Souk Bahri...

In Khartoum, there are many souks or market and there's many kinds of souks. Some sell fruits, vegetables and meat while others sell dresses, curtain/cushion material and not to forget the cotton cushion itself...hehehe

I normally shop at Marwa, one of the supermarkets here but sometimes when I had to shop for the Block, I would go and buy the wet stuff at Souk Bahri. Actually, there's a bigger souk which sells wet stuff, Souk Makazi. But I prefer to shop in Souk Bahri because it's cleaner. In Makazi, the sellers sell their wares on the ground while in Bahri, they've made platforms for the sellers, so it's cleaner and better arranged.

Oh yes, here there's a lot of boys who would offer to carry your stuff on a wheelbarrow. The first time that I came, I was a bit scared of these boys because they were very competitive. Once you alighted from the van, there's a score of them trying to get your attention. Make sure you haggled for the price before you accept their service. The going rate for foreigners is about sdg2 but do not be surprised if at the end of your shopping trip, they ask for more.

On the 13th of January, I followed Ina Sakinah and K.Ina Wahab to Souk Bahri. Since they frequented the place, they've already got a regular boy to carry our stuff. His name is Abu Nas and his English is not bad. Sometimes we asked him to be our translator...hehehe. Shopping for vegetables during winter was a pleasure. You'll see a variety of vegetables and they're cheap. You'll see huge cabbages, cauliflower etc and they're fresh too.

FYI, all the sellers at the souks are men. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'll see ladies shopping but normally it would be men also. So, it's advisable for ladies to go in groups. But whenever I go, I couldn't help myself from laughing out loud especially when I saw how funny it was for us to haggle with the sellers. I'm speaking for myself here because whenever I asked for the price, I'll have to start counting in Arabic which I'm only good up to number 10...hehehe. Sometimes, the men would look at us, which would me laugh louder...muahahaha. Just look at the pictures.

Ina Sakinah and K.Ina Wahab...

Cucumber and carrots...

Abu Nas is in the middle...

This Amu (Uncle) selling bananas...

p/s: Just as a reminder, these pictures were taken with the permission of the people involved. That's why I just took pictures focused on the people around us only, not of the whole scene. There's a law against taking pictures of people in public areas. So, before you take any picture in Sudan, make sure ask for permission first :)