Sudan gets barely any tourists despite having more pyramids than Egypt | World | News
A huge country gets barely any tourists despite having more pyramids than Egypt.
Sudan is located in northwest Africa, bordering the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Red Sea.
“For the few travellers who venture here, the sights found amongst Sudan’s sweeping hills of sand come as a fantastic surprise,” said Lonely Planet.
It is home to more pyramids than Egypt, with more than 200 to Egypt’s 118. They are mostly located in Nubia, an area of the Nile Valley where there were three kingdoms.
Heavily influenced by their neighbours, the Nubian kings built their pyramids over 1,000 years after Egyptian burial customs changed. They are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nubia once stretched from Egypt to Sudan. It gave rise to one of Africa’s earliest civilizations, the Kingdom of Kush, whose kings – nicknamed the Black Pharaohs – conquered Egypt in 747 BC and ruled for nearly a century.
Also among Sudan’s top attractions is the Temple of Soleb, commissioned in 1400 BC by Amenhotep III, the same pharaoh responsible for Luxor in Egypt. It has a sanctuary and hypostyle hall with massive carved columns.
The National Museum is known for its “breathtaking exhibits”, with royal statues and perfectly preserved artefacts that are over 3,500 years old. It covers the rise and fall of the kingdoms of Kerma, Kush and Meroe.
Sudan, however, is not an easy country to travel to. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Sudan because of the ongoing military conflict in Khartoum and other parts of the country. There have been several ceasefires, but these have been regularly broken.
Khartoum International Airport is closed. The only functional civilian airport operating international flights is Port Sudan Airport. Britain does not have an embassy or consular staff in Sudan, with evacuations having stopped.
Those travelling to Sudan do so at their own risk, with visitors urged to “use their own judgement” to get to a departure point “if and when you judge it is safe to do so”.
