Kassala for Beginners

"Kassala, Mashallah, Humdallah"

I feel I must backtrack and offer you all some description on my wonderful trip I took to Kassala (Cuss-a-lah) in the East of Sudan back at the end of March. Honestly I’m so incredibly grateful that Rachel and I found the time to travel.

Sunset over Kassala

Our journey to Kassala  began very early in the morning. Luckily our friend helped us navigate the bus station at Mina Burri. It was a pretty hectic scene, so we were happy to find our bus and attempt to go back to sleep. The bus ride from Khartoum to Kassala is 8 hours. The buses are large coach busses, with tvs and AC. Ours was decorated with orange fringe, fur, and beading everywhere.

We arrived and were met by our good friend and fellow volunteer who is teaching at the University of Kassala. Even though he, himself, had only shortly just arrived he would be our tour guide while we were visitng. Also another friend arrived the night before from Port Sudan.

First glimpse of Kassla on the local bus into town

The first thing I noticed about Kassala were the mountains. Beautiful rocky mountains that do, indeed have, as my guide book described, an “other-worldliness” way about them. The second thing I noticed was that it was considerably hotter in Kassala. The heat hit me like a wall getting off the bus. This was back in March too, when I was still asking Sudanese friends when it would get hot again. Well, I had my answer.

The heat was bad like, bad-bad. But the scenery and company was too good.

View of Mountains from the University of Kassala

The center of Kassala has plenty of juice stands. They were round or hexagon shaped and reminded me of touristy food or lemonade stands in beach towns. Much to our surprise Kassala seemed much cheaper than Khartoum. Not surprising was that Kassala was much smaller and had much fewer people who spoke English. I also saw people of different ethnic groups and tribes that are less present in Khartoum. Of course we saw many Beja men, dressed in their classic uniform, a jalabiya with a vest over it and Rashida women who distinctly dress in black velvety robes/gowns with red beading and their veils covering their mouths.

Teapot gated entrance to Totiel 

During the trip we visited Totiel, at the base of the Taka Mountains. This is a frequent spot for honeymooners and other Sudanese on vacation. Many coffee and tea huts are set up or even carved in at places at the base of the mountains. The have painted the rocks and decorated the area so it is quite festive. My favorite part of Kassala was having coffee and popcorn (served together like in Ethiopia) at Totiel while watching the sun set over the town. We also people-watched looking at the newlyweds, the women in their finest beaded tobes with beautiful henna on their hands and feet. We tried to assess which couples seemed the happiest and which women were fairing the best in their clunky wedged high heels on the mountainside. The next day the members of my group were determined to climb part of the mountain to see Eritrea on the other side. I was determined not to pass out from the heat just from being outside.* So, I passed. I didn’t pass on drinking from the well at the base of Toteil. The well is said to promise good fertility (here’s looking at you, honeymooners) and that visitors will return to Kassala.

Coffee hut on Totiel

The well

Toteil coffee huts empty which would fill with people before the sunset

How I creepily took a pic of honeymooners

The pot is called a jebana

Coffee  is also called Jebana so you order a "jebana fi jebana" served with salty popcorn and incense 

 We also visited the Khatmiyah Mosque also located at the base of the Taka Mountains.

Our other time in Kassala was spent checking out different souqs (markets), parks, and walking through some mango farms to the Gash riverbed. 

Stopped to splash ourselves with water from an irrigation pump in the mango grove

 Of course when a family found us wandering around in their farm they offered us, to rest with them and their kids got us some fruit.

Overall it was a wonderful trip. Even in the heat it was nice to get out of Khartoum, explore nature, and see different cultures. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Sudan. 

*Also contributing was my lack of mountain climbing footwear and clothing. Have you ever climbed a mountain in a skirt? You can assume it's not a great idea.