Sunday 27th October – Khartoum

• Own arrival into Khartoum to be met at the airport by our guide and transferred to our hotel.
• Meet at 8pm for a pre-tour group dinner and meet your fellow travelers.
• Overnight in Khartoum.

Monday 28th October – Khartoum & Omdurman 

• Up early for breakfast at hotel before we start the day with a city tour of the Sudanese capital city.
• We’ll visit the national museum, which contains various objects dedicated to Nubian history. This Nubian area of the southern Nile was home of Africa’s earliest ancient civilization.
• We’ll also take in the beautiful temples saved by UNESCO from lake Nassir and rebuilt entirely inside the museum.
• Visit the Ethnographic museum. Sudan has 597 different ethnic groups that speak over 400 different languages and dialects, we’ll get a taste for the incredible diversity here.
• Cross the White Nile for a trip to technically Sudan’s second largest city – Omdurman. We’ll have a short stop at the Mahdi tomb and tour around the Khalifa house museum. The house served as the HQ of the Mahdist state. This was a short-lived religious and political movement that ruled Sudan until the British reconquered in 1898.
• Lunch stop in Omdurman.
• Visit Omdurman’s beautifully colourful market before making our way back to Khartoum.
• Dinner and overnight in Khartoum.

Tuesday 29th October  Khartoum – Old Dongola – Kerma

• Very early morning breakfast before beginning our journey to Northern Sudan.
• We travel 500km north of Khartoum. On the way we’ll stop at Old Dongola, the capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria. Today it’s a deserted city with the population having moved downstream in the 19th century.
• We move onto the cemetery of the Sofi holy men (lunch on the way).
• Take the ferry across the Nile and drive for a further 40km arriving at Kerma, a 3800 B.C archeological site.
• Overnight in a traditional Nubian house with a wonderful local feast.

Wednesday 30th October Tombus – Soleb 

• Another early rise to visit the site of Tombus. Here there are many Egyptian inscriptions and a huge granite statue dedicated the famous black Pharaoh – Taharqa.
• We continue 50km to the north where we stop to take in the amazing panoramic view of the rock art from the prehistoric period at Wadi Sebu.
• Lunch stop at a local tea house.
• Cross the Nile to its west bank and drive two hours up to Soleb; an ancient Nubian town home to a vast necropolis.
• Dinner and overnight at a traditional Nubian house.

Thursday 31st October  Soleb – Karima

• Today we head back south driving for 320km before reaching the city of Karima, the location of ancient Napata.
• We visit the holy mountain of Jebel Barkal (Together with Napata, a UNESCO heritage site)  and the numerous temples at the foot of Jebel Barkal.
• Trick or treat! It couldn’t be a better time to visit Kurru, the royal necropolis of Napata. Here we go deep underneath the pyramid to see the amazing painted tomb of the black Pharaoh Tanutamani.
• Dinner in a local restaurant.
• Overnight at Merowe Tourist Village hotel.

Friday 1st November   Nuri- Meroe 

• Early morning visit to the nearby Nuri pyramids. There are over 60 burial places here.
• We continue crossing though the Bayuda desert up to Meroe. We’ll pass through and stop at desert settlements before reaching the famous Meroe pyramids. A perfect setting to witness the sun go down.
• TRIP HIGHLIGHT: Overnight camping in tents near the Pyramids!

Saturday 2nd November  Meroe – Khartoum

• Rise and shine for an early morning visit to the royal city of Meroe.
• Set off on an off-road/on-road adventure to visit Mussawart. This is a complex of temples dedicated the local god Apedamak – the lion god. This was the biggest construction in the history of Nubia.
• After a local lunch we continue up to Naqa 20km from Mussawart. This was once a vital trading post between the Mediterranean world and Africa. It houses a wonderful collection of buildings dated to the first century AD.
• Visit the Roman kiosk, which represents the intersection of various cultures both European and African.
• Visit the Among temple.
• Group A hits the road for Khartoum 150km from Naqa.
• Check into the hotel followed, by a local farewell dinner.
• Group B spends the night in Meroe, prepping up for the adventure of a lifetime!

Sunday 3rd November – Khartoum

• End of tour for Group A.
• Group B leaves early for the long trip to Abu Hamad, the end of the road in Sudan!
• The town of Abu Hamad is one of the last stops on the train, and name after a sheikh who was buried here. Our guide will introduce us to the legends about him.
• We enjoy our last dinner in a human settlement, before we head to… nowhere!
• Overnight in tents by Abu Hamad.

Monday 4^th November  – Bir Tawil

• Today, our expert guides drive us across the desert, where there is no road but the traces of the previous travellers’ cars.
• We are in the deepest depths of the desert and shall stop for many photo opportunities.
• Lunch today is a picnic in the desert.
• We reach Bir Tawil in the evening!
• Enjoy our camp meal outside of any country!
• It wouldn’t be a YPT trip without a party — the first party, probably ever, in that part of the world!
• Overnight in tents, in Bir Tawil!

Tuesday 5^th November – Bir Tawil

• Today, our day will be dedicated to the in-depth exploration of Bir Tawil.
• If you brought a flag, plant it in Bir Tawil and claim the land! It is your opportunity to change the world and start a country according to your values (YPT can’t guarantee your claim will be approved by any international organization but you’re welcome to have a go at it!).
• Lunch by our camp.
• Afternoon spent exploring Bir Tawil some more. Chances are we’ll be scoring many firsts in that part of the world.
• Dinner and overnight by our camp (the first human settlement?) in Bir Tawil.

Wednesday 6^th November – Abu Hamad

• As always, all good things must come to an end and we start making our way down towards Khartoum but this time as proper trail blazers; fathers and mothers of a nation.
• Lunch on the way.
• Arrival in Abu Hamad by the beginning of the evening. We’re back in civilization! Kind of…
• Overnight camping by Abu Hamad.

Thursday 7^th November – Khartoum

• After a good breakfast, we’re back on the road!
• We arrive by Khartoum in the early evening.
• We go for an evening stroll around Khartoum.
• Dinner in Khartoum and our last night party, remembering the time when we were kings and queens of our own land!

Friday 8^th November – Khartoum

• End of Tour, with YPT able to arrange connection to your next destination!
• If you have a later flight we will explore more of streets and markets of this vast city before parting ways.

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