Before leaving

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

One week in a country that doesn't exist. And it has been good. It still feels a bit strange travelling in a country this peaceful right beside one of the most dangerous countries in the world. But it has been a pleasure. I guess Mark Twain was correct. Whatever prejudices I held before going here, they are thorougly gone.

I have met nice people. Hospitable people. Helpful people. And even though this country may not have be the perfect place for tourists, I still enjoyed it. Good food. There are some sites that can attract tourists. So I guess that the only thing holding people back, is the fact that everybody (including me a couple of years ago) thinks this is Somalia. And thus, nobody with any semplance of sanity would go there on vacation.

But this is what I love about exploring new countries. Being surprised. Seeing prejudices disappear. Learning to know new cultures, new tastes. Seeing new lands. Exploring. And it is my sincere wish that more people will do this. If they are able. Go outside of your comfort zone. Take the chance. The reward certainly is worth it.

Only traffic light in Hargeisa. And they respected it!

This sure gives a new meaning to "public office"

Local water truck

Leaving Hargeisa

Ragnar

Traveller

A touch of Aden

Somaliland is definitely virgin territory for tourism. It took a lot of effort to find any information about anything. And all reviews I found where in the single digits. So not necessarily the most reliable. I found one that seemed promising, since I found them everywhere. But they turned out to be a scam... Fortunately, my credit card company reimbursed me my money...

So I had to fix a tour to Laas Geel and Berbera locally. I had read someone had used the Oriental Hotel to fix the tour, so I opted for that. I walked to the hotel, and told the manager what I wanted. Laas Geel and then on to Berbera for the night. He gave me the rundown. 295 dollars. Excluding the hotel for the night in Berbera.. A stiff price, but apparently not uncommon. It therefore helps to be a small group, sharing the cost.

The next day, I got up early, since the deal was they would come and pick me up at 7. But 7 came and went. And when it passed 7.30, I asked the receptionist to call the hotel and inquire about the pickup. She spoke with him, and after some back and forth, she hung up and said "They will be here shortly". Not a great start. I was starting to get a feel that the manager of the Oriental had forgotten the whole thing. 10 minutes later, a guy arrived in a HiAce... Not exactly the vehicle I was expecting for a trip into the wilderness. But I got in, and we were off into the city center to pick up our guard. For some reason, they demand that foreigners always travel with an armed guard... After waiting half an hour, he came running across the street. The AK-47 thrown over his shoulder. He opened the back door, excused his late arrival and threw the Kalashnikov on the floor between the seats. And after some pleasantries, he laid down on the seat and fell asleep. Didn't seem like there really was a need for an armed guard...

When we arrived at Laas Geel, our driver was getting anxious regarding the road condition. This was definitely 4WD territory. But to his credit, he managed to navigate the HiAce across rocks, cracks, crevasses and all other challenges. Without destroying the car. And after half an hour of jolts, jumps, heart stopping maneuvers and a couple of "carrrunch"-es later, we arrived at the visitor center. Our guard pointed to an old guy sitting on a porch. "Your guide" he said. I got out, and our guard showed me to a room with some pictures and some history of the site. After a short while he came back and waved me to come with him. "I will be your guide" he said. Euuukei. Guess no arrangement had been made here for the guide. I was getting more of the feeling the manager at Oriental had winged everything. And that was obvious on our driver. While driving on the wilderness road, he also spoke, or should I say, screamed, on the phone with the manager of Oriental hotel. He obviously wasn't told the condition of the road. 

The "road"

At least I got to see a camel up close

I was thinking that a HiAce was a terrible choice for this road, but after I had finished the tour, I met a couple of women who had just arrived. In a Toyota Vitz. Their driver must an ace. And then there was a guy in a sedan... How THEY got there, is beyond me...

Our guard with his AK-47

He doubled as a guide

After the tour of Laas Geel, and driving back to the main road, the guard said "and now we go to Berbera and back to Hargeisa". "Noooo" I said. "We go to Berbera, stay for the night and then go back to Hargeisa." He was silent for a moment before talking to the driver. The driver got even more upset. Uh-oh. He picked up his phone, called, and screamed in the phone for the better part of half an hour or so. I asked the guard when he was called for this tour. "This morning". Right. The manager at the Oriental hotel had forgotten all about it, and had scrambled together a tour. Forgetting that I was supposed to stay the night at Berbera. Sigh!

I guess the message I am making is clear. If you should ever come to Hargeisa, avoid using the Oriental hotel to book your tour. I do not like to be stiffed.

As any reader might imagine, I was angry. But I explained to the driver and guard that I was angry at the manager of Oriental Hotel. Not them. They were just thrown into this debacle. And I was the victim. 

