Getting there is not easy: Pyramids Meroe Sudan | Our third blog post about tourist spots that are hard to reach, ticks off the Pyramids of Meroe. Getting there is not easy because Sudan in general is a very dangerous country to go. The U.S. Department of State warns its citizens of continued risks of travel to Sudan.
But not just U.S. citizens should avoid all travel to this African country. Any wanabe-tourist should consider carefully the risks of travel into certain areas of Sudan, due to the continued threat of terrorism, armed conflict, violent crime and kidnapping. It is not as bad as in Somalia, the worst place on earth. But trouble wise you might compare Sudan with Venezuela.
Despite all the threats, why is it still worth going there? The Pyramids of Meroe are UNESCO World Heritage. Egypts ancient glory did reach far more south then you might think. Sudan was part of the ancient empire. Connected with Cairo by the Nile River this desert region once was an important supply partner for the Pharaos up-Nile. Along the banks of the Nile River lies a forgotten collection of 200 ancient pyramids: tombs of the kings and queens of the Meroitic Kingdom.
The so-called Meroe pyramids are much smaller than their Egyptian counterparts, with more narrow bases and more steep angles on the sides. Once these pyramids were the main attraction for Sudan’s tourist industry. Unfortunately the region has been devastated by a series of economic sanctions imposed by Western nations, by a cruel civil war and the Darfur conflict.
How to get there
Getting to the Pyramids of Meroe there is actually not a big problem. Khartoum has an international airport. Even cooler: The Chinese are currently building a new one 40 km south of the city centre. From Khartoum it’s a 3.5 hours car ride along the eastern side of the Nile River to the Pyramids of Meroe.
Pyramids Meroe Sudan. By Chili & Chirp | Hugging horizons since 2004 | Getting there is also not easy -> Easter Island (Chile) | Angel Falls (Venezuela) | Sanaa (Yemen) | Lake Baikal (Russia) | Nauru | Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) | Tahiti
