I recently read through the bulk of the Lonely Planet travel guide for Ethiopia and Eritrea. The many fun anecdotes made it an interesting read.
- Want to drive to Kenya? You can, but be sure to take at least two spare tires for you 4WD. The road is really bad.
- Many cheap hotels in some parts of the country double as brothels so bring earplugs if you want to live cheap.
- If you want to travel any further east of Jijiga toward Somalia, an armed guard is compulsory and you should find a convey to be part of. Experienced travelers only.
And finally, my favorite, a description of how to (not) get into Sudan:
Unless you’re using the services of a registered Sudanese tour company, then obtaining a tourist visa at the Sudan Embassy is a mission impossible if ever there was one. Prepare for a lot of sweat, tears, headaches, and then a big, fat ‘No’. All applications are sent to Khartoum for approval, so the process of being told you can’t have one can take over a month to complete. However, don’t go changing those plans just yet as there is one way in. Transit visas, allowing up to a fortnight in Sudan, are issued fairly easily. For this you require a letter of introduction from your own embassy, an onward visa for Egypt, a couple of photos and, for most nationalities, $100 cash. [Congratulations!] Americans, you get to pay $200. It normally takes two days to issue.
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