TRAVEL | SUDAN | KASSALA | NORTH AFRICA
A Visit To Kassala, Sudan
Home of the Taka Mountains and the Gash River.
I haven’t written much at all about our travels through Sudan, although I did do a weekly video series on YouTube while we were there. But, lately, I’ve been feeling like I need to write more about it.
We traveled to Sudan by bus from Egypt at the end of January 2021. It’s crazy to think it was that long ago already.
Of course, we had reservations about going to Sudan. We had heard all the bad stories about the violence and problems that the country has faced. But we had also read that they had a new government and that things had stabilized over the past couple of years. We were desperate to get out of Egypt, and since we were already in the south of the country, Sudan was the next logical choice.
I’m happy to say that Sudan was an incredible country to visit, and our stay was made even more impressive by the kindness and hospitality of the Sudanese people.
I will be adding to the above series soon, I promise, but in the meantime, I wanted to highlight one spot that we stopped off at that we really enjoyed, Kassala.
Our bus left from Port Sudan, where we had been staying for 2 months, at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am. Since we had gotten into a routine of not going to bed until about 3:00 am, while in Sudan, we decided to just stay up all night and rolled our suitcases the 2 km down the middle of the road on our way to the bus station. Sudan was insanely safe when we were there (pre-coup) and the Sudanese people are just so lovely. A few stopped to offer us rides, but we actually enjoyed the cooler temperature of the night and the fact that there were no people on the roads that were always very hectic during the day.
We slept fitfully for the 6-hour journey. There wasn’t much to see out the window but barren dusty landscapes. We had already traveled much of the same route coming from Khartoum, so we didn’t feel bad getting some shut-eye after being up all night. However, when we were getting close to Kassala, I kept an eye out for the stunning Taka Mountains that appeared on the horizon.
Kassala is located on the eastern side of Sudan, close to the Eritrean border. We actually had hoped that we would be able to cross to Eritrea, but the border was unfortunately closed due to Covid.
Did you know that Eritrea is considered the Italy of Africa? Their food influence also has rubbed off on Sudan because they had some of the best pizza!
The two main geographical features of Kassala are the Taka Mountains which stand proud behind the city, and the Gash River which only fills in August/September. We visited the dry river bed when we were there in April and wondered how full it got. People told us that it filled right up, and we found that hard to believe until we saw photos from friends on Instagram later in the year.
We were amazed!
We were exhausted when we arrived and got straight to finding a place to stay. Our taxi driver from the bus station immediately took us to the nicest hotel in town, and of course, it was way over our budget. We told him that and asked if there was somewhere cheaper that we could stay. After phoning a few friends, he took us to the police hotel. We have no idea exactly what a police hotel is, but we felt safe there at least.
Our room was simple but had all that we needed, plus it was clean. It was just $5/night, so we had no complaints. We slept much of the first day, which was fine because Ramadan was happening and the coffee stands and food stalls didn’t open until sundown.
After a much-needed rest, we went out to explore our neighborhood. We quickly found a coffee stand and sat down. The lovely coffee barista was a sweetheart, and they were so pleased to have foreigners visiting them. I can’t say enough about how great the Sudanese people are. Truly.
Coffee and tea are a huge part of the Sudanese culture. Small coffee stands are on almost every corner and they all have a small fire going that boils the water needed.
One day we went out for an evening stroll as we were waiting for the call to prayer to happen at sunset, which would signify the end of the daily fast.
As we walked along the berm that follows the edge of the river bed, we came across a whole herd of camels that were out for their daily walk through town. They were having a snack on some of the bushes, and we stopped to watch them for quite a while.
They are such docile and gentle creatures.
Actually, these technically aren’t camels. Camels do in fact have two humps. These are dromedaries. But nobody calls them that. They are called camels by all of North Africa where they are found.
To watch a short 33-second video of this event, click here.
On another day we made it our mission to walk to the Taka Mountains. Many locals told us that it was too far and that we should just take a bus. But we like to walk and see the sights along the way. Plus, these days we are never in a rush.
We set out at about 2:00 pm and just started heading in their general direction. I will say that they were certainly farther away than we thought. We had plans to climb up onto the rocks to watch the sunset, but we still hadn’t quite reached the bottom when the call to prayer rung out around 6:30 pm.
It was an interesting moment to witness, though, as the hustle and bustle on the streets cleared away suddenly as people went to gather in their groups for the evening breaking of the fast.
The closer we got to the mountains, the more stunning they became as they basked in the golden hour of the setting sun.
Finally, we found ourselves at a place where it looked like a trail went up to the bottom of the mountain. We wound our way up it, but it came to a dead end. It was during this small adventure that the call to prayer rang out. We could see locals in the small yards settling down with their families to break the fast. We were even invited into a couple, but it was now getting dark and we figured that we should get back to the city center and closer to our hotel. While Sudan was extremely safe, and we didn’t ever feel like we were in any danger, we also didn’t go out of our way to push our luck too often.
Especially in places that we weren’t familiar with.
We graciously declined, took a few photos of some adorable traditional huts, then turned around and made our way back to the city center. On the way back we finally settled into a coffee stand for a couple of cups of coffee, then decided that taking a bus would be an easier option than to try and walk the whole distance back. It was a good decision.
Kassala is also one of the major agricultural regions of Sudan. We were surprised at this because of how dry everything looked. One evening a young Sudanese Instagrammer noticed us on the platform after I posted about Kassala. He happened to be in Kassala and wanted to meet us. We met him at a coffee stand (surprise, surprise) and he asked us if we wanted to see any of the fruit orchards.
Of course, we were excited to check them out. We made arrangements to meet him the following day, and he had a driver take us out to see his plot of land. They toured us through the banana, grapefruit, mango, tangerine, and lemon trees.
We really enjoyed our time in Kassala. While Wikipedia claims that there are over 400 000 people living there, it certainly didn’t feel like that. To us, it was peaceful with a laid-back vibe. Of course, it was also full of kind people.
We had another early bus leaving Kassala at 6:00 am. We made our way to the bus station with time to spare, as we tend to do, and sat back to watch a spectacle unfold that we never could have predicted.
Lucky for the residents of Kassala because the sun comes up from behind the Taka Mountains every day. As the bus station came to life, the sun began to rise and we witnessed one of the most spectacular sunrises that we ever could have imagined as we drove off.
It was a fitting send-off from an amazing city.
We will always cherish our short stay in Kassala and do hope to return one day when the Gash River is filled!
Thanks so much for reading about our adventures in Kassala. I hope that this unlocks my writing about Sudan because there is much more to share.
To see this week in a vlog format, check out our YouTube video below.
Happy travels!
xo Jill
Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We paint FREE murals in exchange for accommodation. Check us out on Ko-fi!
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