Harar

Introduction

Harar (sometimes spelled Harrar or Harer) is an ancient city in eastern Ethiopia with a population of about 75,000. For centuries, Harar has been a major commercial centre, linked by trade routes with the rest of Ethiopia, the entire Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and, through its ports, the outside world.

Harar Jugol, the old walled city, is a in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Harar is also one of the most holy cities for Sunni Muslims with some mosques built in the 10. century.

Sights and Activities

Walk around the old town with several mosques including the Jamia Mosque, the market and the sloughter house/area.
The house of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud is now a museum.

Getting There

By Plane

The closest airport is Dire Dawa international airport.

By Train

The closest train station (Addis Abeba to Djibouti) is in Dire Dawa.

By Bus

There is a good bus, Selam (no online booking, even not a timetable), from Addis Abeba, with the new train line maybe also one to Dire Dawa, bus station is near the Asma'adin Gate, outside the old town.

Getting Around

By Car

The blue and white minibuses and rental vehicles are available.

By Foot

The old town is small enough for walking.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is slow and is better early in the morning or middle of the night. There are numerous internet cafes in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Nazret, Bahir Dar, Gonder, Awasa and other cities; however their speeds are often dial-up at best, and some operate illegally. In Addis Ababa, connection speeds are more than adequate for performing tasks such as checking e-mail most of the time.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Ethiopa's international telephone code is 251.

For all travellers, having a mobile phone is a must. It is cheap and easily available. There are only a few stores renting SIM cards including ArifMobile. However, purchasing a SIM is inexpensive, and can be done anywhere that sells phones. The best spot is to buy it at a Ethio Telecom shop to not get ripped of. A SIM card costs 15 birr and the system requires the seller to take a photo of you and your passport information to activate your SIM. You'll have to sign an agreement that you will not commit any crimes with your phone. All local stores will have calling cards you can purchase to call internationally. For domestic calls, phones are topped up with a prepaid card, available in denominations of 2000, 500, 100, 50 and 25 birr and smaller.

Post

The Ethiopian postal service is one of the most efficient postal services in Africa.

External Links