3 Seasons in 2 hours!

The road Asmara to Massawa winds its way down through the mountains from Asmara, roughly paralleling the old rail way line. The drive is quite spectacular in places. In the Asmara area the mountains have been terraced and are often covered with cactus introduced into Eritrea by the Italians.

Nefasit is a small town about half an hour by car from Asmara.  On the top of mountain Bizen overlooking Nefasit is 700 years old monastery of Debre Bizen. It is possible for men to visit the monastery, but the only way to make the 400- meters, 7 km climb to the top is on foot…

Getting to Massawa from Asmara takes about two- three hours. As the tourist posters proclaim, one really does go through three seasons in two hours. The fall coolness of Asmara, the spring like sometimes such plateau around Ghinda and finally the summer heat of the Red Sea desert which is warm and humid compared to the ideal climate of Asmara. The road is in good conduction but shall take as much time to go down as it does to come back up.