Have you been back home since you left last?

[snoop12]

Somali Renaissance

how did you travel into and out of Beled Xaawo and was it somewhat comfortable traveling there?

[BaasAbuur]

I discovered about these people about two days ago from my brother and I thought he was actually joking when he told me. Waraa waa runtaa, Somalida waa dad kala jabsan soo maba oga what the hell is going on. I thought I read somewhere on the forum where some members were acussing each other of being members of these groups. That is scary shit man. Soon waxaa imaan doono kuwo dhihi doono waa i dharka la tuuro...

SR, Four people with guns that are not police officers is enough to make me cautious while there wallahi. I am not surprised there wasn't a lot of construction there in 2007, the region is still recovering from years of instability and occupation by a foreign power and their mandated stooges.

[Somali Renaissance]

Somali Renaissance

how did you travel into and out of Beled Xaawo and was it somewhat comfortable traveling there?

I landed in Nairobi at the time because the war was still going on in Xamar. I took a bus from Easleigh Nairabi to Mandera. My abti lives here so I stayed with him for a bit to get some rest. I than get myself dressed in the traditional macawis, shatti, and dacas to look like a local I walked across the border from Mandera to B/Xawo without any problems, and a taxi drove me from the border to my family's home. Cross back into Mandera you just have to pay the border police something like 50 shillings and they will let you go through(even though the border is "officially" closed). The locals have to be careful doing this though because even after the border guards let you go through there are some undercovers on the other side who will arrest you since you don't have permission entering the country. I had a visa from the Kenya High Commision in Ottawa so I wasn't too worried about being snatched by them. As far traveling in the city, I used a taxi and walked to a lot of the other places. The taxi services there costs about 100ksh(about 1.25usd) per ride no matter where in the city you want to go. You can pay around 1000ksh(about 12usd) to go to the surrounding tuulos.

[snoop12]

i am so that Gedo somalias most peaceful region has turned into a small scale Xamar we need to fix up fast before it escalates into something impossible to solve.