Day 1

Wow, what can I say? It's a strange combination of arrested development since the 50's and some easily attainable modern amenities, such as 3G mobile phone service and high speed wireless internet access.

Now is a good example. I made this post courtesy of a high speed wireless internet connection to my laptop at the lobby of my hotel. The Grand Holiday Villa is one of the best hotels in Khartoum. It is a colonial style construction that seems so authentic, it hasn't seen anything close to a rennovation since the 50's. The furniture is probably the newest items you would find in the hotel and they look like something you'd find next to a trash cannister on any European side street.

The city's landscape is beautiful. Something about the Nile... haven't figured it out yet. The city lays right on the point where the blue nile and the white nile meet. There has been so much heavy rain here lately that the nile broke its banks recently and remains high although no longer overflowing. In fact, this morning apparently the rain was so hard people couldn't even drive to work. I didn't notice it though, cause I was too tired, and the AC in my room was loud enough to drown any sound from the outside. There are no tall buildings, or hardly any new ones for that matter. But you do find a couple of construction projects sprinkled around. It's a strange juxtaposition of really old with really new - nothing in between. Unfortunately none of the new buildings are complete yet.

There is only 1 mall, which isn't work visiting, I'm told. No modern day entertainment facilities either. It's like one big village here.

Rumor #2: Women have to walk 4 meters behind their husbands.
Verdict: False. I've seen women walk all over their husbands here. It is a conservative Islamic rule here, like you won't find alcohol in shops, but not nearly as strict as the likes of Saudi Arabia.

Tomorrow I'll try and post some photos that I'll take on my phone camera, and beam them over bluetooth to my laptop, while I sit in the ageing lobby.