Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa is the second largest city in Ethiopia with 420,000 people.

Understand

Dire Dawa (which means “empty plain”) is one of two chartered cities in eastern Ethiopia (the other being the capital, Addis Ababa). Dire Dawa was founded in 1902 after the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway reached the area. The railroad could not reach the city of Harar at its higher elevation, so Dire Dawa was built nearby. It is a major hub for many ethnic groups in Ethiopia, especially the Afar, Oromo, and Somali.

The city is an industrial centre on the Dechatu River, and home to several markets. It lies at the foot of a ring of cliffs that has been described as "somewhat like a cluster of tea-leaves in the bottom of a slop-basin".

Get in

By plane

• Aba Tenna D. Yilma International airport, the second largest airport in Ethiopia. Ethiopian airlines flies several times a day, as well as Air Djibouti and some other few smaller airlines of middle eastern countries. The unrecognized break-away Republic of Somaliland also has an airline that flies to Dire-Dawa.

By car

Dire Dawa is connected to Addis Ababa and the historical city of Harar by road, but fly or take train from Addis to get in to Dire Dawa.

By bus

There are three bus companies operating services linking Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The cheapest, least comfortable and slowest is the government local bus service. This can take anything from twelve to fifteen hours. The most expensive is the Sky bus service, a luxury Chinese coach with toilets and a movie system, which takes around ten hours. The Salem bus is a reasonable middle option, which is much quicker than the local service but still a bus rather than a coach. Tickets for government buses are bought in the main bus station. Sky bus tickets are sold from a discrete office in the Cornell area of town. Salem bus tickets are purchased at the Samrat Hotel opposite the Ras.

Harar is the other major destination. Small mini buses leave whenever they are full from the main bus station and take about an hour. It rarely takes longer than fifteen minutes for a minibus to be ready to leave.

By train

There are no longer any train services in Ethiopia. Formerly there were services from Djibouti to Addis Ababa via Dire Dawa. Train services between Ethiopia and Djibouti City have started first trials on newly reconstructed Ethiopian railways since September 6th, 2013.[1]

The easiest way to get around is by motor rickhaw, known as Bajaj's in Dire Dawa. These cost two birr to go anywhere and are shared. Simply flag one down and state your destination. If a driver is not going the way you want to, he will drive away. If any driver asks you how much you want to pay, he is trying to get you to pay more than the council set rate.

If you don't want to share with the general public it is perfectly acceptable to contract an individual bajaj to yourself and agree a fee for the service. There is no standard rate for this and what you pay will depend on your bargaining skills!

See

• The French-built train station can give you a 19th century feeling.
• At night and early in the morning, the Dechatu river basin has a heart warming sunset and sunrise scene.
• Porc Epic Cave-small cave just outside of town up the side of a mountain that contains 5,000+ year old prehistoric paintings. The paintings are quite faded. Beautiful views of the desert and farms below. Very difficult to get to. Steep climb with lots of loose rocks falling and thornbushes everywhere. There are also pesky children that will follow you claiming that they are only practicing English and then demand extortionate tips for their "guide services." Google maps accurately shows the exact location, so their "services" are not necessary. In addition, you must walk through a farm on the way to the mountain.If someone sees you they may claim it is their farm and demand money or threaten you (with an ax) for not giving them money as well.

Do

Most of the residents of the city chew the narcotic leaves known as "Chat" (aka qat, khat, catha edulis). In the afternoon, in many places, Dire Dawans sit in circle and consume chat, with several cups of coffee. During this time there could be a heated discussion. Avoid political topics, especially with the Ethiopian Somalis or Somali refugees. Other than that, you could have an interesting experience with the lightly narcotic drug. CAUTION:- "Chat" is illegal in the US and EU. Do not try to take it to Europe or the USA.

Twice yearly there is a religious ceremony at the nearby city of Kulubi (30 birr by minibus, 1 hour). It is a mass gathering with many small stalls selling clothes, sugar cane etc. Hotel prices in Dire Dawa double or triple for the three day period.

Buy

There are two shops in town selling Harar coffe: Green and Gold is one. Almo is the other. Souvenirs, electronics, and clothes.

The market near the river has traditional african spices, incense, and fruits such as guava, sour sop and custard apple.

Eat

• Paradiso restaurant found on the road to Harar near the edge of town is regarded as the best Italian in town. It is most famous for lasagna and the roasted goat meat with rice. The traditional Ethiopian dishes are also of high quality.

• Samrat Hotel has good variety(including an Indian menu) and good looking food in large quantities. It does not taste very good though.

• African Village has good traditional food.

• Peacock Hotel has some nice ice cream and pool tables.
• Habesha Restaurant, near the Delight Hotel. a local favorite with good Ethiopian food at cheap prices.

• Michael snack bar has delicious food and hot beverage . address near by st michael church .

Drink

Water, Harar beer, Tella(traditional beer).

Sleep

Budget

Basic accommodations are in abundance.

Taza Pension - (across from Africa Village) has very nice spacious and clean rooms with decent (for Ethiopia) WiFi. The rooms include a balcony, private bathroom, TV, and even a mini fridge for only 300/night (low season). Shower and sink water has low pressure and as of June, 2018, the water heater wasn't hooked up yet, but appeared to be in progress. Owners speak little to no English, but do the best they can to be accommodating.

Mid-range

• Ras Hotel, close to downtown in Dire-Dawa is quite pricey for the offerings.

• African Village is near Tsehay (pronounced say hey) hotel. It offers traditional looking huts and has a communal courtyard for meeting other people. The prices are reasonable and based on the size of the room.

Stay safe

Generally safe. However, you need to pay attention to your belongings. Your backpacks, camera and other shiny tourist items can attract pickpockets and con artists. (Recently, due to increasing immigration of Somalians, and a tension that may have created with locals the city is being heavily policed.)

Avoid political discussions, especially in regards to Somalia.

Get out

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