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Drink in Sudan


Drink in Sudan

Islam is the official religion of the country, and alcohol is banned. The only thing that's frequently drunk in Sudan is tea; usually sweet and black. Hibiscus tea called karkadeh (red) is a delicious alternative. Sudanese coffee is available in most souks and is similar to Turkish style coffee; thick and strong, sometimes flavoured with cardamom or ginger with a powerful kick and altogether delicious. Not to be taken before bed though if you want an undisturbed night's sleep! The general advice is not to drink tap water; in most rural areas, you will not be able to, as there are no taps... Where there are no bore holes (which often yield water that is fine to drink), water is often taken directly from the Nile. However, while alcohol is strictly illegal in the Muslim north, locally brewed alcohol is widely available in various forms and at various degrees of potency. A local beer (merissa) brewed from sorghum or millet is cloudy, sour and heavy and likely to be brewed with untreated water and will almost certainly lead to the 'Mahdi's revenge' (the Sudanese version of 'Delhi belly'). Aragi is a pure spirit distilled from sorghum or in its purest form, dates. Potent and powerful it should be treated with respect and is sometimes contaminated with the likes of methanol or embalming fluid (!) to add flavour and potency. Be aware though that all these brews, other than potentially hazardous for your health, are illegal and being caught in possession can result in the full implementation of Islamic law punishments.

The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Sudan


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Sudan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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