Hargesia is the capital of Somaliland, which has claimed its
own independence, though not yet internationally recognized as a country on its
own. It is relatively peaceful compared to the rest of Somalia though in recent
times some of their areas to the east have seen some conflict over some contested
territories. I took the commercial flight to Hargesia from Mogadishu. Turns out
the domestic airport is even more chaotic than the international one and while
initially deciding to brave it myself, I ended up calling up my Man Friday – Shinoo
the porter very soon, eating humble pie yet again about my ability to negotiate
chaos.
The arrival at Hargesia was uneventful except for the part
where they stamped my passport with their own visa and collected a fee for it! One
must give it up for self determination confidence of Somaliland! I mean now I have
a visa stamp of a country that basically does not exist! The hotel I realized is
basically a hostpost of expats in Somaliland and it was nice to be in a big
room with large windows after being cooped up in the Mog prison. I spent the first
day on online calls near the window for as long as I could.
The next few days were spent in a whirlwind of programme
visits, meetings and partner discussions and basically being able to move
around without security escorts, stop and have coffee at cafes, eat out at restaurants,
even walk around freely during the day! This was so different from Mog that I
really enjoyed myself learning about the work there. While a lot were meetings
with Government there, there was one visit to a safehouse for survivors of
Gender based violence and an interaction with young people part of our
upskilling programme, that truly left a mark on the dedication and efforts of
our partners to make a difference in this very challenging context.
The highlight perhaps for me was a visit to the old city and
main market where my colleagues took me and honestly it felt so nice to be able
to have this immersive experience. Hargesia is famous for its gold market and I
decided to pay a visit there as well. It was super interesting to see how gold
was being sold by the street side like fruits or vegetables! I got myself a
tiny something as a good luck omen which the locals believe buying gold is.
And just like that it was time to head back. My return was
on the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flight. Little did I realise when I
boarded the tiny aircraft at Hargesia, what an adventure this will be. Our first
refuelling stop was in a small town by the Red Sea and the airport is literally
by the red sea- it was stunning and I ran to take some pictures before boarding
back again. The next phase of the journey to Puntland capital of Garowe saw
some turbulence and trust you me that little plane did not feel safe! Everyone
heaved a sigh of relief when we finally touched ground. Here we had to change
aircrafts and by now I was dehydrated and hungry and really tired. However the
flight had another stop before it finally reached Mog. A real hop on hop off,
air tour of Somalia! Next time, I am flying commercial for sure.
Pictures below : 1) the UNHAS flight experience 2) the red sea stop over 2) meeting with some young people from our social entrepreneurship work, in Somaliland the abaya and head scarf is a must 4) In a meeting with Minister of Justice of Somaliland (yep they are serious about this country thing) 5) the Hargesia gold market
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