Overview
The town of Soroti still has many buildings reflecting the tastes of the large Indian population that once traded in the town. These ornate buildings fell into disrepair following Idi Amin’s expulsion of the Asians in the 1970s. In recent years, with the return of stability to the area, the town is beginning to thrive again with many new businesses opening up. This has also increased the sprawl of the town into the surrounding farmland. Soroti market suffered a fire in the late 1990s mainly due to its ramshackle set-up. The market that replaced is much more ordered, but still has stalls of fresh fruit and vegetables, dry goods and the local fish.
It is possible to climb the rock beside the town, with permission from the Town Clerk, and this gives an excellent panorama of the town and the surrounding areas. Views from the rock on a clear day extend as far as Mount Elgon and Lake Kyoga. The rock itself is a volcanic plug, which are common in the region.
At the back of the rock you can still find the graves from Uganda's colonial period. The age at which the residents of these plots died is an indication of the dangers that the area of Soroti once posed. Many of the graves are in disrepair and overgrown. On the otherside of the airport is a much larger municipal cemetery where there are many graves with Arabic inscriptions. Located there is a bath house specifically for the washing of bodies, an important ritual in both local and Islamic burials.
Read more about this topic: Soroti