Writing from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Not a place one would have chosen for maiden visit abroad, but I got a chance to visit this place on some official work of my employer ONGC (ONGC Videsh). I believe every place has something to offer. We enquired and told about a pyramid site and the confluence of Blue Nile and White Nile. Lets see what I can get for my readers.
Have been so busy with this assignment that I could not write about the exicitement on the build up leading to my first foreign trip. Arrived here this evening after a rigourous 14 hours of travelling from Delhi with change of flight at Dubai. My first impression of Khartoum was that of an ordinary city, but with wide roads. The landscape is barren - desertlike with very few trees around. An old airport with no organised taxi service which is understndable as no tourist probably comes here. My collegue had to wait at Delhi airport immigration when the immigration officer saw the destination as Khartoum. The officer called his boss who asked my friend where he works. As he received the reply ONGC, he said OK and the passport was stamped.
At the airport, the taxis in the parking area were shouting at the few people who were waiting for their vehicle. Most foreigners had their vehicles pre-arrnaged. We were told by our cab driver that a new and bigger airport is under construction. The current one looks like an ordinary small town airport. The bus that transported us to the terminal from the Emirates flight also did not have AC. The driver also drove fast and applied very sharp brake once, which I had never experiemced in any airport. Anyway, will be staying here for the entire week. Will have a stopover at Dubai for a day on return. Hope to see marvels of Dubai. Will write back in a week's time.
