Despite being pretty much the only unclaimed piece of land on earth, there is a lot more going on here than people think. And thus having a population means that there is food in Bir Tawil!
So, what is the food like in Bir Tawil and indeed what the hell event is Bir Tawil? This is The Street Food Guy’s guide.
What exactly is Bir Tawil?
Bir Tawil is the worlds only unclaimed pieces of land on earth. This means that no country claims. For Bir Tawil which is almost entirely desert this is due to argument between Egypt and Sudan on exactly where the border should be.
This means that because both claim the Halaib Triangle, neither claim Bir Tawil! You can r4ead their truly fascinating story here.
Can you visit Bir Tawil?
You can definitely visit Bir Tawil, something that I know all too well having organized the first ever group tour to BirTawil in 2019, as well as returning in 2022.
Sadly since the start of the Sudanese Civil War, it is no longer possible to visit here. It should also be noted that the people here are not exactly welcoming of tourists.
Who lives in Bir Tawil
Bir Tawil is essentially owned by the Ababda Tribe, which you can read about in my book. Said tribe have discovered that there are gold mines here, so they are mining. Well when I say they are mining it would be more accurate to say that the workers from Darfur that have been imported are doing all the work.
This means the population of Bir Tawil is majority black Darfur, but ran by the Arab Sudanese Ababda tribe.
There are no white people running around here, despite anything that Jeremiah Heaton of the Kingdom of North Sudan says. In fact it turns out that this guy is a complete bellend who tried to threaten me with Saudi mercenaries. It really is a strange world…..
What is the food in Bir Tawil like?
Bering in the desert there is pretty much no food in Bir Tawil that is either raised, or grown, meaning everything needs to be imported.
On the outskirts of Bir Tawil we discovered a town that we called Mad Max Town. There are probably less than 1000 people here, but it is the last major stop on the road to Bir Tawil and is the place to stock up. There are restaurants serving Sudanese food, as well as fridges with ice cold drinks, such as Vimto.
As for Bir Tawil itself there are no shops littered around, with everything being centered around the main mining area, which we have christened as Bir Tawil Town, the titular capital of the region.
This town is well laid out with not just mines, but living areas, satellite phones, shops that food in Bir Tawil, as well as restaurants.
The shops sell classic Sudanese staples that are easily stored and transferred. This includes things like, rice packed noodles and of course soft drinks. Yes you can drink Sudanese nonalcoholic beer, Sudanese coke and of course the aforementioned Vimto!
Street Food Bir Tawil
On my visits at least the main food in Bir Tawil was centered around a street food/restaurant area in Bir Tawil town. Again this included classic Sudanese for served on a metal plate, such as curried style goat, as well as rice. Foul Medames and Shaiyah.
We did not get to see it, but due to Egyptian influence one can also get Koshary. And these street food stalls, of which there were at least three had a common shielded sting area, which was makeshift, but restaurant like.
But, the best food we had in Bir Tawil? Without doubt the goat that was sacrificed in our honour!