The guard offered to show me some of the sights in Berbera. And I thought that since we had gone this far, I might as well see something. The guard had been here before, so he knew the town.

First, we drove down to the beach. As I got out of the car, I gasped. The temperature was high. Very high! The forecast said 44. And with the humid air along the sea, it was opressively hot. I gasped for air and managed to compose myself enough to walk down to the beach. I took my shoes and socks off and wandered into the water. It had a nice temperature. Would have been great to go swimming. But I didn't bring any bathing gear. But at least I could say I have dipped my toes in the Bay of Aden...

Next was the fish market. They drove me into town, the older part. And soon, the unmistakable smell of fish filled my nostrils. I expected an open market, but, I have to admit much to my surprise, the market was actually a lot of shops with the fish stored in freezers. I totally expected the fish to be baking in the sun. But not here. That was satisfying to know. So the guard took me thorugh the market, talked to the shopowners to let me take a look in the freezers. Again, not exactly what I expected, so I just politely took som images and walked on.

Next were some mosques and some "very old buildings". Every building here was apparently very old...

"Very old" building...

..with a local mosque behind it

Newer mosque

We were standing in front of a partially collapsed "very old building" when an old guy in a huge 50s Chevy drove past. He stopped and started speaking perfect English! After the usual "Where are you from? Welcome to Somaliland!", my guard pointed at the "very old" building and the old man nodded. "A very old building. 1903 it was built!" 1903? 1903??? I have rented an apartment in a building from the 1920s... So apparently, I have been living in a "very old" building...

Anyways. After this, we had "seen it all" and we headed back to Hargeisa. It was not the trip I had wanted, but the guard was just trying his best to give me some "value for money". So I do not fault him.

On the way back to Hargeisa, we stopped at a restaurant were the guard offered me a cup, I mean glass, of tea with camel milk. Finally, I was going to taste camel milk. It was...ok. Not yucky. Just...different. And the tea smelled of...stable... But I enjoyed the experience. And the tea was nice. Save from the insane amounts of sugar used...

Another delightful experience was a shower of rain on our last leg into Hargeisa. As we entered the area the rain had just passed, I could feel the temperature dropping. It was refreshing. But best of all, it was combined with freshly watered plants and grass. I sniffed the air. I love the smell of wet grass in the evening. It smells like...nature.

I was tired when we finally arrived in Hargeisa. The driver dropped me off at the hotel I wanted to spend the last part. I had only ordered the first hotel since it was the only one available on booking sites online. So now I was changing to one a few hundred meters away. The aircon was working, the restaurant had great food, and the front yard was actually a place I wanted to sit in the evening. And it cost a lot less. 

I was ready for my last days in Somaliland.

Ragnar

Traveller who doesn't like to be played

Ars Gratia Artis

When the archeologist Margareth Mead was asked by a student about what was the first sign of civilization, she replied "a 15000 year old fractured femur". It had been broken, and subsequently healed.

The femur is the longest bone in the body, and if you break it, it is both painful and a very long process of healing. Even in our time. If an animal breaks such an important bone, it is essentially a death sentence. The herd/flock/pride will dump it for the good of the rest. The broken and then healed femur means that for the first time, man decided to forego the benefit of the tribe to help this one individual. Which meant the whole tribe sacrificed their safety and the food supply to make sure this member survived. A clear sign that man had moved from merely surviving, to creating a civilization. They began to care. 

Up until that time, the main thing was survival. And anyone who couldn't contribute, would be left to die. In the animal world, this is a necessity. It is how the group survives. But suddenly, we began to care. About someone other than ourselves. And that might be one of the reasons we have come this far. Unfortunatley, we seem to have forgotten this now. Gone back to animalistic thinking about our own survival. That caring for others is weakness. That spending resources on other people than our immediate group has somehow become too expensive. And we rationalize it away. As if we have "evolved" beyong empathy. And I think about those people, 15000 years ago. How they came to realize the value of everyone. And that their survival depended upon that value.

Civilizations started when we stopped being mere intelligent animals trying to survive, to becoming a society that took care of its members, no matter the cost. But I also think that there is another aspect to this. Cave drawings. From the simple hand imprints to the artistic. And here in Somaliland, in a place called Laas Geel, I have seen some drawings that were simply stunning. As I walked through the area, from cave to cave, I was struck by the sheer complexity of the drawings. Not just stick men and simple animal drawings. But abstract artistry. I stood there for a while, trying to imagine how it was back then.

At some point in their history, the people of these lands looked at their fingers and found color. From mud, sand, clay or plants they encountered. And something happened in the brain of one or more of them. While sitting in their cave, sheltering from the elements, man became an artist. Depicting the world around him. And I can only refer to my pictures and let the readers asses for themselves. This is truly great art!

