Back To The Drawing Board.

I went to Leeds this afternoon to visit STA Travel, specifically to talk through my plans and work out how much a RTW plane ticket would cost.

The guy I spoke to was very helpful, and had been to quite a few of the places I plan (or planned!) to visit. But it did highlight that there is one major problem with the route as it stands: Sudan.

I knew that things were problematic (think Darfur) but I didn't know that they had deteriorated in the last four weeks. In fact, one of the cities right next to Khartoum was the scene of fighting back in May. A quick search on the Beeb website shows that things are not great - with the possibility of civil war breaking out across the country. The UN warned just the other day that the situation was getting worse.

On this basis, I've decided against making this section of the trip, which is going to mean some major re-thinking on the African section of the trip as it rules out Ethiopia. So back to the drawing board, or should that be Map?

Here's some pictures from Leeds - which has some incredible architecture.

The Corn Exchange:

Classic Victorian architecture: