As we were told that the Ethiopian embassy was closed due to their national day today there was nothing much for us to do except to get the letter of introduction from Encik Saiful at the Malaysian mission. We had packed everything by 0930hrs and as we were certain that we wouldn’t find the Embassy on our own accord decided to go to Holiday Villa which we had spotted on the way in last night, thinking perhaps they could give us directions.  We had a little bit of fracas when I entered the driveway the wrong way round and Alison got angry by the gesture of the security man but we sorted it out in no time.

We were eventually met by the IT and Interal Audit manager of Holiday Villa, En. Erwan, who was more than willing to help. But first we had to have “teh tarik” with compliment of En Erwan and subsequently was guided by En A Karim to the Embassy. Before we could be attended by the receptionist, En. Saiful came out of his room to greet us and to our surprise had arranged for us to meet the Ambassador who was then out of office but would be back soon.

In the meantime we were issued with the introduction letter for our application of the Ethiopian Visa. We were relating our story of not having showered for a week expecting the campsite to have hot showers and how disappointed we were when they didn’t have the facilities when En. Saiful was so kind as to offer for us to stay with him. We subsequently met with the Ambassador,Tuan Hj Zainal Hamzah, who gave us good advice on what to do to stay clear of trouble and dangers along the route we were taking. Apparently the route we were taking is quite safe as long as we don’t venture too far to the south or west of Sudan. There had been the occasional attack on vehicle to the south of Ethopia, but the target was the UN or NGO vehicles and seldom on private ones. We thanked the Ambassador for taking an interest with our expedition and spending time with us.

Then it was En Shuhada, the Second Secretary’s turn to attend to us. He wanted to host lunch but we had to decline as we had a prior appointment with Mr. Salam who was waiting for us, and he then offered to take us out for dinner instead which we readily accept. We were given the driver to guide us to Mr. Salam’s workshop where Rene’, Andrea, Gerrard and Sandra were also waiting.

Lunch was rather late at 1530hrs but it was well worth waiting for as it was a sumptuous one. We ate at the Ampower , a Turkish restaurant just outside Mr Salam’s workshop, and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Khartoum. We were introduced to Mr. Taha, Jack and last but not least Saad Mr Salam’s eldest who got on well with Adrian. We had nothing to offer to these kind people but had a “MIM” T shirt for Saad.

It was then time to go, but we had to go back to Blue Nile sailing club to settle the bill. There we met a youngish couple, Sulaiman a Spanish with his Indonesian wife Galuh, who were cycling back to Indonesia from Tunisia via Yemen and Oman. They wanted to do the journey before having children and while they are still fit. We settled our bill and headed for Holiday Villa for internet connection, pick up our laundry and wait for En Shuhada for dinner who would then guide us to the Embassy to meet up with En. Saiful.

As En Shuhada arrived the General Manager of Holiday Villa, Mr Hossam Suwailem who had just apparently heard of us and our expedition greeted us and to our surprise immediately offered for us to stay at the hotel with the compliments of Holiday Villa. We didn’t know what to say but before we could decline he had got the registration form out and I was asked to sign it and copies of our passport taken. We were given not only a room but a suite, number 218 which I’ll never forget! Then it was time to call En. Saiful, to thank him for his offer and kindness, but we were staying at the Holiday Villa instead.