Eritrea Trip Report

Eritrea Technical Travel Notes

I visited Asmara, Eritrea at the end of September 2005.

Flight from London to Asmara with Lufthansa cost GBP680 return through
Expedia. I had to change at Frankfurt and the 'plane also stopped at
Jeddah on the way. Arrived at 21:30, which was not a problem. I could
change money at the airport although the service is a bit slow. You
have to declare all your foreign currency on entry although I didn't
have mine checked. They did check it on the way out though. USD1=Nfa15.
You can change other major currencies too but you'll need USD20 to pay
the departure tax. Each time you change or spend foreign currency in
Eritrea the bank or hotel will log the transaction on the back of your
currency form. A local told me that the black market rate for locals to
buy US dollars was Nfa19 so it's unlikely that the black market rates
are good enough to make it worth the risk of changing. Taxis wait at
the airport. Fuel prices have gone up tenfold in Eritrea so transport
prices have gone up too; a taxi to the centre now costs Nfa150-200. The
taxis are modern, comfortable and yellow.

The Selam Hotel is in a lovely building but is a bit shabby inside. My
bathroom was spotlessly clean. Nfa363 for a suite excluding breakfast.
I moved to the Savannah International Hotel where a standard single is
USD40, although I got a 10% discount for staying 6 nights. The laundry
service is cheap and efficient he shirt and trousers cost USD2 for
overnight service. Decent buffet breakfast included. Helpful and
friendly management.

Asmara has lots of cafes; the pastries and cakes seem safe to eat and
are cheap at around Nfa4 each. Beer is Nfa7-10; macchiato Nfa4; small
bottle of fizzy mineral water in a cafe Nfa4; 1.5litre bottle of water
Nfa13-15; Shoe shine, Nfa5; 2 imported AA alkaline batteries Nfa25;
souvenier T-shirts Nfa55-70; hand-woven local shawl Nfa150 (I was
almost certainly overcharged here); picture postcard Nfa3; airmail
postcard postage Nfa6; meal at restaurant Nfa40-100. Asmara Restaurant
by the main Post Office is good at producing vegetarian food, as is
Pizza Napoli and Da Silla. Da Silla is the most expensive but good food
and service; it is beyond the parade ground at the eastern end of
Harnet Avenue. Dangesh is good too although you have to go to more
effort to explain what you want (nai tsOB is the delicious local veggie
food).

If you're into architecture then the book _Asmara: Africa's Secret
Modernist City_ is worth buying. Despite being a large and heavy coffee
table book, its detailed map, street names and grid references make it
a decent practical guide to Asmara's buildings. I spent several days
using it on the street. The book fascinates locals. Asmara is very safe
so it's OK to hand people the book for them to look through. I even
handed a beggar my camera to take a photo of me; it didn't seem to
occur to him to run off with it. Lots of people ask you for money, more
than any other country I've been to. Don't give it to them. No sign of
the usual tourist scams like fake policemen. Take care when
photographing buildings; I got into a bit of bother when photographing
Asmara swimming pool because it's near some government buildings. Also
be aware than Eritreans don't seem to like having their picture taken.

It's worth taking a day trip to Dekemhare. The bus station is in the
north of the city. Fare is Nfa10 and it takes about an hour to get
there. It's worth going just to see the landscape on the journey. You
can get a bus back to Asmara from the same place as the bus drops you
off. Dekemhare has some more excellent Italian arcitecture but
otherwise is more of a place to watch daily life on the street than
anything else. One soldier at a checkpoint asked me for my travel
permit, which I didn't have, so a permit might be required. I got a bus
back to Asmara at about 4pm. A local offered me a taxi to Asmara for
Nfa400, although I'm not sure whether this was legal or serious.

The Holy Cross festival is worth seeing. It happened in late morning at
the parade ground at the end of Harnet Avenue. I didn't meet a single
other tourist in the week I was in Asmara.

Internet access is widely available but very slow. Try using it at
off-peak times. Usual price is Nfa10 for an hour.

The water supply is erratic although I never had problems in my hotel.
Public toilets are rare and foul.

Cinema tickets range from Nfa5-40. I tried the Cinema Roma (just the
lobby is worth a look). Sound was fine but the picture was a DVD played
on using a video projector so the picture was not good. The film I saw
was in English.

Basic English is widely spoken in Asmara. The sandals monument has been
taken down. The National Museum is still free but scarcely worth
visiting unless you have lots of time.

Bus number 1 goes to the airport for Nfa1. Catch it at Harnet Avenue or
the northern end of Setamat Avenue. It was still running at 7pm when I
took it but it's not all that frequent. I was forbidden to enter the
airport until a couple of hours before my flight so waited in the large
bar occupying a marquee near the airport building.

The airport departure lounge has a couple of decent souvenir shops
where you can use up your surplus Nakfa. There is also a bookshop. I
spotted very few decent English books in Asmara; bring your own.