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TravelTips24 : East Africa : Ethiopia : Dire Dawa

Dire Dawa

Dire-Dawa is a second largest city in Ethiopia.

Culture and History

Dire-Dawa(which means “empty plain”) is one of two chartered cities in eastern Ethiopia (the other being the capital, Addis Ababa).

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.

Travel to Dire Dawa & Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Dire Dawa

  • 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 train

Dire-Dawa is the only Major city connected to Ethiopia's capital by train. You can get in to Dire-Dawa from Djibouty City or Addis-Ababa using train. Make reservations.

WARNING The train no longer runs on the Addis-Dire Dawa part, until otherwise informed. Reservations are quite useless, not to say inexistant, better get to the station a few hours before the (alleged) departure time and be ready to fight for your seat or even, if need be, to tip a railway worker to get a good one. The 300 km / 16 to 30 hours trip can be fun (for those who enjoy rough travel conditions), although always exhausting. The locomotive, as well as the track, want fixing, so breakdowns and accidents are not unusual.

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.

Buses to Dire Dawa

There is a comprehensive bus shuttles between the capital, Addis-Ababa to Dire-Dawa. The trip takes over 12 hours, and a bit tiresome.

By boat

Tours & Getting around Dire Dawa

The blue and white minibuses are in abundance in Dire Dawa, as well as the small blue taxis. The best way to get around is to use the minibuses or to contract the blue taxis for the duration of your stay. Most Dire Dawa taxi drivers don't have a sense of time, if you tell your contracted taxi driver to pick you up or drop you of at a certain time, expect him to be late an hour or two.

Dire Dawa attractions and sightseeing

  • 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.

Dire Dawa city tours

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 "Chat". CAUTION:- "Chat" is illegal in the US and EU. Do not try to take it to Europe or the USA.

Learn

Work

Dire Dawa souvenirs & shopping

Souvenirs, electronics, and clothes.

Dire Dawa Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Budget

Basic accommodations are in abundance.

Mid-range

  • Ras Hotel, close to downtown in Dire-Dawa.

Splurge

Dire Dawa nightlife, bars, clubs & pubs

Water, Harar beer, Tella(traditional beer).

Dire Dawa cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels & lodging

Budget

Mid-range

Splurge

Contact

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.

Cope

Get out

This page was last edited at 18:26, on 10 September 2008 by Wikitravel user Morph. Based on work by David and Stacy Hall and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.

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