situtation in sudan....

[Todd & Christina]

hola,

anyone out there crossed from ethiopia into southern sudan, across the country and into c.a.r.? wondering about the safety of this zone. also, entry visa for sudan....? heard they're hard to procure, but what about at the lesser-crossed borders?

thanks for your time,
Peace

[5 Eyes]

Hi , I crossed this road in July. The crossing from Eithiopia is a bit slow. Watch out for the customs which is about 30k back from the border.
The passport hut at the border is not good but works.

The Sudanese are a nice bunch. However they are not in a rush. They might offer you food and coffee . perfectly normal.

Once you get through the roads are good. You will have to push up to the first major town ( cant remember the name) the hotels are pretty crap and the best one with Bike parking is called " tourist hotel".

There is a good hotel in Khartoum called the Horizons hotel. its good quality and reasonably priced and its safe to park the bike there.
If you have heard about midhat Mahir he is a great help.
Make sure and get him to take you to the Whirling Dervish on friday evening, good for photo ops.

I took the nile route to wadi halfa, tough going but passable.

I have found Sudan not to be in any way dangerous and the people are extremely friendly....

let me know if you need any help

Gary

[5 Eyes]

oh yeah and the best place to get the visa is in Addis at the sudanese embassy. Go there and look for a transit visa, not as big a deal as some say

[enfieldtravels]

Hi Todd, Christine,

The Ethiopia to Sudan Gedaref border is absolutely fine as are conditions in Northern and Eastern Sudan. Didn't go to Southern Sudan but met a German cyclist in Khartoum who had come through Southern Sudan and entered via Uganda. His whole trip sounded like a catalogue of bad wisdom. You'll still find child soldiers and a lack of control in Southern Sudan with different militias controlling different towns. He got his passport taken and held for a few days in one town. Eventually he came to one place where they (probably sensibly) wouldn't let him continue riding and made him put his bike on a bus to Khartoum. Added to all this the roads sounded like they were really bad. Apparently Juba is a nice enough place and safe but you really need to fly in and out.

All in do what you like but my opinion would have to be that Southern Sudan is still on the list of no gos for overland travel. Take the Northern route though and it's safe and still a great adventure.

Cheers

Richard

[Stephano]

Originally Posted by 5 Eyes

I have found Sudan not to be in any way dangerous and the people are extremely friendly....

Very true. Just be careful what you call your teddy.
Stephan

[5 Eyes]

Originally Posted by Stephano

Very true. Just be careful what you call your teddy.
Stephan

well ok , they are friendly once you dont call your teddy Muhammed

[illustratedman]

Sounds like things are starting to get silly, we all know how quickly these things can escalate.

By Sky News SkyNews - 1 hour 28 minutes ago
Thousands of people are marching in Khartoum calling for British teacher Gillian Gibbons to be executed
The 54-year-old has been jailed for blasphemy in Sudan after naming a teddy bear Mohammed but the crowds say her 15-day sentence is too lenient.
The protesters took to the streets carrying knives and sticks, chanting "shame on the UK" and "kill her by firing squad".
Gillian Gibbons escaped conviction on a more serious charge of inciting hatred, for which she could have faced 40 lashes or six months in prison.
She was expected to serve her term at a women's prison near the capital, Khartoum, before being deported to the UK.
Britain has expressed "in the strongest terms" its concern at the verdict and Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador. He also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister.
Britain has expressed "in the strongest terms" its concern at the verdict and Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador. He also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister.
The Foreign Office said earlier they were seeking "swift resolution of this issue" and maintain Mrs Gibbons is guilty of nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.
During her sentencing, UK consular staff were denied access to the court and riot police surrounded the building while the media were barred from entering.
School director Robert Boulos called the verdict "very fair" adding: "She could have had six months and lashes and a fine and she only got 15 days and deportation."
The school would not appeal against the decision, he added.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was "appalled" at the decision to convict her.

[Gregorius]

Ridiculous and unfortunately typical if you ask me ...

[Dessertstrom]

I live in the shadow of this religion and I can tell you that whilst there are many sensible people there are many more that have blind faith and do not tolerate other religions.
I hope this teacher gets through this farce ok and returns to the UK unharmed.
No disrespect to the "Good" people of Sudan.

Ian

[illustratedman]

Originally Posted by Gregorius

Ridiculous and unfortunately typical if you ask me ...

Unfortunately I always get the feeling with situations like this, that they flare up so quickly that there must be a permanent udercurrent of ill feeling towards westerners/christian religion that is not apparent on the surface, it takes so little to trigger it off. But thats life, we cant all be the same, I know it works the other way as well it just seems not to such great extremes.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by illustratedman

Sounds like things are starting to get silly, we all know how quickly these things can escalate.

By Sky News SkyNews - 1 hour 28 minutes ago
Thousands of people are marching in Khartoum calling for British teacher Gillian Gibbons to be executed
The 54-year-old has been jailed for blasphemy in Sudan after naming a teddy bear Mohammed but the crowds say her 15-day sentence is too lenient.
The protesters took to the streets carrying knives and sticks, chanting "shame on the UK" and "kill her by firing squad".
Gillian Gibbons escaped conviction on a more serious charge of inciting hatred, for which she could have faced 40 lashes or six months in prison.
She was expected to serve her term at a women's prison near the capital, Khartoum, before being deported to the UK.
Britain has expressed "in the strongest terms" its concern at the verdict and Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador. He also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister.
Britain has expressed "in the strongest terms" its concern at the verdict and Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador. He also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister.
The Foreign Office said earlier they were seeking "swift resolution of this issue" and maintain Mrs Gibbons is guilty of nothing more than a simple misunderstanding.
During her sentencing, UK consular staff were denied access to the court and riot police surrounded the building while the media were barred from entering.
School director Robert Boulos called the verdict "very fair" adding: "She could have had six months and lashes and a fine and she only got 15 days and deportation."
The school would not appeal against the decision, he added.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was "appalled" at the decision to convict her.

Bear in mind that a lot of stuff on the TV news is no more reality than Ewan and C going LWD; it is stage-managed in order to make a political point or otherwise influence events, or (whisper this quietly to the self-important TV newscasters) even to make a news report more important than it might otherwise appear ("aah, we have yet another scoop!").

In this case, the political situation in Dafur and the current pressure upon the Sudanese Govn from the US, Britain and the rest of the EU cannot be discounted as having an effect.

[yuma simon]

I say to protest this country. Do not spend any money there. She was taken into custody, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison by the governement there. Whether or not the protests really happened or not the way the articles and news reports reported them is irrelevant. Skip this country for what it has officially done for someone making no more than a social faux pas. They have obviously shown the rest of the world that they do not want our business!!

[deandean]

Originally Posted by yuma simon

I say to protest this country. Do not spend any money there. She was taken into custody, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison by the governement there. Whether or not the protests really happened or not the way the articles and news reports reported them is irrelevant. Skip this country for what it has officially done for someone making no more than a social faux pas. They have obviously shown the rest of the world that they do not want our business!!

Maybe they do not want our business....or teachers to educate their young ones..but they do want the 400 million pounds in aid stupidly sent by the stupid British government.
Hopefully someone will see sense and stop this money asap.
I feel sick in my stomach with stories like this.
Just re-named my bike mohamid.(intentionally no capital letter as a sign of lack of respect).