Asmara Eritrea - February 13 2017

 

Even to add a restaurant to our Eritrean information pages, I need the management's permission. I visit the Al Sicomore Bar & Restaurant at 10:30 and again after lunch time at 15:00. The restaurant is recommended by various Travel Agents, and I planned to take some pictures of the interior. But the pictures require a management authorisation, as none of the girls working as waitress or casher dares to take responsibility for such a simple issue. I will not return for a third visit, so I will leave it to the recommendations of the Travel agents and the 'Fine Food' advertisement in the hall of the restaurant.

Later I realize that it would have been better to have lunch with Mussie and just ask the waitress to picture us. It is me, the somewhat spoiled tourist, who thinks he should be allowed to picture anything or anyone, because he needs the pictures. Networking and familiarizing with the Eritreans will eventually result in far better pictures, as the Dutch poverb says: "First sow, than harvest". Never take a photo if permission is declined, and respect the privacy of th people, their property, and their business.

Mussie of the Eagle Travel Agency is willing to facilitate the transport to the Gergera dam (the largest dam in Eritrea, and an impressive site to visit as I have heart from the Eritrean consular mission in The Hague), but at the MoT Headquaters in the Nda Corea Office I have been told it is either black, or white. If you are a tourist (I only have an ordinary tourist visa) you are not supposed to visit the dam, as it is not regarded as a tourist destination. But I will do my best anyway, bringing copies of my 2014, 2016, and 2017 recommendation letters of the Eritrean Embassy in The Hague to the Tourism Service Center in Harnet Avenue. I have to come back tomorrow at 16:00. The staff at the Tourism Service Center is very friendly and helpful, but they cannot change the rules. 
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Al Sicomore Bar & Restaurant - Warsay Street Asmara Eritrea.

Al Sicomore Bar & Restaurant - Warsay Street Asmara Eritrea.

Valentine Party - Adulis Sports Club Asmara Eritrea.

Cinema Africa - Tegadelti Street Asmara Eritrea.

School children - Halhal Street Asmara Eritrea.

School children - Tegadelti Street Asmara Eritrea.

Bar Jima - Tegadelti Street Street Asmara Eritrea.

Sudan Club - Tegadelti Street Street Asmara Eritrea.

Beles (Cactus Fruit) - Tegadelti Street Street Asmara Eritrea.

San Francesco Church - Gegeret Asmara Eritrea.

Saba Building - Warsay Avenue Asmara Eritrea.

Golden Fork Fast Food - Warsay Avenue Asmara Eritrea.