Kassala

Introduction

Kassala is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan, built on the banks of the Gash River. It is a market city, and its fruit gardens are what it is best known for. Many of the people who live here belong to the Hadendawa, a sub-tribe of the Beja ethnic group.

Before you go

Kassala is a city whose character is shaped in large part by its people: many of its inhabitants are from the Hadendawa. Keep this in mind as you plan, since understanding who lives here will inform how you experience the place.

Getting there

Getting around

Kassala is a market city on the banks of the Gash River and a regional road hub on the main Khartoum–Port Sudan highway, so most movement around and into the city happens by road. The local bus network is built around Al-Mowgif al-'Aam, the central bus station, a large square in the middle of the souqs. From there you can pick up services to the parts of town a visitor is most likely to want: Khatmiya, for the old quarter of Khatmiya, the Tomb of Seyid Hassan and the cafes on Totil Mountain; Souq ash-Sha'abi, for the inter-city bus station; and Banat, for the Gash river and the colonial railway quarter. Lorries run to Sawagi Janubiya and Sawagi Shamaliya, the two areas of farmland to the south and north, and smaller buses and minibuses also head to destinations around Kassala such as Halfa al-Jadida, Khashm al-Ghirba and Aroma. Fares are paid on board, so agree or confirm the fare before you set off, since prices move with fuel and inflation.

Souq ash-Sha'abi, the main bus station, sits just off the Khartoum–Port Sudan highway and quite a distance from the centre of town; local buses and taxis meet most bus arrivals there, so you are not stranded on arrival. Long-distance services connect Kassala with Khartoum, Gedaref and Port Sudan, and there is no single standardized long-distance terminal, so specify the route name rather than just asking for "the bus station." Before committing, confirm the destination, departure point, vehicle type, luggage handling, whether the fare is per seat or per vehicle, the expected travel time and stops, and where you will be dropped off. Kassala does not have many taxis, and there are no meters — agree the fare in Sudanese pounds before boarding and name your exact destination rather than just "Kassala centre," since places are usually described by landmarks rather than street addresses. Tirhal, the main Sudanese ride-hailing app, lists other operating areas, so treat it as a live-availability tool rather than assuming a car will be there. The market core around the souqs is naturally walkable, but the sights — the Khatmiya quarter, Totil Mountain, the Gash river and the old railway quarter — are spread out enough that you will usually combine walking with a bus or a taxi. The climate is hot desert, with April to June the hottest period and a wet, humid season from July to September, so plan walks for the cooler parts of the day, carry water and cover up. Kassala was formerly a railroad hub, but there is no regular passenger rail service, so treat the railway as a piece of the city's history rather than a way to get around.

Where to stay

Most of Kassala's hotels sit in the streets behind the Mowgif al-'Aam bus station, so that area is the natural place to start looking. The Hipton is among the best in the city, and the Safa, Bashir and Totil are other options in the same cluster.

• Hipton Hotel
• Safa Hotel
• Bashir Hotel
• Totil

Be aware that foreigners do not always get to choose where they stay: the security police may escort you to a particular place, usually one of those named above. Cheaper accommodation comes in the form of basic lakondas — courtyards filled with beds — but many of these sometimes refuse foreigners.

Food & drink

Fuul is the staple dish of Kassala, and fuul stalls are everywhere. The best cluster between the Souq an-Niswaan and Hotel Hipton, where the mashed fava beans come mixed with ta'amiya, cheese, tuna or egg and topped with sesame oil, garlic and a herb called shumaar. For sandwiches and shawarma, try At-Tabaq as-Souri on the main square, which also serves baklava and other sweets and is one of the few cafes in town where local women eat. For more local cooking, head to the restaurants in the middle of the souq: tagaliya and bamiya, both gloopy okra-based sauces, come with ghuraasa (a spongy pancake-like bread) or kisra (very thin, slightly sour bread) and various bits of meat - ask for shiyya if you aren't keen on offal. On the road to Khatmiya, the bus passes a livestock market opposite a large cemetery, where stalls sell sheep slaughtered to order and cooked in the restaurant next door.

