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You can visit Keren in a day from Asmara. The roads are good and there are places to stop to eat and drink on the way.Keren is worth a visit to see the camel market and the other market behind it, the old and new cathedrals and the surrounding hill villages along the route, as well as the 2nd world war graveyards.
Now here is a diamond in the rough. Here is a place where you can still see war damage from its civil war, some amazing and biutifull buildings that were damaged and nearly destroyed, and yet the streets are surprizingly clean, the people are friendly, it was a great experince. and the beaches are very nice, you get the oportunity to swim in the Red Sea, that is pretty cool.There are nice park, a few restaurants, the local quisine is a little diferent but quite good.
The old steam railway line runs from Asmara to Massawa, on the red sea coast and uses the original old trains and track. The journey takes you through the beautiful mountain scenery and traditional villages.The line was built between 1873 and 1911 by the Italians and was restored in 2003. The original drivers, signalmen and railway workers were got out of retirement to run the trains.It's a great way to see the countryside.The trip was organised by The Railway Touring Company in the UK, who specialise in railway trips around the world.
Massawa is a very run down in parts but despite that, has a certain charm and it is worth spending at least one night there.You can walk across the causeway and explore the Old Town on foot very easily with its dilapidated old ottoman style buildings along the sea front and the markets. There is a 17th century house made of coral in the old town.Also along the sea front is the old Palace which has been partly destroyed by Ethiopian bombing, but hopefully will be restored.
The local food in Eritrea is similar to the food in Ethiopia, and can be quite spicy. The Wat and Injera found all over Ethiopia is common in Eritrea too. This is a large doughy pancake with a spicy stew and is served on a special metal tray, placed on a basket table which everybody sits around to eat communally. The dough is rolled and dipped into the stew. For a morning pick-me-up try Silsi, a peppery fried tomato and onion sauce or legamat which is deep fried dough.You won't be able to avoid Tsebhi the fiery sauce and you can have it with goat or vegetables.Italian food is very good in Eritrea too and is available in many places.
Eritrea's capital is its main attraction.While most African capitals are simply places to get through a quickly as possible, Asmara deserves a special trip in itself.It is a real gem architecturally, sometimes feeling more like a small, time-wrapped town in Italy than the modern capital of an African nation.Its climate is pleasantly cool and dry, food and accomodation are both excellent quality and very affordable, and it is about as safe and clean as a place can get.For more information, see my separate Asmara pages.
Eritrea's main port city, Massawa is just a short journey from Asmara yet it feels like a completely different world altogether.It is a typical, old-fashioned Arab trading port of the sort that is now very, very scarce along the coasts of East Africa and the Arabian peninsula. It is also the gatway to the Dahlak archipelago, easily the most tempting diving and snorkelling destination of the Red Sea. Note that it is very hot and humid for much of the year, and is also bearing many scars from the wars with Ethiopia.See my Massawa pages for more information.
The major town in Western Eritrea, Keren is just a three-hour-long bus-ride away from Asmara yet has a completely different feel to it once again.Although its centre does retain a collection of low-key, Medirreanean-style buildings, much of the town has a definitely North African feel to it, with camels wandering the streets and Tigre and Bilen women going about in colorful costumes, with their men in baggy trousers and turbans remiscent of Kassala in Sudan. There is a profusion of mosques and a colorful bazar, and the typically African round huts dot the outskirts.See my Keren pages for more info!
I went to Keren's market and found it very lively and good. The jewelry part (silver, mostly) was probably along the line of what a tourist could be looking for. For myself I bought Barka sandals (see separate tip).
Coffee is a material cultural icon of Eritrea. You will find very well prepared coffee of different varieties learnt from long times past (local brews) and from the Italians. I learnt to like macchiato here...In the back streets beyond and to the side of the Liberation Avenue are several small coffee shops where they sell the beans and will also grind them for you. The smell - even if you are not a coffee lover - is just fantastic. You may learn to like coffee here!Then came the EriEthi conflict of 2000, and all coffee import from Ethiopia stopped. This was nearly seen as a catastrophe in its own right, but then Yemeni coffee was imported and things got even better, albeit pricier. Yemen wouldn't import the bottom-of-the-bag coffee that Eritrea originally imported from Ethiopia, having only limited production herself. Thus, excellent coffe came to the Asmara coffee tables after that, and...
InterContinental Asmara Asmara
3 Reviews and 11 Opinions Arrived at the hotel after a late night flight from Frankfurt. Staff was always pleasant especially...
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Q: We will be in Ethiopia in January and ending Feb 4. We would like to get to Eritrea. I keep reading that it is NOT possible to get...
A: I don't know...but I'd like to know, so I'm tracking this post! A friend of mine did cross between Eritrea and Djibouti, but that was some years ago and border...
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