Once dubbed “the North Korea of Africa”, Eritrea is slowly stripping itself of this controversial title. Or is at least trying. Since beginning this journey around the world, Eritrea was always one of the more difficult countries to visit. But, all of this changed in 2018 when new entry requirements made it easier for certain nationalities to obtain tourist visas. Well, sort of.

As usual, when the more difficult countries become easier to visit, those of us chasing 193 suddenly want to go. It seemed like all of my travel friends were planning trips to Eritrea. In the past three months, I have met more than 50 travelers from EPS (a group for serious travelers chasing every country in the world) in random countries. I cannot even begin to explain how heart-warming it is to meet your tribe in person! So, even though it did not really make sense for me to travel to Eritrea on the particular weekend that some others were planning, I decided to go solely because of the social aspect. Much like my trip to Saudi Arabia [see post: Making History: A Weekend in Saudi Arabia], I was more looking forward to meeting and spending some time with the fellow travelers that I had built virtual relationships with. Weird, right? Many of us talk daily—from group chats to individual conversations. Over time, these “strangers” that I virtually met through an online travel group have become some of my closest friends. Yet, I have not met them all in person. So weird.

Getting the Visa
Unless you are a citizen of Uganda, you need a visa to visit Eritrea. Additionally, if your country of residence does not have an Eritrean embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission, you will need to obtain an entry visa in advance. Otherwise, you are eligible to obtain a visa on arrival. But, this visa on arrival must also be secured in advance. Keep in mind that the application process, including required documents, varies by country—while I had to submit my original passport and wait a ridiculous amount of time, fellow travelers applying for tourist visas in the United Arab Emirates only had to submit copies of their passports and were granted visas within two weeks.

As is the case with most embassies in the United States, the Embassy of Eritrea is located in Washington, D.C. (I live in Chicago). Given the recent changes, I decided to use a visa service instead of directly applying at the embassy—I figured it would be beneficial to have a representative from VisaHQ in Washington just in case my application encountered any issues. While the Embassy of Eritrea notes that visa processing takes a minimum of 10 business days, VisaHQ states the standard processing time is 20 to 25 business days. Expedited services are not available. So, I wanted to get going as soon as possible. A single-entry tourist visa, valid for up to three months from the date of issue, costs $50 USD. December was the earliest that I could apply. I submitted my tourist visa application, along with the required documents (original passport, passport photo, itinerary, and bank statement), during the first week of December.

Story time!

The plan was to travel in February. Come that week, I still had not received my passport back with the visa. So, at that point, I had completely written off going on the trip.

Rewind a few weeks. After the “pick-up” date passed, I reached out to VisaHQ to find out what was going on with my application. Nobody had an answer for me. Each time I called, I was advised that the courier was told by the embassy to come back the following day. This was the same response I received every single time I called. Even though I was paying the visa service to handle this on my behalf, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I tried reaching the Embassy of Eritrea by phone for over a week. The phone line just rang. And rang. Eventually, I noticed that if I let it ring long enough, after several minutes, I was able to reach the voicemail box. Not that this helped. Nobody ever returned any of my calls.

Before leaving the country for a longer trip, I finally managed to reach someone at the embassy. The person asked me when I had submitted my application. When I responded “December”, the man just laughed. I expressed my concerns, and he reassured me that I still had time and not to worry about it. I believed him. He asked me for my name and number, and then hung up. I never heard from him.

Weeks passed, and I still had not received my passport with the visa. I started to lose sleep over the situation. By this time, I was halfway across the world and not able (or could afford) to religiously call the embassy in hopes of an update. While I was away, a fellow traveler called on my behalf every single day for two weeks straight. She was never able to reach anyone by phone.

A week before my scheduled departure to Eritrea, I was finally able to reach someone at the embassy again. In order to grant a visa, the embassy here (in the United States) must first send over the documentation to Asmara for approval—to where or what department, I have no idea. Regardless, without approval the embassy cannot grant a visa. Turned out, whoever my documentation went to in Asmara, was not able to get a hold of the tour company to confirm my itinerary and subsequently process my application—great to know just days before my departure. You would think, after a few weeks of being unable to do so, that someone would call to tell you? Nope. Frustrated, I asked to resubmit my application without the itinerary, and left my contact information.

After not hearing back yet again, I followed up with another phone call. It was then that my list of “worst embassies” had a new contender. This time, I was informed that the embassy had just received my application. Just received my application? The same application that I had been calling about for over a month? Right. What a mess. It was Friday, and I was leaving for the trip on Tuesday. With the embassy closed for the weekend, I was out of time since that meant the approval and visa had to be granted that same day. There was no way—if all of this could not have been done in two months, how would it be done in one day? Defeated, I texted the group to tell them that I was not going to be able to make the trip, and spent the weekend calling Emirates and flydubai to see if I could recover any of my money for canceling the flights. Nope.

On Monday morning, I get a call from an unknown number—it was someone from the embassy calling to tell me that the visa was granted and my passport was ready for pickup. I had no words. Great news, but how would I get someone to pick it up in Washington and get it to Chicago in less than 24 hours? I called VisaHQ and asked them to immediately send a courier and overnight my passport. I did not get my hopes up, but I did pack a backpack that night.

