.

The plan is for a look around Khartoum this morning and then into the desert this afternoon so I don’t expect any WiFi until return to Khartoum Saturday week.

I haven’t been issued my AK47 yet...
Good luck and have fun , look forward to hearing and seeing how it was

 

[JohnM]

Peek-a-boo; anyone there?

I’M BAAAAAACK!

Well, back as far as Khartoum.

We’ve just arrived back and checked into the hotel to freshen up before going to the Whirling Dervishes late this afternoon. All the others in the group depart late tonight but I have an extra day, departing Saturday evening.

Contrary to general expectations, reports of my violent or grisly demise in a hail of Kalashnikov bullets or by ritual beheading were exaggerated.

I have only seen one AK47 since setting foot in Sudan - and that was held by a bored-looking guard at the National Museum on our first day, which turned out to be closed for a holiday for the prophet’s birthday. When we went there on our way back into Khartoum this morning as a substitute, there was no guard.

I did, however, see for the first time several of those Landcruiser tray-back utes with the pylon upon which a heavy machinegun is mounted . Unfortunately I didn’t see the operator blasting away randomly into the distance like the setup shots the TV news crews get . The operator was invariably looking extremely bored and peering at his mobile phone .

Man, I want one of those babies - I could clear the outside lane of the freeway of slow drivers like you wouldn’t believe . And fitted with a spotty, I’d be the envy of the outback club doing circle work before bowling over some vermin .

All jokes aside, Sudan is a great place. Steeped in history, with cheerful and friendly people. It’s been a blast - and tourism is growing. So, like so many places, get in early before the hordes is my motto.

While it is a conservative country, it is not overtly repressive. Unlike Iran, women do not need to wear head covering - but covered shoulders is sensible and respectful. Shorts for men are OK but they look out of place in towns. I only wore them in the desert.

I did not see a single police officer wearing sidearms or carrying anything more than a stick.

Our group was 14 pax. But, get this: 10 women and 4 men. Two of the men were with SWMBO. Three of the women had wimpy husbands who either were afraid or didn’t want to camp, so they left those wusses home. All the pax were avid travellers. One of the couples take it in turns to choose a destination; Sudan was her choice. Two of the women who left wimpy home were specialist medico work colleagues from Lithuania who often travel together; the other was a Hungarian woman married to a Swiss man who left wimpy home and set out by herself. Age range was 25 to, ahem, 69. The millennial was a real outlier; the median age was probably just over 50.

Have to go to see the Whirling Dervishes; full transmission will resume after Sunday night following my EK B777 J ride KRT-DXB and A380 F ride DXB-PER and the slaking of a two-week thirst .

 

[RooFlyer]

I was thinking yesterday of posting one of the sound tracks from an Apollo re-entry where mission control is waiting for a signal after re-entry ... waiting for signal ... waiting for signal

Great to hear all that.

Two of the women who left wimpy home were specialist medico work colleagues from Lithuania who often travel together; the other was a Hungarian woman married to a Swiss man who left wimpy home and set out by herself. Age range was 25 to, ahem, 69. The millennial was a real outlier; the median age was probably just over 50.

.. sounds much like the composition of our Iran trip. Young Hugh wondering if he had wandered into a Seniors event, the Brit ladies who left hubbies behind and Deidrie from Ireland who called you a youngster and parted from the group when we went out to dinner in Tehran to make her own way back to the hotel!

 

[JohnM]

A couple of glasses of Moet, a snack of the prawns and two thirds of a glass of each of the white wines on offer, followed by a nap on the ride over from KRT. Pacing myself for 1K on the A380 trundle down to PER...

 

[JohnM]

Mmmmm....