From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Aug 22 2008 - 16:10:04 EDT
Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Asmara
Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:05am EDT
ASMARA (Reuters Life!) - Not many travelers end up in Asmara, one of
Africa's least-known and most beautiful cities. But if you ever have 48
hours to spend in the Eritrean capital, here are some tips on how to
make the best of a short stay.
Given Eritrea's turbulent history, including a 30-year independence war
until 1991 followed by a 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia,
tourism remains underdeveloped.
Those who make it -- among them, plenty of Italians exploring their
former African colony -- are stunned by Asmara, especially its
architecture.
FRIDAY
6 p.m. Join the locals in a "passeggiata", or stroll, down Harnet
(Liberation) Avenue, the wide main street where residents gather in the
early evening to meet and greet. With its pavement cafes and
extraordinary buildings from the Italian colonial era -- art deco to
neo-classical -- you feel you are in the Mediterranean, rather than
Africa.
Older Eritreans will greet you in Italian, the young in English. You can
have no fear of being robbed.
8 p.m. Choose from an array of restaurants round the small city to enjoy
a traditional meal of "injera", a spongy pancake served on a tray with
stew on top. If you are less adventurous, the menu will have plenty of
pasta dishes, too. As you go home, observe soldiers on street corners
checking the papers of the residents in a sign of Asmara's stricter
undertones.
12 p.m. Before you go to sleep, listen to the midnight church bells in
the distance, breaking the silence in this tranquil city of half a
million people on a plateau 2,500 feet
up from the Red Sea coast. Remember half of the Eritrean population is
Muslim, so get ready to be awakened by the call to prayer!
SATURDAY
6 a.m. Feeling energetic? Before the heat comes, take a jog or a walk up
one of the hills around Asmara. The views of the city are stunning --
only a couple of post-independence high-rises spoil an otherwise early
20th-century panorama, dotted with mosques and a couple of cathedrals.
Looking the other way across the countryside, women in white shrouds
begin daily chores while boys with sticks take sheep and goats out in
almost biblical landscapes. Mountains disappear into a misty distance.
Wave at the soldiers on guard on the hilltops in case they think you're
up to no good.
10 a.m. If invited by local hosts, join them in a coffee ceremony. The
bean was discovered centuries ago by a monk not far away in north
Ethiopia, and it is in this part of the world that they really know how
to enjoy coffee. Watch the beans being washed and roasted as incense is
burned before boiling. It might take an hour and the coffee will be
strong.
1 p.m. Take some time at lunch to talk to Eritreans about their history.
The oldest will remember the Italian occupation, the British defeat of
Benito Mussolini's troops in 1941, then the ever-controversial
federation with Ethiopia. All Eritreans will talk about the 30-year
"struggle" for independence that ended in 1991 -- some still carry the
physical scars: a missing limb, a bullet lodged in the ribs -- and has
defined their modern history. Present-day politics are a sensitive
subject -- President Isaias Afwerki was a successful guerrilla leader
and initially praised by the West. He is now heavily criticised by human
rights groups.
3 p.m. Spend a couple of hours walking around the city to enjoy its
Italian-era architecture. Don't miss the plane-shaped futurist "Fiat
Tagliero" service station on the roundabout of Sematat Avenue. Its
concrete wings are so long nobody believed they would stay up when
wooden struts were pulled away at its inauguration in 1938, but it's
still standing. At the Education Ministry on Harnet Avenue, which used
to be the Fascist Party headquarters, turn your head to the left and see
how the building's jagged roof spells an "F".
5 p.m. English Premier League football is an obsession throughout
Africa. Head to the Mocambo bar to join several hundred young Eritreans
whistling and shouting as they watch their favorite teams live --
different matches on different screens.
8 p.m. Go for pre-dinner drinks to the trendy Zara bar, full of young
Eritreans. It's next to Sandal Square, so-called because of a monument
to the independence war shaped like the fighters' simple footwear. The
sandal structure has gone for repair at the moment -- as has beer,
because of a shortage of ingredients.
SUNDAY
8 a.m. Have breakfast on the courtyard terrace of the elegant Albergo
Italia, Asmara's first hotel, built in 1899.
9 a.m. Take the two-hour drive down the mountains to Massawa port on the
Red Sea. Don't forget to get a travel permit first from the tourist
office. The hairpin bends afford dramatic views -- and churn the
stomach.
1 p.m. Enjoy freshly caught fish in the rundown but atmospheric old town
of Massawa, whose crumbling architecture reflects more of an Arab
influence.
2 p.m. Take a boat to nearby Green Island for snorkeling.
7 p.m. Back safely in Asmara, freshen up at Asmara Sweet cafe with a
juice or tea. Given that the city has become a refuge for exiled rebels
from the region -- notably Darfur guerrillas and Somali Islamists -- you
may find the men on the next table are interesting to chat to.
(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Jack Kimball, editing by Paul
Casciato)
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