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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Dec 06, 2004 07:00 PM Cheap bus to Massawa...
I took the bus to Massawa. Bus terminal is located in the northern part of Asmara - close to the catholic church with big dome. People are friendly and they will show you the way.
It is still Africa but I must say that bus service is very efficient.
Yes, we were waiting until the bus was full but then everybody got a ticket and they were loading up only as many passengers as they have seats available. No crowd in the african bus!... Did you travel by african bus? Such a luxury is hard to imagine! And 4-hour ride cost only 20 Nakfa- less then a dollar! The journey through the mountains is very picturesque: a lot of switchbacks, up and downs... The views are stuning - take a right site window seat going to the coast if available. After 4 hours you will disembark the bus in hot and humid Massawa... Have a rest - you are back in the tropics!
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Dec 04, 2004 07:00 PM ASMARA - backpackers' paradise...
Eritrea is very young state. It is former Italian colony and the capital city has very strong Italian flavor. Comparing to the other capitals of Africa in is just elegant with its Italian architecture. Churches, mosques, palm trees... Blue sky. Friendly people - many speak basic english. Cheap accommodation. Inexpensive food - just a paradise for the backpackers. You can have a room for 3-4 USD. For your weak 1 USD you can have here 6 espresso or 8 pastries or 2 bottles of local beer or 36 bread rolls. It reminds me Bangkok or Kathmandu from their best days... With one exception: In two days I saw here only one tourist. I stay in the friendly Pensionne Stella - hard to find - ask for Mocambo Club - it is just 50 m away... Welcome to Asmara!
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Dec 03, 2004 07:00 PM Eritrea - the first steps...
It was 3.30 am when I landed in Asmara - the capital city of Eritrea. Still Africa, but only 8 centigrades... Brrrrr!!!. I was running fast from the plane to the terminal building!. The formalities were smooth... Then I put on me all my warm clothes and went out the terminal. It is 6 km from the airport to to the city center... 4 am. No public bus, few taxi drivers are waiting for limited passengers...
Did you meet honest taxi driver in the airport? Yes? Congratulations!
I have very bad experience - they are the same worldwide....
Here they asked 15 USD for the ride! So I put my backpack on and started to walk along the nice, empty avenue heading to the town... 6 km is like 1.5 h walk - good exercise in the feresh morning. Just remember that Asmara is located 2300 m above sea level and your breath will be short on the first days...
After some 300 m taxi joined me calling: OK,OK! 5 dollars!
I agreed and jumped on. When we arrived to the guesthouse
taxi driver of course asked for more. No more!
He said he will call the police... OK, call! I am going to the
bed! It was 4.30 am. Good Morning in Asmara!
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Dec 02, 2004 07:00 PM Red Sea stories...
To get from the capital city of Djibouti to the old settlement of Tadjourah you can either take a "qaat boat" departing almost every day from "Escale" or crowded minibus from airport road. Both cost 1000 francs. Nobody knows - they said "pas de bateau ajourdhoui" when I came with my heavy backpack to the jetty - so I turn to the bus...
The 4-hours voyage is very picturesque - the views of Tadjourah Bay are most impessive. And Tadjourah itself remains small coastal settlement hidden far from the world: narrow streets, small mosques, dirty cafes... People are nicer then in the capital where I had problems with taking pictures...
The moviemakers just picture there "The secrets of the Red Sea" using local people as a background.
The village is open to the Red Sea - with quite a lot of people walking along sandy corniche after the sunset... They are very friendly and helpful but you must speak french... Pleasant day!
It was my last day in Djibouti - I am flying to Eritrea tonight...
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Nov 30, 2004 07:00 PM Djibouti's biggest tourist attraction
Djibouti - the capital has ten or more internet cafes... They charge only 1.5-2 USD per hour but the connection is slow and to send few messages I am spending more then hour in front of the screen... Africa... Heat, sweat, mosquitos... and computers...
