the African city listed in Unesco that you would have never thought of visiting

F or all its image as an immensely vast mbad of savannahs filled with wild life, vast ruthless deserts, great lakes and giant rivers winding through flood-plains, Africa is a continent important and fascinating cities. Cape Town, Cairo, Johannesburg, Marrakech, Fez, Nairobi, Port Elizabeth and Windhoek are all urban enclaves that could catch your eye. As indeed Tunis, if you want to return to a country that has gone through a turbulent period for a good part of this decade.

But Asmara? There, perhaps, is a name that will make you scratch your head – and ask a fair question, not so much about whether you should go where the hell that is.

The answer is that Asmara is the capital of Eritrea, a piece of country that adorns the Horn of Africa. It is stuck between Ethiopia and Djibouti to the south, and Sudan to the west and north. It is also bounded by its coastline on the Red Sea – facing Yemen and Saudi Arabia across the waters of the Bab el Mandeb Strait.

Now that we have established geography, we can go back to the question of whether you should go there. And the answer to that question – even if the mixture of neighboring states mentioned above could make you suck your teeth and whisper that the only way to find yourself in any of them is if you were lost – is, Earlier this week, a "yes" more cautious than it has been for a while.

The neighboring problem of Eritrea has not been, as you may suppose, a war-torn Yemen, but its big brother Ethiopia. Both states have a long and intertwined history that goes back at least as far as their timeshare in the Kingdom of Aksum – the dominant force that ruled this part of Northeast Africa between about 100 and 1000AD. Yet, their relationship has been turbulent since the middle of the last century. Eritrea emerged from the Second World War and the colonial yoke of "Italian Eritrea" (which had existed since 1890), obtaining a provisional status through the UN's 1952 UN decision. to govern itself with a little Ethiopian military help. his "friend" to the south to abandon the arrangement in 1962, annex what he had once protected and spark an independence war that will last until 1991.

Barely a friendly environment for tourism, one might think. And you would be right, but for the news that the cold front between states, which has lasted to a large extent since the declaration of sovereign Eritrea in 1993, has warmed in recent days. On Sunday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed landed in Asmara to meet with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The men greeted each other and shook hands at the first face-to-face meeting of the nation's leaders in two decades.

On the basis of thawing, Ethiopia recently announced that it would accept the UN decision, taken in 2002, on the precise delineation of the border between the two countries – and would renounce claiming contested areas along the border. In return, there will be a restoration of diplomatic ties – which were broken by another war between the two between 1998 and 2000 – and a new chance of stability along its long northern flank.

The meeting is a direct result of the accession to power of Mr. Abiy. Elected only three months ago, he is considered a reformer ready to set aside years of tension for the good of all. But this could also be a tourist badet for Eritrea, a country that few overseas visitors see – even if, for the fearless at least, there are many things to offer them.

The chief among them is Asmara himself. Last July, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, elevated to the Cultural Hall of Fame because, in the words of Unesco, it is "an excellent example of the world. modern town planning of the early twentieth century ". its application in an African context. "This, of course, refers to Italian Eritrea, and a colonial period that saw the construction of buildings that might also have found grace in Rome.Some, certainly, have this fascist and imposing connotation that recalls the 39, Mussolini's era, but others are remarkably striking slabs of avant-garde ingenuity.While among them is the Fiat Tagliero building, a fantasy designed as a service station in 1938 by the l. engineer and art deco enthusiast Giuseppe Pettazzi, but who looks more like a plane with wide wings in flight than a simple combination of forecourt and pumps Another is the Cinema Impero – built a year earlier in 1937 , but still working today in all its Art Deco splendor at the red facade.

And there are attractions beyond the capital. There is Adulis, an ancient archaeological site that existed in the Roman era. Mbadawa is an intriguing port on the Red Sea, accessible from the capital on a train line – a legacy of Italian domination – that meanders romantic across the highlands, lowlands and places in between. And from Mbadawa, you board a boat to the Dahlak Archipelago – 126 islands (though two main ones) in the Red Sea where pearl fishing is still a crucial part of the island. economy.

Tour operators are slowly starting to appreciate the Eritrean potential as a destination – a flicker on the horizon for experienced explorers of Africa rather than first-timers on the continent, but a place to admire everything from even. Responsible Travel (01273 823 700, responsibletravel.com), for example, sells a 10-day group tour of the country that coincides with Asmara, Adulis and Mbadawa – from £ 2,490 per person (excluding flights, two other departures planned for this year). And Steppes Travel (01285 601 756, steppestravel.com) will make a stopover in the country in the fall by a 12-day getaway – aptly named, "Inside Africa & # 39; s Forgotten Kingdom", and which will kick off October 18 – he describes it as a "pioneer group tour". Prices start at £ 3,545 per head, including flights with Egyptair – although it's soon possible to fly to Asmara with Ethiopian Airlines. This carrier – part of the Star Alliance, and a more and more crucial conduit between airports in Africa and Europe – has just announced that in the light of the sudden political thaw it is will resume its services between the Eritrean capital and its own base, Addis Ababa, next week, with the first plane taking off on 17 July.

There are, of course, several caveats to the idea of ​​Eritrea as a destination. Although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) considers that much of the country is safe, he adds that "telephone networks are often unreliable and can only work for a limited time outside of Asmara. and big cities ". constraints on what the British embbady can do to help British nationals in Eritrea. "He also stresses that" all foreign nationals must apply for a travel permit in advance to leave Asmara ", and that "There are checkpoints outside of Asmara where your travel permit will be checked." Steppes Travel picks up the theme, informing future attendees of its October tour that it's "out of control." "unquestionably difficult, and with its tourism industry barely rated as nascent, Eritrea is a place only suited for those who are happy to tolerate the frustrations of exploring a young country, still firmly struggling with the ## 147 ## 39; authoritarianism. "This last warning refers to Afwerki who, as far as his country is now closer to Ethiopia, is the idea of ​​no one from a democratic leader. Independence, he oversaw a one – party state where dissent has been overturned for 25 years, and has been criticized for human rights violations by the UN and Amnesty International

. however, even these asterisks may be worth tolerating if you want to see a country that has long been off the beaten track, closer to home.We are still far from the vision of five star resorts on the Red Sea coast in Eritrea, but perhaps, in the next few years, perhaps, at least gently, on the traveling radar.