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Autonomous city in eastern Ethiopia
Photo: A. Davey from Where I Live Now: Pacific Northwest, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia is the second-largest city in Ethiopia.
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A small palace built for former Emperor Haile Selassie. There have been talks to turn this into a museum, but no plans have materialized yet.
Renown throughout the region for its baclava and other baked goods. If you want the baclava, come early (before 9am ideally), because they sell out fast.
Close to downtown in Dire-Dawa is quite pricey for the offerings.
Probably the finest hotel in Dire Dawa, and extremely reasonable prices for what you get. Balconies. Free WiFi. Room service.
By car
Dire Dawa is connected to Addis Ababa and the historical city of Harar by road, but fly or take train from Addis to get in to Dire Dawa.
By bus
There are three bus companies operating services linking Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The cheapest, least comfortable and slowest is the government local bus service. This can take 12-15 hours.
By train
A railway line was inaugurated between Djibouti and Addis Abeba in 2018, reducing the journey time from days to a few hours. There is one passenger train every second day in each direction.
The blue and white minibuses are in abundance in Dire Dawa, as are the small blue bajaji (auto rickshaws). These are easily hail-able from the street.
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Dire Dawa · International · DIR
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