Ten days in one of the least visited countries of the world.
Getting the Visa for Eritrea was less tiresome than we had imagined, not least because we had allowed a couple of months for this task. The embassy staff crowded around us excitedly when we showed up in person to ask for a tourist Visa: "We had 900 Visa applications last year! Can you write a guidebook about our beautiful country?!" Never mind that they forgot to pass on the application at first…… But repeated phone calls did the trick and we finally could pick up our visa.
Once in the capital Asmara, getting the necessary travel permits and arranging a car for an excursion on the last day proved somewhat more difficult. We did this in the wrong order: by the second day we had received the permits for excursions to Massawa and Keren on public transport, and fixed a deal for a car on the final day. With the car's number plate we could now apply for that last permit – but all our previous permits had to be submitted in the original for another day or so. Only an "exceptional exception" (after some discussions) made it possible to receive all permits before we started out for Massawa.
"You can reserve a seat on the bus the day before", the ambassador had advised us, but perhaps mixed that up with German bus stations. After an hour's wait for more passengers our crowded minibus winds down the spectacular, if potholed, road to Massawa, 2300 m lower on the coast. An Ottoman trading town on an island (linked by a dam), the historic old town was heavily bombed during the independence war but retains at least remnants of those beautiful Ottoman and Egyptian-period houses with arched doorways and shaded arcades. Some of the houses were restored, reinforced and reconstructed after an earthquake in the 1920s, but the recent damage incurred during the independence war has not been repaired. In spite of this, people are living in some rooms of the crumbling buildings. We were planning to explore the alleys but soon end up lazily sipping tea in a café with outdoor seating on the main square.
The next day we visit the local museum and get a tour to Massawa's potentially most important relic: the Sahaba Shrine is a small open mosque oriented towards Jerusalem rather than to Mekka – if this was indeed, as archaeologists think, built in 615 by early followers of Muhammad including the prophet's daughter Ruqayyah, who were fleeing persecution from Mohammed's opponents, it might very well be the oldest extant mosque in the world.
The next morning the queue for buses back to Asmara is long: hundreds of small bags snake a long line around the bus station marking the position of their owners, but no bus has even arrived. An hour later, we have bought a place near the front of that queue from professional queuers, and been handed a plastic card as a pre-reservation. By the time the bus arrives, a new queue has been formed and rearranged, and eventually we are lined up at the door based on queue position and neediness: disabled people and clueless foreigners may board first, strict order is maintained. Half an hour later the bus is on its way to the Highlands and to the capital Asmara.
Waiting for the bus in various forms – there are different rules and procedures for large public buses and private minibuses – takes up some time on the other excursions, too. We do a day trip to Decemhare, a small town built by the Italians, were 1940s buildings with an Italian Art Deco feel line the street.
We also visit the rather colourful Saturday market, but otherwise there's little to do.
The same goes for Keren, one of Eritrea's largest towns at a medium altitude (about 1600 m) with a very pleasant climate. A commercial hub for the North of the country, Keren has extensive souks, a large open market in the dry riverbed, and a busy livestock market on the outskirts on Mondays. It is the only place in Eritrea except for the Asmara permit office where we see other tourists, most of them in small groups. It is also the only place in Eritrea were begging schoolchildren with their greetings of "Money!" and "10 Nakfa!" are a hassle and at times even aggressive.
On our last day in Eritrea, we spend hours on the long, winding, and ill-maintained road towards the Southern border with Ethiopia. The archaeological site of Qohaito belongs to pre-Aksumite and Aksumite civilisations with remains that are well over 2000 years old. This high plateau of 2600 m was an important trading post between the Red Sea harbour of Adulis and the (now Ethiopian) town of Aksum – but the lack of archaeologists and funds (not to speak of the wars that have made the region inaccessible for much of the past decades) means that not much has been excavated and studied so far. Only a few columns of temples and, later, Christian churches, rise from the desert ground. The view from the plateau towards the coast is quite spectacular, however.
Our highlight of this trip was seeing the prehistoric cave paintings on the cliff below, accessible from the ancient footpath that has been linking Qohaito to the Red Sea coast for several thousand years.
In between all these excursions we always had to go back to Asmara and had time to relax in this restful little capital with palms and a night sky full of dreamy stars, hundreds of sleepy cafés, dozens of Modernist colonial buildings such as cinemas and a swimming pool – and not a single working traffic light, as far as we could make out (there were traffic lights though…).
Altogether we enjoyed our time in Eritrea, but found that 10 to 14 days was enough time in the country. Most other travellers we met spent only 2 to 4 days there, mostly in Asmara. We would suggest a bit more time for arranging permits and getting a feel for the vibe and the pace of the country.
Have you ever been to Eritrea or are you thinking about travelling there? Tell us more in the comments.
How to get to, and travel in, Eritrea
We applied for the tourist Visa at the embassy in Berlin, which took a few weeks, but was (with a German passport) not difficult at all.
We flew with Emirates via Dubai, but there are also a number of flights to Ethiopia, Egypt and very few other destinations. Flights to and from Asmara appear to be cancelled or postponed regularly due to fog (our return flight was).
We stayed in midrange hotels (around 50 € per double room, without prior reservation), all with a proper hotel atmosphere, reception desk, restaurant, and running water, but not necessarily hot water and not quite European standard: Sunshine in Asmara (hot water, breakfast included, good service, very friendly); Red Sea in Massawa (no hot water, breakfast not included, friendly, interesting architecture); Costina in Keren (hot water, breakfast included, quite unfriendly).
Apart from the car with driver we arranged for Qohaito, we travelled around Eritrea on public buses, which was cheap but time-consuming.
Eritrea was not a culinary revelation and most locals don't eat out, but we could get fatta (bread in tomato sauce) and pasta as well as decent coffee; in most places we treated the tap water with Micropur pills – bottled water is very expensive.
Note: We were not sponsored in any way or received money or other benefits for and during our trip to Eritrea. All expenses were fully paid by ourselves.
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