and now the Toyota is a happy chappy. We drove away from the compound
near the border where we stayed the night. We crossed the Ethiopia
side of the border quickly, but spent about two hours between the
three Sudanese offices. They were very friendly. We were offered seats
in the shade and their fans were working. Anja and I had to dress up
(or down?) on the Sudanese side of the border. The fashion police
would've fined me: blue sneakers, grey trousers, a long black skirt, a
white blouse, a South African bandana and a turquoise headscarf.
After we finished at the border we had our second breakfast (first:
rusks, second: thick, salty, pancake-like bread and then our drive
began. In Sudan you see camels and the usual donkeys and cattle. The
first few kilometers you also notice the machinegun posts that serve
as protection from the rebels. The common Sudanese houses are round
with thatch roofs and a lot neater that the Ethiopian houses.
At about half past one we reached Gedaref. We booked into a hotel that
Anja's travelguide recommended. Anja and I are sharing a room since
Muslim law forbids unmarried people to share a room. I showered twice
today and washed my hair twice. I drank:
1xapple juice
2xwater
1xcoke
1xsprite
1xorange juice
1xpomegranate juice
Thank goodness we have a normal, working toilet!
If someone ever gets into an argument with me on the productivity of
the Africans, I will personally shoot them with a kettie. There is no
way that one can work as fast as a European in such heat. No &*^%$
way.
After we settled into the hotel we were offered a free ride on a
bakkie to the police station. All foreigners need to register within
three days of arrival. We came there and had positive vibes…and then
the well-known feeling that Eishkom already gave us in South Africa:
sorry, no power. The police told us to come back tomorrow - that
would've made our travel plans into a mixed salad. We were quite
disappointed and stressed when suddenly the fans made a wonderful turn
of 360°. We rushed back to the police where we sat for 1,5 hours but
finally got registered. For some reason it really feels as if you are
waiting on a life or death result when you sit there. To me the police
uniforms look like blue baby jumpsuits. The whole day the people have
treated us well. They were friendly, helpful and interested in our
journey.
We also took a walk through a part of the town on the never ending
search for internet. We ended up buying a ZAIN simcard. For future
reference: you need your passport to buy a simcard. Sudan is really
strict if you take this into consideration as well as the registration
on top of the visas. Anja and I bought ourselves a long, wide
traditional dress. It is just too hot to walk with our normal, Western
clothes here. The shops are much cleaner than in Ethiopia and the
stalls remind me of those in Beijing. The headscarf also keeps falling
off, so I need to find a way to make that work.
For dinner we ordered room service (kebab and liver), because the
headscarves are such a big schlep. I do not know how the women live
with it. It feels like you're slowly suffocating. For pudding we had a
baklava type dessert that we bought in town.
Today was a long, but productive and rewarding day.
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