Mogadishu, Somalia

[nowonmai]

I stayed at Bashir's Peace Hotel. Its the priciest, most secure and well run place there. Good opportunity to schmooze since you are stuck in the hotel from about 4:30pm to 7am and there is no bar.

But it is 1000-1500 a day and the rooms are crap.

Shitholes are expensive

cuz the flies usually have expense accounts.

[Mikethehack]

White people pay more.

[travel2012]

Hey Swain, when was the time you were staying Bashir"s peace Hotel? you don't need to tell the exact date, but what I mean is this year or last year or which year? which neighborhood or area, and what is the currency (1000 -1500)? It is a local or it's USD?

I stayed at Bashir's Peace Hotel. Its the priciest, most secure and well run place there. Good opportunity to schmooze since you are stuck in the hotel from about 4:30pm to 7am and there is no bar.

But it is 1000-1500 a day and the rooms are crap.

[Ultra Swain]

Hey Swain, when was the time you were staying Bashir"s peace Hotel? you don't need to tell the exact date, but what I mean is this year or last year or which year? which neighborhood or area, and what is the currency (1000 -1500)? It is a local or it's USD?

I stayed at Bashir's Peace Hotel. Its the priciest, most secure and well run place there. Good opportunity to schmooze since you are stuck in the hotel from about 4:30pm to 7am and there is no bar.

But it is 1000-1500 a day and the rooms are crap.

I was there a few weeks ago, and the price is dollars. You can try and negotiate a better rate with Bashir, but you would have to make security arrangements with whoever you are going with or meeting. But don't expect to go exploring Mog much. It's mostly get out get your shots, interviews, meetings done the haul ass back to the car then the compound. Longest stops anyplace in the open are just a few minutes. If you dont have a reason to go or a shit ton of cash then don't expect to see or do too much.

[gnaruki]

You get what you put in. No free lunches. I was told about this author guy that owns the joint through a friend after talking about some of my solo travel adventures in very tame areas. That was four years ago. I'm just out of T-ball and moving up a little ways at a time. I don't have the $$$$$ to blow and go big time adventure now unless I want to go broke.

Do you have experience in very hostile environments? Have you ever camped out in a wrecked structure? Do you know how to say pleas and thank you?

Those might sound stupid and insulting to you but you need to understand your own risk and rewards before going off on some hare-brained scheme. Even if it is a personal sabbatical.

[Travelbug]

Somalia: Turkish Airlines begins flights to Mogadishu

The first major commercial airline in more than 20 years has landed at Mogadishu airport in war-torn Somalia.

Turkish Airlines says it is the start of a regular service to the Somali capital, the first by an international carrier from outside East Africa.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bosdag was on board the flight, which was welcomed by the Somali president.

The twice-weekly flights should make travel easier for Somali businessmen and members of the large diaspora.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than two decades and has been riven by factional fighting.

Islamist militants were pushed out of the capital by Africa Union and government forces last August - although they have continued to stage attacks in the city.

Singing and dancing

The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in Mogadishu says security was tight and the main roads leading to the airport were blocked off ahead of the flight.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We are quite happy to see that normalcy is returning”
End Quote Mogadishu resident•Turkey - Somalia aid pioneers?

The plane was greeted by a large Somali government delegation, including President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, as well as UN officials and ambassadors.

"Today is a big day for Somalia," Somali government spokesperson, Abdisalam Mohamud, said.

The flight follows a visit to Mogadishu last year by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who said he wanted to challenge the idea that the Somali capital was a no-go area.

The start of the service was announced by Turkey's foreign minister during last month's international conference on Somalia in London hosted by the UK government.

World leaders have pledged to boost support for measures to fight piracy, terrorism and political stability in Somalia by substantially increasing international funding for the African Union military operation in the country and working more closely together.

Our reporter says a group of women were singing and dancing as the plane touched down on the tarmac.

"It is a very positive step, and one of many steps that we are now seeing in the last six or so months. We are quite happy to see that normalcy is returning," a Mogadishu resident told the BBC.

Turkish Airlines intends to operate a twice-weekly passenger service from Istanbul via Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

"We will connect the Somali people to the rest of the world. We hope that in the near future Somalia will become a stable place, a very normal country," an official from Turkish Airlines, Faruk Sazar, said after landing.

Somali Foreign Minister Abdullahi Haji told the BBC's Somali Service he felt the service would improve links between the international community and Somalia.

"It will also make it easier for the Somali diaspora to come home. It will bring us closer together," he said.

"I believe it will also encourage peace and development."

Several private East African airlines, including Kenya-based African Express, now fly into Somalia from neighbouring countries - but for many years Mogadishu's international airport was out of action, controlled by rival militia groups.

Al-Shabab, the Islamist group which joined al-Qaeda last month, is under attack on several fronts, with troops from Kenya and Ethiopia also gaining ground recently.

But the group still controls much of southern and central Somalia - and says it will wage a guerrilla war against the government.

[Travelbug]

http://twitpic.com/8tayfw

@TurkishAirlines "Mogadishu. EUR 199. All inclusive. Return trip."

[Ultra Swain]

all inclusive?

[rickshaw92]

all inclusive?

All the quat u can chu!

[Sri Lanky]

Well,I did have a hare-brained scheme of going to Mog and trying to meet with Mr. Parsons,that dude from Manitoba who runs the firefighting dept. out of the airport,but 1500$ a day for venturing outside is a bit steep.....unless I'm happy with sleeping on the tarmac at the airport for a few days. "All you can eat" quat would definitely help.

[coldharvest]

you sound like a commedian but since I wanna go to Mogadishu I'm not prepering to laugh. I need what you know in Mogadishu right now.

fuck off

[crotalus01]

Dont you think it would be more amusing to give him the info he asked for and see if he does anything with it?
How ya been Coldharvest?

[vagabond]

Dont you think it would be more amusing to give him the info he asked for and see if he does anything with it?

Isn't it a bit of a waste of time? There's more than enough on Mogadishu on the board as well as the other perpetual destination, the Darien Gap, for those that want to do something.

[coldharvest]

Dont you think it would be more amusing to give him the info he asked for and see if he does anything with it?
How ya been Coldharvest?

I've been better
nice to see you posting again

[nowonmai]

Dont you think it would be more amusing to give him the info he asked for and see if he does anything with it?
How ya been Coldharvest?

I've been better
nice to see you posting again

What's up? Moral or physical?