Useful country information

Train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti...

Addis Ababa - Diré Dawa - Djibouti train service...

Although train service between Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa (formerly spelt Dire Daoua) has been suspended for several years, a train still links Dire Dawa and Djibouti three times a week.  Buses link Addis Abeba with Diré Dawa several times daily, journey time 10½ hours, no known website.

The train has 1st, 2nd & 3rd class.  3rd class means travelling in a goods wagon.  1st class seats have padding, 2nd class seats are hard.

Dire Dawa to Djibouti is 311km.  Dire Dawa to Addis Abeba is 473km.  The train runs on metre-gauge tracks.

* There is currently no passenger service between Addis Abeba & Dire Dawa.  There have been no trains for several years, the line is cut in several places around Addis.  In theory there is a plan to restore the railway, but work on this is slow and may indeed have come to a standstill.

Fares & tickets...

Dire Dawa to Djibouti:  1st Class 93 Bir (£4.60), 2nd Class 76 Bir (£3.80), 3rd Class 63 Bir (£3.10).

Djibouti to Dire Dawa: 1st Class 4900 DJF (£18.50), 2nd Class 3600 DJF, 3rd Class 2800 DJF

Children under 4 free, 4 but under 10 half price.  Remember to get a visa for Djibouti in Addis Ababa, as Djibouti visas cannot be issued at the frontier or in Diré Daoua.

Yes, it is a lot more expensive in one direction than the other!  Buy tickets at the station, but check the day before as departures can be cancelled or deferred, perhaps by up to 24 hours.

Travellers' reports...

Traveller Richard Gennis reports (2009):  "If you are thinking of travelling in on this train you should check at the station the day before, because when I was there the Dire Dawa departure on Saturday was cancelled and it ran on Sunday departing at 10.30am!  I was also told that there’s about one derailment every week!  You will notice that its a lot more expensive to travel from Djibouti to Dire Dawa!  3rd class means travelling in a goods wagon, but the only real difference between 1st and 2nd Class is the small padding to the seats.  The trains are busy so expect to stay in your seat for many hours or loose it! 

Security wise, there are armed guards on the train as it departs Dire Dawa but these are mainly to stop young children jumping on the train and trying to escape to Djibouti. I saw many young children mainly boys jump on, and then the train would stop while the armed guards beat them until they got off.  Sometimes the guards would chase some of the lads on the ground to make sure they got there quite brutal beating before the train would continue!  The normal things would apply if travelling on the train in this part of the world as thieves would be around and valuables should be well out of site as you do attract a lot of attention. 

There are two border points, one departing Ethiopia and the other one at Guelile 600 metres further down the line to enter Djibouti.  You can expect to be at these two stops for around three hours in total as everyone has to get off the train at both stops and move across to a small building and wait in the compound where you will wait until called by the border police, and then re-board the train.  You can get food and drink at the Ethiopian border check point although pretty basic, hot coffee, tea, cold drinks, biscuits and of course the local food Injera.

Most of the guide books have the info’ on the train completely wrong, most of them still saying the train departs Addis Ababa but this has not happened for over two years. They also say the train does not operate at night because of the chances of attacks, but this is also wrong as the train I caught on Sunday 20-12-2009 departed at 10.30am (over a day late) and arrived Djibouti at 05.30am the next. I spent over 18 hours in the cab!!!!

Train travel in Ethiopia & Djibouti...  Photos courtesy of Richard Gennis

Djibouti station.  Photo courtesy of Richard Gennis		Dire Dawa station. Photo courtesy of Richard Gennis

Find hotels in Ethiopia & Djibouti...

Travel insurance & health card...

Get travel insurance, it's essential...

Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover cancellation and loss of cash (up to a limit) and belongings.  An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year (I have an annual policy myself).  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.

In the UK, try Columbus Direct or use Confused.com to compare prices & policies from many different insurers.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65 (no age limit), see www.JustTravelCover.com.

        If you're resident in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct's other websites.

    If you're resident in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

Get a spare credit card, designed for foreign travel with no currency exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...

It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.  If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're not left stranded if your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself.  In addition, some credit cards are significantly better for overseas travel than others.  Martin Lewis's www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use an ATM abroad.  Taking this advice can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your normal high-street bank credit card!

You can avoid ATM charges and expensive exchange rates with a Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or their multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card, see www.caxtonfx.com for info.

Get an international SIM card...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're not careful you can return home to find some huge bills waiting for you.  I've known people run up a £1,000 bill in data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a simple trip to Europe.  However, if you buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company such as www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid.  It cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide, and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries.  It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills when you get home.  It also works for laptop or PDA data access.  A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't expire if it's not between trips, unlike some others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone number' for life.