Between Awash and Harer (Harrar), Ethiopia

The road leading east from Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa winds through a fairly dry landscape with scattered farms and small towns and villages like Awash and Asbe Tafari towards the mainly Muslim town of Harer (or Harrar).

Life is quite tough out here and you see young boys herding camels and women and children working in the fields. But as everywhere, people are friendly; they belong to various tribal groups as can be easily observed on the market in the Muslim quarter of Harer where the women wear different costumes according to their tribal affiliations.

Harer, or Harrar in eastern Ethiopia, is a city of around 100 000 inhabitants and lies at about 1830 m above sea level in a fertile coffee-growing district. Cotton, fruit, and grains are also important here. The city is surrounded by a high wall and contains the palace of the governor, an Abyssinian church, and a number of mosques. Harer was founded by Arabs in the 7th century and in the 16th century was the capital of Adal, an independent Muslim state. The city was conquered by Ethiopia in 1887.

	Bolting camels	Mosque, Awash	Awash village	Friendly man
	In Asbe Tafari	Farm woman	Mosque, Harer	Market and mosque
	Muslim market	Market Women	Narrow street, Harer	View, Harer

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