5 Dayz in Ogadenia....
DAY ONE:
Jigjiga
Is the largest purely Somali inhabited city is situated on the foot of Mt.Karamarda,Jigjiga has a unique history, in a sense that it was the place where the first Somali Youth League (SYL) took root in 1948, .Jigjiga is an important commercial centre .
DAT TWO:
DirirDhaba
Perhaps the best way to see and enjoy some of the breathtaking attractive landscapes is taking the non-express passenger train that leaves every day to dirrir dhaba ,is a Somali name which simply means "a place of fighting".
As it moves slowly through zigzagging valleys and flatlands, your eyes would catch herds of camels and cattle grazing along the sides of the railways. This is an area where the traditional culture of Somali nomads still remains intact. As the century old passenger-train approaches into the Aware , a town that lies approximately between Addis Abeba and DireDhaba for one hour stop, it is welcomed by an army of nomadic children waving their hands to the incoming travellers.
DAY THREE:
Harar
Nxt stop is the ancient historical city of Harar, it has rich agricultural hinterland in which almost variety of fruits, vegetables, coffee and other grains are grown both for local consumption and export, Harar province is also the bread basket of the Ogaden.
Harar is a splendid city in the real sense of the word: the natural beauty of its surrounding evergreen hills from which the endless streams and rivers that carry fertile soils into the lowland farming areas have their sources; its tall eucalyptus trees that cast long shadows over its labyrinthine streets; the white and blue doomed mosques rising high from the old part of the city; the high and wide gates that once defended the city from the invading enemies and the magnificent historical castles that gave Harar its sobriquet as the "Switzerland" of east Africa. The best way to visit the ancient walled party of the city that has five entrance gates symbolizing the five pillars of Islam is, by taking a horse drawn couch.
DAY 4:
Qabridhahara
Driving up the meandering road from the torrid lowlands to the cool Qabridhahara highlands, passes between mountain ranges divided by narrow valleys, punctuated with wonderful charming scenes. What a beautiful panoramic scenes: - sheer walls of naked rock, lofty slopes wooded to the summit with acacia, eucalyptus, and various types of cactus. The mountainsides are terraced for the cultivation of coffee or other crops. Emerging from the precipitous mountains to the broad level plateau, the road then proceeds through richly cultivated fields of maize, sorghum, and various other cereals.
Day 5:
Dhagaxbuur
Finally one´s eyes catches the beautiful evergreen scenery decorated with systematically planned terraces on which coffee and khat plants are grown. It reminds me that equally famous of Sheikh-Pass in Somaliland.The charming young Somali girls selling fresh camel milk in leather containers on both sides of the railway and Somali nomads men displaying traditional handcrafts gives more colourful attraction to the relatively small market of this rural town. Men with pair of white togas and young men in their traditional dresses are frantically busy beckoning at travellers´ beck and call to sell locally made handcrafts and other souvenirs at a hand down price.
