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Pro
A LOT OF HISTORY IN A SMALL COMPACT TOWN
Con
MILD HASSLES FROM KIDS ("ONE BIRR")
In a nutshell
Deceived by Rimbaud's house, but such an exotic place!
hanspeter_W. Says: French poet, dromomaniac, hash monster and bon viveur Arthur Rimbaud relocated here in 1884, and became a close personal friend to Haile Selasie’s father – the Governor of Harar. There is a museum in the walled city commemorating Rimbaud’s life and works.
hanspeter_W. Says: one of the most special experience is to feed the hyenas, evreytime by 7 pm a bit outside of center of hararteh hyenas are so cute and are so thankful to be feeded and take care of
DAO Says: Coffee was ‘invented’ here in Ethiopia and you can see how they produce it for export for free here in Harar. Nure is a coffee company you can stop in for a brief tour. It only takes minutes. They have their old equipment and modern day roasters inside. The staff will...
kokoryko Says: If you look at the scarf of the young girl of the first picture, you see the colours of the Ethiopian flag, but you know you are in Harar if you look at the baskets decorating the wall behind her! The colours, shapes, patterns of these baskets are typical Harari, and these...
kokoryko Says: Harar, fourth holy city of Islam has changed a lot since Ethiopian take over, in some way. . . . one can drink alcoholic beverages here, there are bars, and. . . there is even a beer brewed here! Ethiopian beers (Except the traditional tej), are lager type beers and, if not...
kokoryko Says: This very easy walk, for about two hours you can walk around the city on a newly paved street (thanks Unesco) lets you discover the gates, the renovated walls, which, if not very impressive, are a nice sight whilst strolling along and give an idea of how Harar was secluded...
kokoryko Says: This is probably one of the most beautiful houses of Harar, but Rimbaud did not live here, as this house has been built after his death! Here too, it is a house built by an Indian trader and thanks to many French sponsors, this house has been renovated recently and it hosts...
DAO Says: I found this restaurant just after it first opened. It looked like a snack bar. When the fantastic food arrived at my table, I found out just how wrong I was. When I entered I just wanted a fast food lunch. I was warnly wleocmed and a menu arrived. It was full of great...
HIRUT RESTAURANT: THE REAL DEAL IN HARAR
DAO Says: If you manage to visit the historical city of Harer, make sure you have at least one meal here. They are the real deal for a large meal that’s full of flavour and still won’t cost a lot. They specialise in Ethiopian dishes, but I like a lot of food. Especially if it’s good...
kokoryko Says: many guides still write about the famous train linking Djibouti to Addis Abeba; unfortunately, this train does not operate anymore, and even goods transportation stopped one year ago, on that line; in the past, the train stopped at Dire Dawa, and from there, you could go to...
flynboxes Says: You can get to harar via bus (11-12 hours) or by plane (1 hour) Dire Dawa and then a 1 hour minbus or cab ride up the hill. I chose to fly..plane was full of aid workers on their way further East..it was a full flight (At Addis the Dire Dawa flight departs from the...
Adare houses: Local handcrafts
flynboxes Says: You can go into some of the local Adare houses here since they sell local baskets made from natural dyes and other jewelry. I found the baskets here a bit nicer than what I saw in Addis at the Markato. Would have bought some stuff here but had already made my purchases in...
Nure Roasted Harar Coffee: Best coffee in Africa?
flynboxes Says: Not a big place and you can walk through it in a couple of minutes..longer if you stop to smell the coffee. While I do not drink the stuff myself. Friends say that it lacks the bitter taste that other coffees have and is amongst the smoothest they have tasted. Fresh roast...
kokoryko Says: As a tourist, a foreigner, you may sometimes feel “harassed” by the kids begging for some bir, a pen or whatever they see or think you can give them; don’t give, not because you have a dry heart, but it may create bad habits and the relationship with locals could be false,...
kokoryko Says: A very important East African crop is coffee, and if one can get addicted to coffee, the effects are way less harmful than the ones of khat.And many people consider coffee has its origins on the high plateaus of Ethiopia, and indeed, some of the best coffees in the world are...
Wood is a very important raw material
kokoryko Says: These donkeys look really exhausted! One must imagine they have carried their load of wood to the city from far in the countryside probably; look well, behind them you can see stacks of wood, they and their fellow creatures carried to the market.Otheres, in the shade of the...
Helpfulness
You need to be very careful taking pictures even near these guys. The men of the Oromo tribe come into Harar to buy goods before returning to their villages. They are very easy to spot by their large bushy hair, blue clothes, weapons and not very happy looks. Yes – I said weapons. They carry clubs and a combination short axe & spear. You could kill someone with it. These guys don’t speak Amharic or Harari and always seem jumpy and paranoid. They will make signs with their hands that you can take pictures, but they want $5. Take their picture without payment and your camera and/or head will probably be hit with one of their weapons.
I am really not joking. Just look at the pictures I took secretly and they are still unhappy by even me looking at them. They even scared some of the street sellers.
Be very careful. Any other folks who might object in Harar with you taking pictures will only shout at you. Nothing else.
Updated Dec 15, 2008
Website: http://globalrecordings.net/language/1455
Helpfulness
How could you visit Harar and not see this????? The hyenas are tame if not timid around humans....maybe because the get feed by them every night or they beat them when the tourists are not around..anyway There are two places to see this at night around 7pm. On spot is down the road from Fallana Gate (where I saw them) and the other is between Sanga Gate and Erer Gate. If you go with Abdul he will hit you up for cab fare which will double as lights for the show. If you have a cheap Nikon like I do will give you plenty of pics with glare from the headlights. Basically its a local who sits on the ground in front of the hungry critters with some short sticks for placing scaps of meat that get dumped into his basket. You will get the chance to feed them as I did..you then realise why they use sticks for feeding. The feeder will even put a stick in his mouth and let them grab a quick bite.
Try and negotiate on the price as the show lasts about 15 min depending on the crowd which can be small depending on the night.
Written Jan 7, 2008
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOURIST WITH YOU!
DAO Says: If you are going to travel across the world and visit interesting places like Harar you should take another member of VT along with you! The first photo shows my friend and wonder VA (Virtual Attendee) - Gail. Gail is known as Glo39 here on VT and was a Virtual Attendee at...
flynboxes Says: While Harar has its share of beggers it is nothing like Addis and other parts of Ethiopia. In fact it is somewhat recent in origin here. Bottom line..don't give money to them...the locals discourage it and even frown on it to a certain extent. All you are doing is teaching...
For many Harar is considered as the fourth holy city of Islam (for others, it is Kairouan in Tunisia. . . . ) and indeed, before its takeover by Menelik in 1887 and integration into Ethiopia, non...
How could I pass this place up. Yes, I'm not very religious but I do tend to like Muslims...they tend to be good honest folks. It is a great place to wander around in with something like 360+...
HARAR - HOLY MUSLIM CITY IN ETHIOPIA
The city is located on a hilltop, in the eastern extension of the Ethiopian highlands about five hundred kilometers from Addis Ababa with an elevation of 1,885 meters For centuries, Harar has been a...
Build your own Harer page
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