Wildebeast?

Animal and a partially abstract human

Human on top of animal?

Relative sizes? Or just human with animal?

Giraffe. No longer in these areas

Daggers?

Why? What was the purpose? Maybe it was used to pass on information from one generation to the next? Storytelling has been a part of human history for thousands of years. Used to teach the next generation about the environment around them. How to see the signs of the weather. How to find prey. What to eat, and stay away from. Maybe it was a way to tell the stories of the tribe? To give a sense of common history and purpose. To create a sense of belonging. Or maybe, just maybe, man had come so far that he no longer needed to have a purpose? That civilization had come so far that they no longer needed purpose for something to have value. That a human or an activity had value in itself? Simply "Ars Gratia Artis". Art for art's sake?

I stood there, looking at the art and thinking. Some 10 000 years ago, someone painted this. And here I was, looking at it. They are long gone, but their art is still here. Leaving us baffled. In awe and wonder. I just had to do something I wasn't supposed to. That I regretted doing.  I laid my hand on it. Touched the same place as the hand of an ancient artist. The rock touched my fingers. Just like it did the artist. 

I turned and looked at the landscape. Like they would have done. 

What were they thinking? What were they seeing? What filled their imagination? What did they dream? Are these drawings their dreams? I will never know. But I do know this : Their history is our history. And now I have seen and touched some of that common history. I had reached the pinnacle of my trip. And this alone made the trip worth it.

In awe and wonder in front of this ancient art gallery

Ragnar

Traveller for travelling's sake

Across the river bed

On the south side of Hargeisa, there is a livestock market well worth visiting. And I was hoping they were selling camels there too today. 

I woke a bit later than usual, had a shower and some pancakes before heading out into the heat. I could have taken a taxi, but I like walking. Gives me a better chance to see and absorb my surroundings. And to find some surprising things along the way. 

I had already found a way towards the market, and could find it on my phone. All I had to do, was to walk to the money market and start from there. Easy peasy. Or so I thought. Turns out, the road on Google Maps was now a market. A rather big market. Where the aisles didn't match the street underneath. So I got lost a couple of times before I found my way through. And on the other side, I found myself on the banks of the dried out river. Which, again according to Google Maps, was the street. And people seemed to be using this...errr...street. When in Rome etc. So I walked across the riverbed like the locals, and soon I was in a proper street. 

The sandy type. With houses and schools, and... beauty salons. I walked towards the livestock market. Enjoying watching the daily life of the locals along the way.

Several people, both young and old, wanted to shake my hand and welcome me to Hargeisa and Somaliland. And one guy in a car stopped and asked where I was going. I assumed he was a taxi, so I said I was just walking. Later, I realized that is not uncommon to give people a lift. So he was just trying to be nice to this sweaty foreigner. Walking in the scorching sun. I had to stop in the shade several times and cool off. And unlike some other places, nobody here thought that was an odd sight. Of course you stop in the shade! Would be stupid not to!

After a while, I started smelling the obvious. Livestock. A big area packed with sellers and buyers. But, unfortunately, this time there were no camels in sight. Only a ton of goats. People selling one goat, or a pack of them. A cacophony of "mehehehehe" everywhere. People bargaining. Trucks moving bought goats. Loved it. Spent some time walking around and taking some pictures. 

But after a while, I could really feel the heat of the day. So I decided to retreat to get some food and drink. Ate camel burger at the same place I had the steak. Paid with shillings. A big wad of shillings. Hostess did not like. At all. She gave up counting in the end. And just said "Ok".

Tomorrow, I will go to Laas Geel. One of the main reasons to go here!

Ragnar

Traveller crossing the river

One pound of money to go

I didn't sleep much last night. The aircon didn't work, so the room was muggy. I tried setting the temperature as low as possible, but to no avail. The fans started, but no cooling. Bathing in my own sweat, I tried to get a shut-eye. And in the end, I did. But I think my total was about 5 hours. 

This morning, I asked the receptionist if he could look at the aircon. He came to my room, switched on the aircon, set the temperature to 23 degrees, and... It worked. "I did that last night, but it didn't work". "Ok" he said and left. Don't think he was particularly impressed with my technical skills. Neither was I to be honest. Still don't know why it didn't work. But hey. It works now. So hopefully, I will be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

After a quick shower, I went down to get some breakfast. A stack of pancakes was just what I needed. I walked out into the baking heat. Luckily, the winds were quite strong. Cooling. Today I wanted to go down to the money market. Yup. It is a real place here in Hargeisa. Where you can change most major currencies in the world. On a market. On the sidewalk.

I was walking towards the market when some dude reached his hand forward as he was approaching me. Throwing open his mouth into a smile that revealed his row of choppers in most colors of the rainbow. And then some. Not exactly a model for Colgate... I threw my hand forward, and he was shifting it around like some gang-shake or something.