Kassala is famous for its coffee, jebbana, spiced with ginger (zinjabil) and cinnamon (girfa') and served in a clay coffee pot with incense and popcorn on the side. The full treatment is best enjoyed at one of the cafes on the slopes of Totil mountain; elsewhere, tea stalls serve coffee in smaller pots made from recycled Pif-Paf cans. Learn the vocabulary: bi dawa thagiil for lots of ginger and cinnamon, bi dawa khafiif for a little ginger, saliiga without ginger, shay for tea, shay kerkedeh for pink hibiscus tea, shay bi laban for tea with hot milk, fawgu jumaada for lumpy bits of milk, and shay faransi - literally "French tea" - which is actually coffee with milk. Fruit juices are excellent and made fresh at many stalls in the souq, so you can ask for one without sugar; mango and guava are the best, while orange tends to be diluted with water and heavily sweetened. Local juices include aradeeb, a brown tangy drink similar to tamarind, and sha'iir, made from a white powder and a bit like cold malted milk.

What to see and do

Kassala's souqs are lively and colourful, and many of the people you'll see there wear clothes unique to their tribe. Souq an-Niswaan is the women's souq, where baskets and mats are made alongside coffee-making equipment and incense. At Souq ar-Rashaida, the Rashaida tribe gather to sell bright red and black robes for women and coloured jellabiyas for men.

Khatmiya is the old part of the city, sitting beneath the mountains of Taka, Totil and Aweitila. Its main sight is the tomb of Seyyid Hassan, a local holy man buried in a roofless dome beside a semi-ruined mosque; locals say that when it rains, not a drop falls through the hole in the roof. A Qur'anic school for boys stands next to the tomb. Behind it you can climb the slopes of Jebel Totil, where cafes built into the rock on the lower slopes serve the best coffee in Kassala, and where you'll find the famous well of Totil - drink from it, legend says, and you will return to Kassala one day. The Gash River runs through the city, but for most of the year it is a dry sandy riverbed used for evening football practice; in the rainy season water cascades down from the Eritrean mountains and charges through the city, making the riverbanks a popular place for an evening walk. The Gash is a dangerous river, though, and has flooded badly in the past. Across it lies Sikka Hadiid, the old railway quarter, where the original colonial railway station still stands, abandoned, surrounded by British-built round brick huts that once housed railway workers and now attract students. To the south, the Sawagi Janubiyya is a collection of villages set among mango and guava orchards along the Gash.

• Climb partway up the Taka Mountains, just south of the city. Reaching the summit needs special equipment, but you can get halfway in about an hour for amazing views.
• Drink coffee at one of Kassala's many tea stalls or at a cafe on Totil mountain.
• Walk through Sawagi Janubiyya: cross the Gash bridge, take the road to your left through the Sawagi villages, and after about five kilometres you can get alongside the Gash and, if it is dry, cross over to the mountains and Khatmiya.

When to go

Kassala is hot and sunny year-round, so plan around heat rather than cold. The hottest stretch brings high temperatures and abundant sunshine, and you should expect intense heat during this period — schedule activities for early morning or evening and rest in the middle of the day.

The wet season raises humidity and brings intermittent rainfall. The rain breaks the worst of the heat, but the air feels muggy. The long dry season that follows sees almost no precipitation, with conditions staying very dry and sunshine abundant, making it a reliable stretch for travel even though daytime heat persists.

Three days in Kassala

Day one: Start in Kassala itself, where the Gash River runs through the town and the Hadendawa and Beja people give the streets their character. Keep the first day slow: wander the Souq and get your bearings before committing to anything further out. If you have come from Khartoum, Gedaref or Port Sudan, use the afternoon to sort out the paperwork you will need later.

Day two: Head for the Khatmiya and the Tomb of Seyid Hassan, then climb Totil Mountain for the view back over Kassala. Smaller settlements in the surrounding area include Halfa, Jadida, Khashm, Ghirba and Aroma, and the Souq Tesenei and Aamiriya are worth knowing about if you plan to push further. To Eritrea the routes run through Souq Tesenei, so check what is open before you set out.

Day three: Use the morning for anything you missed in the Souq, then deal with permits. Permits come from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and there is a Permits Office at Khartoum University. Dandas Hotel is a useful landmark if you need to meet anyone. If you are heading onward, Al Mowgif and Aam are the transport points to ask about.