1. The big red truck that houses our friends from Hot Rock took the opportunity in 'civilisation' to procure a new suspension bracket to replace the dodgy item that had been welded for them in the Sudanese desert and to get the clutch looked at. The truck is a product of the excellent Scania organisation of which there are few in Sudan, but hundreds in Ethiopia. The timing of repairs was clearly poorly chosen as the local galoots managed to not only supply a similarly welded knackered bracket which was rejected by Fi, but then proceeded to break the other one refitting it incorrectly. A week further down the line and another bracket has arrived ex England by DHL which should resolve the problem. Inshallah As for the clutch - that's been fixed, inshallah.
2. Thiago, a Brazilian biker, is on his 26th day of stay at the campsite. Initially, he was waiting for parts from Brazil and cash via an assortment of banks Brazil - USA - UK - Sudan (the US will not deal direct with Sudan, but insist on being involved as he wants to transfer US dollars). The parts arrived in plenty of time for us to all help out with the installation of a new piston and associated engineering. The money has been arriving 'tomorrow, inshallah' for a couple of weeks now.
3. Hans, a German biker, passed through on his way south and west to Chad. He soon returned with a knackered bike and 7 spokes missing from his back wheel. His approach is perhaps the most sensible - sell (inshallah) or bin the bike and take a plane home.
4. Our dear friend and some time travelling companion, Stevie, has been suffering for some time with 'nasty noises' from the drive train and an annoying gearbox fault that causes false neutrals at inappropriate moments. We were just leaving the site to head for Gedaref on the way to the Ethiopian border when...clunk. By the side of the road it seemed that the bushes for the radius arms were so worn that the front prop shaft had knackered the front diff. But it was still driveable. So she set off with Fi to Fi's pet engineers to get it looked at only to discover that it was only partially driveable - they were towed to a garage when the front diff pinion finally gave up the ghost. So they fitted a new diff. Also, it was noticed that the transfer gearbox mounts were knackered (that might explain something) so they were replaced. Then they fitted new bushes. But there was still a nasty noise from the back somewhere - verdict rear diff pinion bearing. We await further news but it should be OK now, inshallah.
5. A nameless German couple in a van got held up a couple of extra days awaiting inshallah cash. It came in the end so they don't really count.

We have talked through the existence of God, political and economic solutions of all world problems, been sailing, been swimming, visited every burger stall, site of antiquity, cultural event and museum in Khartoum, drunk the total output of the Pepsi corporation's Sudan plant, got sunburnt, recovered, got colds, recovered and seen mindless television including 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and Jackie Chan movies.

We are still in Khartoum - home of the World Conferences on Chemical Weaponry and by a bizarre contrast The Eradication of Guinea Worm. Although, I guess the former could be used for the latter.

We have met some wonderful people, here, though. Makda, an Ethiopian, and her husband Mike, a Brit, are resident in Khartoum where he works for the EU funding agency. They have given us a fantastic amount of knowledge about Ethiopia and the Amharic language as well as lots of info for further down the road. One fascinating piece of knowledge relates to an interesting fact that we heard elsewhere.

In the north of Ethiopia, people believe that by crossing as close as possible in front of moving vehicles, they can extend their lives. We were pleased to know this as forewarned is forearmed. There is of course a perfectly understandable reason for their belief. We are all followed by a shaddow or ghost which is ready to take us away. Splat the ghost with a large truck or even a motorcycle and you can't get taken away. Obvious, isn't it?

There was a regatta at the club one day for the Sudanese Cup sponsored by Talisman (a Canadian petrochemical company) - free food, music, etc. Jolly good. We networked a bit and leant the BMW owner's manual to one guy and this and that. The upshot was little parcels arriving at the campsite containing cans of illicit beer. Amazing what these ex-pats can find. Far better treatment that the lack of an invite for the UK Embassy party. Surely the miserable buggers know that we've been paying taxes all these years.

We leave Khartoum tomorrow, inshallah.

'Inshallah' - see 'manana' (Spanish) - 'Just now' (Guyanese) - 'not much chance' (UK)