WARNING: All of the following sites are inaccessible due to the ongoing civil war. This section describes what Sudan offers for when travel becomes possible again.
The Pyramids of Meroe — Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. Over 200 steep-sided Nubian pyramids rise from the desert sand at Meroe, Nuri, El Kurru, and Jebel Barkal, built by the rulers of the Kushite kingdoms between roughly 700 BC and 350 AD. The Black Pharaohs of Kush conquered Egypt itself and ruled it for nearly a century. Meroe is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unlike the Giza plateau, you could once camp here beside the pyramids with almost no other tourists around. Shendi is the nearest town; the temples of Naqa and Musawwarat es-Sufra are also nearby.
Jebel Barkal and the Napatan Kingdom — A flat-topped sandstone mountain rising dramatically from the riverine plain near Karima, sacred to both Egyptians and Kushites for 3,000 years. The Egyptians believed it was the dwelling place of the god Amun. The site includes royal pyramids, temples, and a sphinx. The surrounding area — called the Island of Meroe, though it is not an island — is one of Africa's richest archaeological zones.
Kassala and the Taka Mountains — Kassala in eastern Sudan sits at the foot of extraordinary granite inselbergs that rise abruptly from the plain. The market overflows with fruit and silver jewellery made by the Rashaida, a tribe that migrated from the Arabian Peninsula around 150 years ago and still lives in goatskin tents on the outskirts of the city. The area also receives Tigrinya-speaking Beja people from the surrounding hills.
Wadi Halfa and the Nubian Shore — At the Egyptian border, Wadi Halfa is the northernmost town in Sudan. Part of the original town was drowned by Lake Nasser when the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s. The surrounding area is archaeological: Egyptian antiquities workers raced to excavate the sites before the waters rose. The town is a dusty, end-of-the-line place, but the Nile here has a spare, compelling beauty.
Suakin — A ghost city on the Red Sea coast, Suakin was once Sudan's main port, a hub of the Ottoman trade in ivory, slaves, and ostrich feathers. Much of it was built from coral block and has been slowly disintegrating since the port was replaced by Port Sudan in 1906. The ruins are haunting — towers, arched gateways, and crumbling merchants' houses reflected in the tidal water.
Khartoum's Confluence — Where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet, at the tip of a promontory that gives the capital its name (Khartoum means "elephant's trunk"). The confluence is one of the great geographical meeting points in Africa. The city around it has been badly damaged by the war, but the rivers remain.