In an unexpected turn of events, after 50+ days, my passport with the visa arrived just hours before my flight that Tuesday. I still cannot believe it.

The end.

I was traveling to Eritrea with nine others. Seven of the nine are based in Dubai—which worked out well since it was much cheaper for me to fly from Chicago to Dubai, and then take a flight from there to Asmara on separate reservations (versus booking round-trip flights from Chicago to Asmara via whatever city). I arrived at Dubai International Airport on a Wednesday evening. I had a little over eight hours until my next flight.

The perks of traveling with strangers is that they eventually turn into friends. Last month, I met a Dubai-based traveler at the airport in Salalah. We immediately became friends. So, instead of sitting at the airport, I headed out to watch him play ice hockey during my long layover. Ironically, he was also leaving for a trip after the game. What timing. We made our way back to the airport and hung out until I had to meet the others at a different terminal. If only all layovers were this eventful.

Day 1
We arrived at Asmara International Airport just shy of 7:00 in the morning and immediately transferred to the Albergo Italia Asmara hotel to drop off our backpacks and begin the guided tour.

The first day of our itinerary was allocated to the country’s capital city. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Asmara boasts one of the world’s finest collections of early 20th century architecture. Italian colonial buildings. Art Deco cinemas. Futurist service stations. A city of contrasts. A city stuck in time.

We spent the entire day exploring Asmara and its unique and unusual highlights. Our itinerary included the following stops:

Farmacia Centrale – Old pharmacy in Asmara.

Fiat Tagliero Building – Futurist-style service station completed in 1938.

Cimitero Italiano Di Asmara – Cemetery established in the Italian colonial era.

Asmara Theater and Opera House – Opera theater and one of Asmara’s most elegant early 20th century buildings.

Church of Our Lady of the Rosary – Lombard Romanesque-style Roman Catholic church built in 1923.

Cinema Impero – Art Deco-style cinema constructed in 1937.

Fish Market – Fish market located in the center of Asmara.

Al Khulafa Al Rashidin Mosque – Also known as the Great Mosque of Asmara. Considered to be one of the three prominent edifices of the city.

Enda Mariam Orthodox Cathedral – Eritrean Orthodox church built in 1938.

Medebar Market – Open-air market where almost everything is recycled and sold.

Asmara Central Market – Large market located in the city center.

Cinema Roma – Cinema built in 1937 as the Cinema Excelsior.

Tank Graveyard – Huge “graveyard” of old military vehicles from around the country.

Commercial Bank of Eritrea – Government-owned bank.

Central Post Office – Post office located in an old Italian colonial building.

Multi Sport Bowling Asmara – One of the few genuine 1950s bowling alleys left in the world.

Day 2
With only two full days in Eritrea, we had to be very selective with what we wanted to see and do. After Asmara, Massawa was the most recommended city to visit. Located about 100 kilometers (approximately 62 miles) away from the country’s capital, the old port city has survived throughout the centuries and preserves a mix of Italian, Egyptian, and Ottoman architecture that reflects its history.

Our guide and driver picked us up early that morning and we immediately began the two or so hour drive through the mountains. Along the way, we stopped at an old train station and later a war memorial.

Upon arrival, we spent some time walking around the old town of Massawa.

The city was nothing like I had expected. It was quiet. Too quiet. No people. Just old buildings. I was largely unimpressed.

During the walking tour, we realized that our guide did not have the necessary permits for us to visit the Sahaba Shrine—one of the stops on our itinerary. Although not proven, it is believed that the Sahaba Shrine could be the oldest constructed Islamic shrine in the world. However, it is located past a checkpoint in a zone that requires special permission to enter. The guide told us that it would be impossible for us to enter that area of the city. Tired, hungry, and irritated, nobody was having it.

We booked our tour with EriNine based on the company’s relatively good reviews. From the very beginning of the tour (literally after leaving the airport upon arrival), it was evident that “tourism” is a new concept in the country. There seemed to be a huge disconnect between EriNine and the drivers/guides they used—neither the driver nor the guide had a copy of the itinerary that we had arranged with the company. So, when it came to this stop, both were clueless as to how to make it happen. Standing under the scorching sun, we spent nearly an hour arguing with everyone at EriNine over the phone. Eventually, they agreed to arrange permits for us. By the time that we collected the permits from an office located on the outskirts of the city, we had killed at least two hours. Frustrated, we made our way back in silence. Upon arrival, we could not help but laugh—it was nothing like we had expected.

After a late lunch, we began the drive back for our final night in Eritrea.

Was Massawa worth it? Worth one of two days in Eritrea? No, definitely not. At least not in my opinion. There was nothing special about the city—nothing that stood out to me. Maybe if we had more time in Eritrea, and more time in Massawa, I would have felt differently.

The drive back felt so much longer. We finally made it back to Asmara later that evening. But, the day was not even close to over. Dinner and drinks, followed by more drinks kept us out at a local “nightclub” until just hours before our early morning flight back to Dubai. At this point, I had barely slept a total of eight hours over three nights. Running on E, I canceled my plans for the day and checked-in to a hotel instead. Completely drained, I slept until my flight back home to Chicago the next day.