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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Another visit into the Nubian desert



On Sunday we decided to visit some temple ruins in the desert. I will post about them shortly.

A ride into the desert, what more could we wish for...


As we turned off into the desert, we rode up behind another vhehicle, the only other vehicle in the desert.

...except to meet up with some really friendly people in the [only] vehicle ahead

Yes, it's true. At last we've met up with some really friendly people here in the Sudan. We "met"  in the desert on Sunday. I've mentioned in posts that when we approach expats  in Khartoum, we're always met with non-committal replies and often downright unfriendliness. We pulled up alongside a double-cab pick-up. I wound my window down, and the driver of the other vehicle did the same.

Turned out to be two lady teachers from Khartoum and a young Ethiopian gentleman. They were scouting for territory to bring their pupils camping in the desert. The two women were AUSTRALIAN. Whoo-hoo. And SO friendly. They asked us to follow them as they only had a two-wheel drive vehicle. The day before they'd camped up at the Meroe pyramids which I posted about last week. Their vehicle got stuck and they had to do a lot of digging and pushing to get out. Riding in convoy with us, they said they felt much more reassured. At least we'd be able to pull them out if the need arose.

We were so thrilled to meet up with other people and the older teacher, Robyn has been in Khartoum for five years already. She is a mine of information on which restaurants give discount, and which supermarkets have the best value for money. She also said she'd let us know when they had talks on cultural issues in the evening at the school and that we were welcome to come.  

The other young lass, Izzy has just arrived in Khartoum and brought a cat with her from Thailand. Soon She and I were deep in conversation about the red tape surrounding moving your pet around Africa. (Or the world, in her case)

A sneak preview of the first temples we visited up ahead of the Landcruiser


New friends we met in the desert: Robyn (Australian), Getenet (Ethiopian) and Izzy (Australian)

Lunch was salad - stuffed pitas in the desert

Great joke here: Robyn was asking Grant if he'd brought some biltong (spicy dried meat much like jerky) from South Africa!


For more of other people's worlds, click here

The Arabic word for friends is 'Şdqāʼ  (pronounced Sadeeka)
The Arabic word for vehicle is Mrkbh (pronounced Murkba)

11 comments:

  1. How wonderful to meet fellow sojournors in the journey of life. And in the desert no less! :-)

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  2. Wow, that temple looks so awesome. Is it really fenced off? Can't wait to see more.

    How wonderful to make new friends. And of course you'd meet them out in the boonies, because they're your kind of people.

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  3. That is great, Jo..... What a place to visit some new friends though!!!! ha ha.... Hope you get to see these folks again sometime... They seem like nice people.

    Sounds like you had a great time.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  4. What a fun post, Jo! And how fun to meet and make new friends in the middle of no where! I love it! They do indeed seem like lovely people! Such a great post for the day! Such a great looking temple! Wow! Hope you have a wonderful week!

    Sylvia

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  5. Just discovered your blog today. Beautiful blog post: beautiful scenery and beautiful to make new friends. I can understand the teachers wanting to travel in convoy with a 4-wheel drive vehicle. I was once stuck in the sand in a Mexican desert with another woman, in her big old American car, and no shovel or anything. A family of Mexicans, from children to grandfather, found us and spent the rest of the day trying to dig us out... the whole day, New Year's Day, 1982. People can be wonderful, anywhere.
    Kay
    Alberta, Canada

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  6. I just love these shots!

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  7. How lovely to meet up with people like this Jo.

    PS Maybe because I have a smaller computer screen but it is hiding some of your script and I cannot read it. I think this layout was made for larger screens. :)

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  8. Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos

    Have a nice week,
    Greetings, Bram

    My Word Tuesday post

    Seen on My World Tuesday

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  9. I'm happy u made some friends in Khartoum, Jo :)
    sadeeqa is written in Arabic sdyqh صديقة

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  10. So baie bly jy het mense ontmoet waarmee jy lekker kan gesels en kuier!

    Soos ek jou ken gaan jy nou hope nuwe interessanthede ontdek!!!

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  11. What fun meeting up with friendly travelers in the Nubian desert! Camping with kids near the pyramids sounds great! I'm curious why so many expats you meet there are unfriendly.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo