Asmara Eritrea - November 20th 2006

 

Today my travel permit will be finished. In the morning I visit the Ministry of Tourism (for the approval to enter Afabet village and its surroundings) and with the letter of recommendation of the ministry and instructions for the administration of Afabet, I visit the Tourism Service Center on the other side of Harnet Avenue to fill the necessary forms. The permit to travel will be ready at the end of the day.

So I spend the rest of the day visiting family, walking through Asmara and describing the two walking tours very accurate, so they will be available for others on their first visit to Asmara. In the previous years I observed the beauty of Asmara, with its magnificent architectural heritage in an almost random order. If you have a lot of time, and the energy to walk, you will eventually visit all of Asmara's built environment. Today I will make a start to see Asmara in an efficient way and a brief description..

I am not in a hurry, so I spend some time around the Saint Michael Church on Biet Mekae hill in Tseserat. A service has just started. I take off my shoes and I enter the church to join the praying priests. When they see me, they give me short welcoming smile. One of them hands me a wooden mace to lean on, just like they do, while I listen to their monotone prayers and drumbeat.

Walking through Asmara, it is clear that the Eritrean government is preparing for the future: the construction of complete new suburbs, including new infrastructure, wide four lane asphalt roads, the construction of a sewerage network, and other public works dominate the area on the west side of Asmara. Many of the projects are carried out with the assistance of Chinese contractors.

In the late afternoon I collect my travel permit. It has a lot of coded validation stamps in red ink on it. It must have passed a lot of checks. In a stationary I make some copies to leave at the various checkpoints, for efficient handling and as a backup in case the original will be lost.  Tomorrow I can start my tour through Eritrea, starting with a visit to friends in a small village south of Asmara: Mendefera.

  

Mereb Street Asmara Eritrea.

St. Michael Church - Biet Mekae hill - Tseserat Asmara Eritrea.

St. Michael Church (interior) - Tseserat Asmara Eritrea.

Former Alfa Romeo Head Office - 177-1 Street Asmara Eritrea.

Silver smiths shop window - Adi Hawesha Street Asmara Eritrea.

Agnese Pension - Villa Quarter Asmara Eritrea.

Bus station (local buses) - Eritrea Square Asmara.

Kulafa Al Rashidin Mosque - Selam Street Asmara.

Shops and apartments - Harnet Avenue Asmara Eritrea.

Cinema Impero - Harnet Avenue Asmara Eritrea.