Tselot Eritrea - June 3 2009

 

Yesterday the hike was so tiresome that I hurried to Asmara to find some decent drinks and food to recover as soon as possible (and I could not let the schoolgirl guide waiting) Therefore I did not take the time to have a good look at Tselot.

But Tselot is one of the villages around Asmara well worth visiting, because of its spectacular scenery, its traditional lifestyle of the rural highlands, and of course because it is the president's village.

Today I return to the village with a minibus from Kahawta. The driver is the same as yesterday, and he is wondering why I am shuttling between Kahawta and Tselot. I tell him about my hike yesterday.

We have to wait for passengers for the bus. Temesgen invites my to drink tea in a a bar, where we chat for half an hour. I tell him my story, and he tells me his sister lives very close to my house (in Rotterdam).

Back at the bus the passengers are patiently waiting in the shadow of the Kahawta houses. I reclaim the seat in the front, so I will be able to make some pictures through the opened window. We pass farmers tending their small plots and boys herding a few goats.

I ask Temesgen if he has some time to show me the village and the dam. No problem at all! He has to wait for his passengers anyway. With the bus we drive to the edges of the village, from where we have a nice view on the hills and the dam. Unfortunately the reservoir dried up, due to lack of rain.

Temesgen explains Tselot is divided in three parts: the new houses that we passed when leaving Kahawta, Upper Tselot (Tselot Lalay) on the plateau, and lower Tselot (Tselot Tahtai, the rural part of the village, that I passed yesterday, when I climbed uphill from the Tselot Valley.

During the one hour guided tour I enjoy the traditional Eritrean dwellings, the dramatic views from the edge of the plateau, and the fact that the current president of Eritrea must have spent his early youth in this small farmers village.

At 18:00 I have an appointment with Kibreab at the Housing and Commerce Bank. We will change Nakfa's into biera's downtown. First we have diner in the Asmara Restaurant. Pasta, as usual. And then a few beers in Kibreab's favorite bar.

 

The road to Tselot - Tselot Eritrea.

The dam and the empty water reservoir - Tselot Eritrea.

Traditional houses Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

View on the countryside Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

Temesgen and his Toyota minibus - Tselot Eritrea.

Traditional houses Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

Traditional houses Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

Traditional houses Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

Traditional houses Tselot Lalay (Upper Tselot) - Tselot Eritrea.

MIG 23 decoration on one of the houses - Tselot Lalay Eritrea.

 

Diner with Kibreab (Asmara Restaurant) - Asmara Eritrea.