Dude : "Hello! Welcome to Somaliland!"

Me : "Thank you!"

Dude : "Whea <unintelligle>"

Me : "Sorry?"

Dude : "Where...aaaa....are...you from? Me-i-ca?"

Me : "No, Norway!"

Dude : "Ah...eee...ok...eeee...."

Awkward moment

Dude : "Ok....heh...ok...heh"

He looked lost. Let my hand go and kept on walking. Not sure if his English language skills ended or if he was just disappointed in my answer...

Finally, I arrived at the money market. I had seen pictures and videos of it, but it is something to see it in person. Not a huge market, but maybe ten guys sitting on benches/chairs on the sidewalk. With giant stacks of money in front of them. Tens of thousands of dollars worth. No armed guards. No police around. No worries. That is Hargeisa for you.

I approached one of the stands, and said "$50, how much". He thought for a moment. "510" he said. I didn't quite hear what he said "Could you write it down?" He wrote it down on his calculator. 510 000 Somaliland Shillings. I nodded. "Which stack do you want?" he asked and smiled. I tried finding the one with the least worn notes. But realized they were all just as worn. I pointed at one stack. He pulled it out and counted 5 wads of 100 1000 notes. Held together by a rubber band. It was a real pile of money. I had problems finding space for it in my bag. But managed to squeeze it in. I thanked him and walked back to my hotel. Needed to unload the stack of cash. Last time I had this amount of cash after changing money was in Ghana. 

I realized that since everyone here used dollars or digital payment anyways, changing into this pile of cash might not be a smart thing. But I thought it would be funny to pay. And my first try was at a bakery. I bought some cookies and a coke. 47 000 (About $4.50). I pulled out one of the wads of money. And split it around half. Gave the one half to the guy. And he obviously knew how to count. With a steady hand, he flipped through the notes in a few seconds. He pointed a finger in the air. One more note. 47 000. I sat down and enjoyed the cookies. I was burning money here. It felt...interesting.

Donkey pulling water-barrel

I went back to my hotel for some relaxing and cooling off. And to check the map for where a few of the sights around Hargeisa were located. I found that one of them was located just a couple of blocks away from the money market... So I could have gotten two for the price of one walk. Of well. Not that I don't like walking. After cooling off for a while, I ventured out again in the afternoon heat. The first stop was the Mig monument. This is a Mig fighter used to bomb Hargeisa back when they wanted independence from the military regime in Somalia. They have put one of them on top of a monument. It had fallen into disrepair. Or maybe it was war damaged? I dunno. But an interesting monument it was. 

Next up was the tank monument. Just a few blocks away. It was...well. sorta...a tank. But it wasn't real. Just a sculpture of one. Kinda weird looking too. Granted, I am not a leading expert on tanks. But anyway.

As I walked further, I noticed the map said "Pizza Hut". Really? In Somaliland? I hadn't seen any other foreign fast food restaurants anywhere, so I expected to see a small shop with Pizza Hut painted on it. But no, it did indeed look like a Pizza Hut. With the logo and color scheme and everything. In Somaliland? Didn't go in thought. So it might have been a case of "copyright infringement"...

I had promised to bring back some candies from Somaliland if I could find some. Imagine then, when I found that there was a candy shop just a short walk from my hotel. And the description on TikTok said "40 000 square feet of candies. The owner keeps over $5 million of merchandise in his shop". 40 000 square feet of candies? $5 millions worth of candies? WOW! This will be the closest thing to heaven a sweet tooth like me have ever been. 

I walked down to the shop as soon as it opened. And was...underwhelmed. I had to check the map to see if I was in the right place. Yup. This was it. It wasn't 40000 Sqf. More like 400. And I would find more candies in the pick'n mix section of a corner shop in Norway than here. And all the candy were of the "gummy type". All of which where soggy due to the heat. The woman sitting behind the counter looked disinterested in me. So I just "checked" the inventory before I left. Talk about downer! Arrrrrgh! I know they chew khat here, but whoever wrote that piece about this candy shop, must have been chewing on something spicey they found near a chemical dump.

Disappointed by the candy shop, I started looking for the place I wanted to check out for dinner. A barbeque place. I found it, and decided...neuuuu. It looked like the place you would go to in preparation for breaking the world record in exploding diarrhea. So I settled for dinner in the hotel restaurant. I chose an old fav. Tikka masala. With what the menu called mango "smothei". If given the choice, I would have gone for a mango lassi. Turned out, the "smothei" was indeed a lassi. Ah! Not a bad end to a long day. Ending with a smile!

Ragnar

Traveller with a sweet tooth