Khartoum

Sorry no photos. Left camera in car and we came in Andrew and Louise's in the hurly burly of late night shopping traffic. Had lots of adventures getting this far including fabulous desert camping. Egypt was quiet - not a tourist in sight apart from us, an endangered species. We flew into Hurghada to meet Andy and Louise and to take over the driving of the second car from the De la Hayes boys who had driven it through much of eastern Europe, the Middle East and Sinai. Amazingly, given the problems in Egypt, we met on the appointed day in the appointed place. I've written about the crossing from Aswan into Sudan in the next blog or 2. We had a bit of  a wait in Aswan as the ferry company offices had closed when we arrived and the next day, although they were open, other important offices which we needed to stamp our car documents were closed. Eventually we got sorted out the day before the ferry sailed. Sudan is a pleasant contrast:  no hassle to buy feluca rides, souvenirs, camel rides, brides for my sons, etc. Aswan was a nightmare. We were constantly fending off people who wanted to sell us things. Given the density of tourists who usually visit, and the famine of tourism they were currently having, I guess we were always going to attract a lot of attention. From Wadi Halfa we had 3 very hot days of driving thro' the desert. Unending landscapes of searing heat. We may stay in Khartoum for 2 nights. We arrived here today. Andrew needs brake bits for his car and we need to stock up on a few things, and we hope to see the confluence of the 2 Niles here. Saw very ancient pyramids  at Meroe and Karema. Camped near them in desert, couldn't do that at Giza in Egypt. Sudan is wonderfully and blissfully underdeveloped in terms of tourism. That will change however. And I could not begrudge them the much needed income from a bigger tourism industry, although the freedoms one has to visit the sites now are amazing.