Agordat Eritrea - October 16th 2003

 

According to the small map in the Bradt Travel Guide, there should be a market in Barentu. I buy some typical Kunama handicraft and take a taxi bus to the bus station.

The small Toyota minibus leaves the bus station with only a few passengers, but before it passes the first checkpoint, all the seats are occupied. People board at every small village and large buses pass us every once and a while. It is not the fastest way to travel, but who cares. It is adventure.

In Agordat I cannot find a hotel that meets my standards. I choose the Alwaha Oasis hotel and hope I do not have to use the toilets (type "hole in the ground").

I visit the landmarks of the village, the mosque, the local administration, the hospital. At the market I drink a few cups of tea at one of the little tea bars. Fortunately she does not mind I picture her. This is the cosiness I am enjoying every day, but most of the women hide for the camera.

Agordat is just as hot as Tessenei, so I walk slow and drink a lot. Before I have the courage to make the walk along the Barka river, I have to buy some extra drinks. In a small grocery shop, I buy some bottles of fruit juice. They offer me seat so that I do not have to stand while drinking my coke.

When I am walking to the river two military men come to me and ask where I am going. I tell them I am just walking through Agordat and that I am on my way to the river banks. I show them a picture of Mebrat. One of them offers to accompany me. I accept the offer and we walk for some kilometers and drink some coke afterwards.

When I visit a bar to have some tea, a man comes in, one leg missing. I decide that I will pay for his tea. Impossible! Both his tea and and mine have already been paid by one of the other locals. The longer I walk through the village the more the people get accustomed to me, greeting, smiling, even inviting me in to drink tea with them. The children are teasing me, repeating the Tigrinya words with the same Dutch accent.

 

Savoia Hotel - Agordat Eritrea.

Grande mosque - Agordat Eritrea.

Sandals (shida) - 30 years liberated Agordat Eritrea.

Municipality - Agordat Eritrea.

Hospital - Agordat Eritrea.

Little tea bar in the covered market - Agordat Eritrea.

Banks of the Barka River - Agordat Eritrea.

Banks of the Barka River - Agordat Eritrea.

Traditional dwellings - Agordat Eritrea.

Information regarding aids prevention (in Tigre) - Agordat Eritrea.