Thursday 27 March (day 27)

We take a rest day in Karima as there are many sights to see in the area.  In the morning we go to the Royal Tombs in El Kurru, a small village on the Nile about 20km south of Karima.  The ride is beautiful along a sandy track through small settlements.  Our instructions are to drive into El Kurru, look for the small shop with Japanese cartoon characters painted on it and the tombs are 200 meters to the right.  Strange but true...  We are actually met near the store with cartoon characters by a guide who takes us to the tombs of the Kush King Tanwetamani and his mother Qalhata.  The only thing that remains of the tombs is some of the chambers underground which have well preserved wall paintings.  We stop at the market in Karima on our way back and have tea, try out our Arabic (which seems to be getting worse), and buy oranges, dates and charcoal before returning to the hotel to wait out the heat of the day.  In the late afternoon we go to Jebel Barkal (Holy Mountain).  This was considered by Kushites and Egyptians to be the home of their god Amun.  We climbed the mountain (hill) and could look over for a birds-eye view of the temple ruins at the base of the mountain.  It also afforded excellent views of the town and Nile. To get down we run down the sad dune which fills one side of the mountain.  Stanley then helps some locals who (repeatedly) are getting their truck stuck in the sand.