Massawa is a small town, very basic and very damaged. Buildings are pockmarked with bullet and shell holes; hardly any buildings are undamaged. The stores have only basic supplies, and street life is the only source of entertainment. But small groups of people making coffee on traditional free standing stoves in the street outside their homes looked like contented and fulfilled people. And the coffee is wonderful. We left Eritrea with 25 kilos of coffee, which apart from being delicious reminds us of Eritrea every time we drink it.

We were not the only users of the track and had to stop often to clear the way.

From Massawa we visited Asmara, the capital, a 3-hour drive up through the mountains. The altitude of Asmara makes the climate cool and sunny, a refreshing reprieve from the blistering heat of the coastal areas.

Eritrea was once Italian territory and Asmara still has an Italian ambiance. The main street has coffee bars and pizza restaurants, whereas the shops stock Italian wine and proscuitto. There was also an excellent fresh produce market.

Until the 1970s Asmara was connected to Massawa by a railway but during the war for independence the line was destroyed. In the last few years restoration work has been started on the line and the locomotives. Workers who had dispersed when the line closed migrated back to the workshops to offer their services. Magnificent Italian-built steam engines dating back to the 1930s are now gleaming proudly in the sheds, and commercial operations could start again in the next couple of years.

	The engineers were as excited about the trip as we were.

So we were very privileged to be offered an inaugural ride on a small (6-person capacity) diesel locomotive from Asmara down the mountain to a town halfway to Massawa.

We wound our way around the mountainside, shooing camels, goats and gibbons off the track. The views were magnificent, the engineers enthusiastic, and the people in the villages through which we passed were enthralled. This was the first time our little train had been down the track and, other than the railway workers, we were the line's first passengers.

This is the type of experience that cruising has given us...it is why we are out here and why we are doing it, and we wouldn't swap it for anything.

NOTES

Clearing in procedures are straightforward and, quite atypically for this area, free.

If you stay within the vicinity of Massawa harbour you do not need a visa. If you wish to travel around you need a visitor's visa, which costs US$50. When clearing out the yacht has to be taken alongside the customs dock or anchored off. Once the pre-departure inspection has been complete you have to leave. (Unlike many countries you cannot clear out the day before you leave, or even several hours before you leave).

Fuel is difficult to organise, some yachts managed it but others didn't.

Stay away from anchorages on the border between Eritrea and Sudan, this is a sensitive area.