Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000. Eritrea hosted a UN peacekeeping operation that monitored a 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on the border with Ethiopia. Eritrea's denial of fuel to the mission caused the UN to withdraw the mission and terminate its mandate 31 July 2008. An international commission, organized to resolve the border dispute, posted its findings in 2002. However, both parties have been unable to reach agreement on implementing the decision. On 30 November 2007, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission remotely demarcated the border by coordinates and dissolved itself, leaving Ethiopia still occupying several tracts of disputed territory, including the town of Badme. Eritrea accepted the EEBC's "virtual demarcation" decision and called on Ethiopia to remove its troops from the TSZ which it states is Eritrean territory. Ethiopia has not accepted the virtual demarcation decision.

Asmara (Asmera)-capital

Asmara's main attraction is its colonial Italian architecture. The palm-lined main street: Independence Avenue, colloquially referred to as "Kombishtato" (a creol of the neighbourhood's original name: Campo di Citta), is full of cafés, bars, shops and old cinemas, it makes for a nice mile long stroll between the north end of this avenue where the "half" stadium is (you'll know when you see half a bleacher) and the south end facing the Nyala Hotel, the city's tallest building. The city's colorful and bustling marketplace lies behind the cathedral on the road to its right (as seen when standing in front of the cathedral's main entrance on Independence Avenue). It's a great place to learn how to haggle and buy some souvenirs.

At the café on the top floor of the Nyala Hotel, one has a great view of the city and a nice well chilled beer. The beer is exceptionally good in Asmara, aptly called "Asmara Beer". Behind the hotel on a more quiet street is the National Museum, with an impressive collection from the land's multimillenial history of civilization. On the outskirts of the city, on the Massawa road, lies the Biet Ghiorghis Zoo and Park area, famous for its scenery on the eastern escarpment. The Zoo in itself is a rather sad place. Further down the road one reaches Bar Durfo, a bar and café perched on a cliff overlooking the dramatic precipice of the Asmara - Massawa highway. You will need a car or taxi to get beyond the last stop of the No. 1 bus beyond Biet Ghiorghis to Bar Durfo.

Another place to see the dramatic highland landscape on the eastern escarpment as well as the traditional Eritrean lifestyle of the rural highlands is the village of Tselot (which means 'prayer' and is also famous for being the President's village). It lies about 20 km outside the city center and is served by one of the red city buses. The landscape essentially consists of an eerily quiet semi-arid plain in a valley, an extension of the highland plateau, interrupted by the dramatic chasm of the eastern ridge which the village center straddles. The dry season from December to April is distinguished by redbrown, rusty, beige or black stone and rubble-colors, resembling photos from Mars. The vegetation consists largely of shrubbery, eucalyptus, aloes, cacti and the odd explosively colorful specs of bougainville, jacaranda or other adorning plants in most villages and towns of Eritrea. The rainy season between May and September (hopefully) brings torrents of rain and needed nourishment to the land, which transforms itself completely from lunar/marsian-esque to verdant, emerald and grassy in the post-rain months of August to October. The rural highlanders lifestyle resembles biblical times. Stone houses, small plots, ancient temples (both christian and muslim), people farming and herding with traditional means using little technology, transporting their goods (as well as themselves) on mule- and camelback.

Near the village, within walking distance is the Martyrs National Park, inaugurated in 2000. It is a mountaineous forest and wildife preserve at the ridge of the highland plateau. The views and scenery are spectacular, the horizon features chasms, gorges and mountaintops bathed by a sea of clouds attesting to the fact that one is very high up literally "above the clouds". Tselot can be reached by one of the city buses from a section of the marketplace called "Meda Eritrea". You should leave as early as possible because there are only a couple of buses per day so you have to make sure you have a way to get back.

Massawa (Batsi or Mitsiwa)

Massawa's oldtown sits on an island (Batsi) that it shares with the country's busiest deep-sea port (not very busy), a free trade area and as the name indicates; an oldtown consisting of medieval Ottoman style coral buildings separated by narrow alleys as well as an ancient mosque. The island is connected to the mainland via another island called Tualud, both separated by a causeway. On Tualud you will find most "downtown" hotels like the Dahlak, Red Sea, Central, Corallo etc. Tualud also hosts St. Mary's catholic church and the famous tank monument.

The Dahlak hotel offers boat services to the Green Island

A natural park in Massawa Bay within sight of the city and less than a 20 minute ride away. The Green island has a pristine beach, mangroves and ruins of an ancient mosque and an abandoned pearlfishing settlement. Bring plenty of water, refreshments and sunscreen as there is literally nothing on the island. It is a natural park. Collect all your waste and bring it back with you when leaving the Green Island!!

Beaches

Beaches To get to the closest (mainland) beach however, you'd have to head north of downtown Massawa along the mainland coast to Gurgusum Beach and Hotel of the same name, with the adjacent Hamassien hotel to its north. The GB Hotel has all amenities like beach chair with parasol, showers, cafe, restaurant and even air-conditioned bedrooms if you'd like to spend the night. The beach isn't much to write home about though. To get to the nicest beaches you have to head out to the farther Dahlak islands, on a chartered boat (expensive) or take the bus alt. drive a rental car south of Massawa for a couple of hours to the Gel'Alo resort in the volcanic Danakil region on the way to Assab.

Nakfa

If Nakfa is not beautiful, what is beauty? Perched atop 1,780 metres above the sea level, this little African village is rich in history and scenic beauty. Nakfa is beautiful because of the undulating nature of the Sahel mountain range in this area. You don’t see a single mountain but hundreds and hundreds of small hills rolling to all the four sides of your observation point. Nakfa is one of the few villages in Africa where shifting cultivation and nomadic herding is still in practice. The tribal population shifts from mountain to mountain in search of better pastures.

Many village communities in India build their homes as near to each other as possible but this is not the case in Nakfa. Each tribal house is built on a separate hillock. The house is only one room made of stones and the roof is made up of corrugated sheets these days. There is a small enclosure outside every house which is used as a bathhouse. All chores of the home are done outside. In the evening all the cattle are simply put outside the hut without employing ropes, fences or identity tags. Water is not plenty but there are some tanks and streams where the animals crowd to quench their thirst. They all dry up in summer and the big camel population here depends upon cactus stalks for their water requirements. It is real fun to see the camel eating the cactus without harming itself with the very sharp thorn.

The people of Nakfa live in harmony with nature. They eat what they cultivate and drink what their cattle provides them. Coco Cola comes only once a month to the top of the hill and then there is real celebration around the truck. Everybody insists on finishing the whole load within the next few hours. You are reminded of the commercials of Coco Cola on the television. But then Eritrea is one country where the fanciful and the real meet each other. When you travel the spiral path down the plateau of Asmara, you can see the long Coco Cola truck climbing up the hairpin bends, just like their magazine ads.

Massawa road itself is an exotic experience where you ‘pass through three different climates’. You start from Asmara with three layers of jackets and remove two of them in Nefasit and Ginda and finally walk around in your T-shirt when you finally reach the port city of Massawa on the red sea. The climate of Massawa rises up to 45 degrees whereas in Nakfa it tends to go below zero degrees at least in the month of January.