Then I spend the rest of the day walking around the city: the huge market, which starts right at the bottom of the hotel, the memorial of the Civil War, which we can see from a distance,
on the most important avenue of the city: avenue of independence. The upper part of the monument is actually a warplane, from the Somali army, that crashed here at the end of the war in 1988. On the monument, scenes of the civil war are painted, the war that destroyed nearly 80% of the city. In 1991, the city was rebuilt almost entirely, hence its modern appearance compared to other African cities! I sit for a moment in the “tea shop”: some plastic chairs here and there and in the middle, a small stand where the tea is prepared! Even asking “chouahia zucar” (“little sugar”), it is still too sweet for me, but good anyway!
I’m back at the hotel for dinner, I prefer not to go out alone at night, and the meals prepared at the hotel are very good, even if it’s more expensive than in a local restaurant…
While I’m having dinner, I’m surprised to meet another foreigner, a tourist like me: Magnus from Sweden. Very surprised yep because I did not expect to find other travelers in Somaliland!!! We talk for a while. He also wants to visit the rock paintings of Las Geel, we organize it for tomorrow Thursday and we will share the costs of the car, driver, and escort: 110 USD, plus 25 USD for the entrance fee per person… Good for both! It’s an expensive excursion!
The night is cool. From my window, I can see the big mosque, and even if the call of the prayers wakes me up in the middle of the night, I like to hear it, it’s always very exotic!!!
