---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Kartoum
From: mollie {CHANGE TO AT} g-comm {DOT} net
Date: Sun, August 17, 2008 8:40 pm
To: mollie+diary-525429 {CHANGE TO AT} g-comm {DOT} net
Cc: davidcoolsalla {DOT} plus {DOT} com {CHANGE TO AT} g-comm {DOT} net
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Yes - we are in Kartoum!
Mollie arrived intact on Thursday morning! It took til 2pm to clear
customs - so slow! Eventually we got on the road about 4pm. Unfortunately
we were forbidden to take photos of the unloading but it wasn't quite as
hairy as the loading!!
The driving here is complicated by the fact that there are absolutely no
signposts in the countryside and those in the towns are in Arabic.
Deciding which road to take is pot luck! The first day was through desert
again and progress slow. We stopped along the road at a truckers camp but
didn't get much sleep due to the noise and the heat. We set off early
next morning for Dongola. The 'main' road was something else! Avoiding
holes and negotiating villages became the order of the day. The villages
are Nubian style and impressive. The Nile is also impressive and we used
it as our landmark when we hadn't a clue where we were!
First major problem occurred in the afternoon - one of the tracks we took
turned out to be very soft sand and Mollie got stuck!! Two hours later
Stephen and Kim (a Spanish anthropologist who is travelling with us as far
as Ethiopia - don't know if I told you about him?) had dug til they were
exhausted and Kim walked to a nearby village and found men with a truck
who pulled us out.
Tired and sure we were entering Dongola we heaved a sigh of relief.
On asking we discovered we were still 3hr drive from Dongola!! We were
shattered. However turned out the person we spoke to was the local,
single-handed GP/hospital doctor and he invited us to sleep in his
courtyard, use his shower and park Mollie in the hospital grounds were she
would be safe -could you believe it!! Most people sleep outside cos of
the heat so that was no problem for us after Wadi Halfa!
After a chat and some chai with the doctor some of the locals led the way
to Dongola - a short cut through the desert! Just after the desert a sand
storm blew up and it was impossible to make any headway - actually had to
stop the sand was like a wall in front of us. A few miles north of the by
now infamous Dongola we came on tarmac - what a joy!
So we drove on to Karima where we eventually found a place to stay for the
night - Wadi Halfa standard! Not much sleep again.
This morning we set off for Kartoum and apart from strong desert wind and
sand blowing we had an uneventful drive across the desert to here. We
think that is the last major desert drive done. Mollie is so dirty! At
least we had a shower and change of clothes when we got here!
Tomorrow we hope to be close to the ethiopian border and cross it Tues. DV
A huge thank you to all of you who have sent e-mails - has been terrific
to hear from you all. Don't think I will have time to reply individually
but we do really appreciate them.
Thank you
Night night!
Love S&H