I Love a Good Bargain!

Everyone has mentioned how fabulous the Omdurman Souq is. (Omdurman is actually the next town over across the Nile.) We had heard that Friday was the day for the Bead Market was on, the day to go. Being Friday morning, we decided that was what was exactly what we would do.

What a market!

Everything you could ever want: plastic boxes, plastic trays, plastic bowls, plastic pitchers (you get the idea). Personally, I was impressed with the 3 foot mounds of steel wool on sale. Hmmm...I'll take 2 kilos!

We didn't manage to find the beads or the live animal market, however we found quite the dead animal market. Oh boy! It was by far the most extensive meat market I have seen so far, including goat heads (with or without the fur), camel hooves and more intestines that I would like to have seen. It really helped my stomach cramps to wander around there!

We didn't really buy much at the Souq, just a few scarves and bowls. (Here's the best one, supposedly made in Darfur.)

The outing was more for the spectacle, which I guess is exactly what we caused by being there. Overall it was an extremely positive experience! Everyone wanted to talk to us, "Welcome, sadika (friend)!" Several followed us around asking questions about where we were from, some even asking us about Shakespeare. The beggars even laughed at us!

The best interaction of the day: A young man, grinning from ear to ear, reached up to the only guy in the group and grabbed his chin. Feeling satisfied, he turned and left.

Don't ask why...Everything is a little absurd here.