Experiencing Sudan’s bureaucracy in Khartoum

Piercing gaze

Sudanese chai with nana (mint)

A fruitful eight days in Egypt was fine but it was never the main attraction; Contrary to what most people would choose, Sudan was the primary reason I was in that region. To find out exactly when I first though of visiting this country I have to rewind back to a cold winter Sunday afternoon in 2008. I was still in Nashville and had picked up a National Geography magazine with the title “The Black Pharaohs-Conquerors of Ancient Egypt” with a modern illustration of a black Pharaoh draped in leopard skin on its cover page and in the background were some unusual looking pyramids.

Roadside tea stall; a common sight on the
streets of Khartoum

A Sudanese woman

I don’t recall much of the article other than the pictures of the pyramids and the mention that Sudan had more pyramids than all of Egypt. At that time it was no more than a wishful dream to one day visit this little visited place but fate was to provide me with an opportunity to make it a reality.

Khartoum as seen from the bridge over the Blue Nile

I tried finding that particular issue of National Geographic but seems like I left it back when I moved to Africa. Luckily, National Geographic has the article available on its website and I would highly recommend a read to get a beginner’s insight into Sudan’s ancient past.

It was a red eye flight from Egypt to Sudan arriving in Khartoum at 3am. Lack of sleep and suffering from cold I was groggy, so right after immigration I found a bench in the baggage collection area and pulled out my sleeping bag to rest till the sun came out.

Yummy Chiken shwarma

First stop in the morning was the sailing club (where I would be camping that night) beside the Nile to drop off my backpack and then it was time to run behind Sudan’s bureaucratic show. My Bradt guide book mentions that Sudan is one of the most bureaucratic countries in the world and I cannot help but agree. All foreign national must register themselves soon after arriving in the country (You could be forgiven for believing, like me, that that’s exactly what they are supposed to do at the airport). After the whole morning chasing several different offices I finally made it to the correct place to register myself; it turned out that they would not register me unless I had a sponsor.

A cute smile

As my luck would have it, there was an Indian at the office the same day and he was an immigration expeditor mainly for Indian expats living in Sudan. Ashwin was an Indian national although he was born and bought up in Sudan and not surprisingly he spoke fluent Arabic and had all the right connections at the immigration office. He was generous enough to sign the immigration papers as my sponsor. Had it not been him, I can’t imagine what I would have done so I can’t thank him enough for showing up like an angel.


My Travel Permit


Registration was complete when a sticker with a stamp was posted on my passport. Next I had to go to the police headquarters to get my travel permits without which I could not travel outside Khartoum. I can perhaps understand the need of travel permit considering the government has been involved in two highly publicized civil crises (Darfur and South Sudan) in the past decade and several other tense posturing in other areas.


Confluence of the Nile
(Left is White Nile and Right is Blue Nile)

South Sudan is now an independent nation but these neighboring nations still have ongoing feuds along the yet to be fully demarcated border which is purportedly rich in oil reserves. Darfur, lying in the west is completely off-limits to travelers and the reason for it are well documented whereas there is some degree of tension with Egypt along a disputed territory called as the Hala'ib Triangle in the North. The east bordering Eritrea and Ethiopia is relatively fine but the inhabitants although not separatist, are restive due to a lack of government investment as compared to the central and northern region of Sudan.

A farmer at the confluence

The patch between Khartoum and the new boundary with South Sudan which now forms the southern region of Sudan has also lately been in the news due to fierce fighting with the indigenous people living there in the Nuba Mountains and the ensuing mistrust between the government and the various foreign aid agencies operating there since the crisis began. My goal was to visit the north and the east and hopefully south as far as the Nuba Mountains which was reputed to be spectacular for hiking and experiencing the culture of the isolated inhabitants.

Pretty Sudanese girl

I put in my application, listing the places I wanted to travel along with a copy of my passport, visa, registration, and photo. I had to submit five copies of this application packet which were then routed through 4 other offices for their approval while I waited in the reception hall twiddling my thumbs for the next few hours. Just before close of business hours, I finally got my approved copy. I was given the permit to travel to all the places I listed except the Nuba Mountains but I sort of knew that my chances were pretty slim to begin with.


View from my camping spot


Knowing about the red tape in Sudan from reading my guidebook before arriving helped in mitigating my frustration but I have to add that all the officials I met throughout the day were extremely gracious in their conduct with no hassle for bribes or more importantly rude behavior to foreigners which I am sorry to report also happens in more developed societies.

Preparing my Ful

With the paperwork being taken care of, there was just enough time get some Sudanese tea while watching the sun set at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. The Blue Nile originates from Lake Tana in Ethiopia while the White Nile originates in the mountains of Uganda.

Back at the camping place I pitched my tent, had some delicious ful (traditional Sudanese meal of cooked fava beans with chopped onions, tomatoes, green peppers, cheese, and oil served with bread) and soon it was time to call it quits for the night…the next morning I was to get out of Khartoum and hopefully see the pyramids from the cover of the National Geographic magazine, that I first laid my eyes on a few years back.