I just returned from my 2-days expedition to the interior. Lake Abbe lies on the border with the Ethiopia - more almost 200 km from the capital, half of that is sand, gravel, stone - access only by 4WD vehicle. But it is worth the effort. Camel caravans on the route... The Lake itself is nice with thousands of flamingoes. But the main highlight of the tour are limestone chimneys - up to 70-meters high located by the nature on the coast of the lake... It is something very different from the other landscapes I saw around the world... Hundreds of them are there... I spend the night in the camp /in traditional rondavel/ and saw both sunset and sunrise there - unforgetable!
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Nov 29, 2004 07:00 PM Clean shirt, stock of film, medicines - just lovely!
Yes, the junk Il-18 plane from Mogadishu with friendly Russian crew landed yesterday on time. After an hour I was in Djibouti airport. I had a lot of stress there. It is Africa - nobody knew about my luggage announced to be send here from Nairobi. Finally after few telephone calls they found it - safely stored in the BA agent`s office. Yes, now I am smart again... I have the charger for my video camera, stock of film and anti-malaria drugs...
Djibouti taxi drivers are also smart. The fare from the airport to the town is 600 francs. If you do not know that they will charge you up to three times more... There is no money changing facility in the Djibouti airport, so bring with you small denominations of USD! 1 USD is worth 177 local francs...
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Nov 28, 2004 07:00 PM Somali - close to the last frontier...
Seventh day without my luggage.Morning in Hargeisa - the capital of Somaliland. Blue sky, strong sun, pleasant wind. I do hope that twice-a-week junk plane will come in the afternoon and will take me to Djibouti - closer to the world... I I do hope that my backpack is waiting there for me...
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Nov 27, 2004 07:00 PM Somaliland - with armed escort to Berbera...
It was pre-wedding ladies party yesterday... Somali ladies are very pretty. In their colorful clothes they look like black butterflies... I was sitting alone and separated at the end of the hall and enjoying their music and dancing... Soft drinks were served outside - in the garden. Lovely...
I wanted to see Somalian interior. They do not allow whites to travel alone. I got two soldiers with AK-47 as escort: it takes full day to go from the capital -Hargeisa to the coastal Berbera and back. Check points at every large village. Nice desert and mointain landscapes on the route. Some interesting rock formations. Camels, monkeys, dik-diks. Berbera is a port and has some old architecture - there ia more old architecture then in Hargeisa. Mosques, the market and dusty streets. The beach is located quite far trom the town. I did not swim in the Red Sea - my swimming suit is far away in my lost luggage.
Hot and tiring but enjoyable day...
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Nov 26, 2004 07:00 PM Hurrah! They found my luggage!
Africa. My fifth day without luggage. No spare film, the battery in the camera is almost dead... (You say: why don't you buy new one? - Do not forget that I am budget traveller and any extra spending means: I will see less then I expected, or I will eat less). But I got a message via internet: my backpack probably already arrived to Djibouti - one hour by air from my present location. No flights today and tomorrow. I plan to be there on the day after tomorrow. I hope they will not send my pack back to Poland in the meantime... I am invited to join the party of the local people tonight. My only shirt does not look impressive. Anyway - I do not want to miss the chance to see how do they partying without any beer...
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Nov 25, 2004 07:00 PM The only tourist in Somaliland...
Hargeisa. Ambassador Hotel where I stay is beautifuly located on the hill just 1 km from the airport and 2 km fron the city center. The hotel is almost empty. - I am the only guest who can't speak local language... The staff is very friendly: the strongest drink you can buy in the bar is coca-cola (do not forget: it is conservative islamic country). I do not care... In the morning I took a tour around the capital city. It was badly damaged during the civil war. Can you imagine working traffic lights at the crossing of two sandy and bumpy roads? A lot of dust, donkey carts carrying the barrels of water. Heat. Men chewing qat. Women dressed in bright colors... Looking at me at first they are courious, then most of them smile... I did not see today any other white person on the streets of Hargeisa. Am I the only tourist in Somaliland?
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