We arrived in Venice, Italy, and now we’re heading to… It’s called the North Korea of Africa. We're in Eritrea, a country where time seems to have stopped. Today, we arrived in the city of Asmara.
It feels like time has frozen here, as though you’ve stepped into 1930s Italy, but we're in Africa. Here, you’ll find the Fiat Tagliero gas station, Cinema Impero, and Teatro Asmara. There’s even Cinema Roma.
Spaghetti and pizza are everywhere. Macchiato… Now we will drink macchiato. …gelato, and Fiat cars.
This isn’t Italy. A whole country lives without internet. Its people are kind and welcoming.
But how do they live like this? Asmara's youth. On the Red Sea.
Nestled between the shores of the Red Sea and the African highlands lies a country filled with history, conflicts, and hidden beauty. But the question remains, why is Eritrea one of the most isolated countries in the world? Oh, Asmara.
Little Rome, guys! This is the city of Asmara. Welcome!
You feel like the country is nearly empty, as if its people have left and no one is left here. This is my hotel. So we started from this hotel.
For the first time in ages, I woke up without immediately reaching for my phone, just waiting for breakfast. People here actually talk to each other. No one is glued to their phones.
There is no internet in this country, except in a few designated places, much like in Cuba. Our morning habit of checking our phones first thing has harmed us. There is no internet so people communicate with each other.
To reach my tour guide who will take me on a tour, the hotel staff called him because there is no internet to text him. This is the only way to contact the tour guide. Now, we’ll begin our city tour of the capital, Asmara.
This building is called Fiat Tagliero, Asmara’s most iconic landmark. Let’s start with this gas station. It was built in 1938 during the Italian colonial period.
It was designed in the Art Deco style, futuristic architecture. You’ll see many buildings in Asmara with similar designs. It was built to have two giant wings, like this.
The architect boldly claimed they would never collapse, even though many doubted him. Imagine if they fell now, just out of bad luck! He also designed the cockpit-like front… inspired by an airplane’s cockpit from which the captain flies the plane.
But what does “Art Deco” mean? These are buildings designed in the Art Deco style, futuristic architecture, a popular design trend that emerged in France around World War I and was popular between the 1920s and 1939. This decorative art trend became prominent before World War II and the Art Deco style was considered a false image of society and was replaced by modern architecture.
Next, we visited Cinema Roma. Now we are going to drink coffee at Cinema Roma, that's its name. We'll drink macchiato.
Built in 1937. There is a café inside. This is what you’ll see as you enter.
The culture of macchiato and espresso is dominant here. The best place ever. There’s no iced coffee here, only espresso and macchiato.
No one is holding their phone here because there is no internet, so everyone is just chatting. Hello. They say 50% of the population is Muslim, and 50% is Christian.
As a result, you’ll find street signs written in three languages. Now, it’s time for macchiato. In the name of God.
I want to live here. I don't want internet, I don't want social media, I want to disconnect from the outside world, talk to people, and drink macchiato. Let’s try it.
In the name of God. This is the cinema, look at this! If you want to see how life used to be, come to Eritrea.
After that, we visited Cinema Impero. "Cinema Impero" means "Empire Cinema," named after Italy declared its empire following its invasion of Ethiopia. It was built in 1937.
The Italians were very happy that they built an empire. -Hello. -Hello.
This building was once the headquarters of the Fascist Party. Today, it’s the Ministry of Education. This building is called Teatro Asmara and it's the Asmara Opera House.
It was built during the Italian colonial era in 1918, and is now part of the world heritage. Let's see it from the inside. They turn everything into cafés here, they love coffee so much!
This is the opera house from the inside. This is Asmara’s City Hall. This building was also built in 1930.
They built it originally to be the governor's palace and now it's an administrative building, just a normal building. This is Asmara’s post office. It was built in 1916.
Look at this building! You can buy these stamps and send them anywhere in the world. Stamps from Eritrea.
Italian food is everywhere here. Italian pizza is everywhere in this city. They all are eating pizza and spaghetti.
If you think you're in Italy, you're not. Okay. This is their daily food.
-Eritrea. -Eritrea. They say it tastes better here than in Italy.
Imagine. It tastes original. In the name of God.
-It tastes good. -Yes it does. -Pizza?
-Pizza. Eritrea. This is life in Eritrea.
You drink macchiato all day, then have pizza in the evening. All right. I made this pizza.
Eritrean pizza. This is the pizza we’re going to eat. In the name of God.
This is the best pizza in the world. -The most famous ice cream. -Yeah.
Espresso, pizza, and gelato, they’ve got it all. Gelato, right next to the mosque. "Italiano.
" They might lack internet, but they don’t lack delicious food. In the name of God. Gelato.
Wow! So delicious! Tiramisu and pistachio combined.
Eritrea. They even have classic Italian cars. We’re taking a tour of Asmara.
Italian cars are everywhere. This Italian Fiat car was made in 1953. Asmara.
Look, this is the Fiat Tagliero gas station, and this is a Fiat car. Now, apart from the buildings, food and cars, how do people live without the internet and what is the story of Eritrea? A cafe like this where I am for example, does not have the internet, you cannot ask for the Wi-Fi password here.
So where is the internet available here? Internet café. The only way to connect to the internet in this country is to go to an internet café, similar to Cuba.
There is a place where you can connect to the internet and pay per hour. People sit here and connect to the internet. Internet!
I miss it. Most social media sites are blocked, so you need a VPN to access them. How do people watch movies when the internet is weak?
There are stores like this where you can download movies. These are the available movies, you choose the one you want, and they’ll download it on your phone. It’s a tricky situation, not everyone may like it, but it’s good to have the option to leave.
I couldn’t live here, but I could visit this country. Macchiato. We’ve visited nearly every coffee shop.
Macchiato after macchiato, followed by yet another macchiato. The day isn’t over yet. Hello.
Hello. Everything in this city is unique. They have a lot of these kind of shops here.
There's one song only on this. That's how it was in the old days. They say coming here feels like stepping back in time.
We visited a bowling alley built during the Italian colonial era. They play pool with their hands. Bowling here is manual.
Every pin that falls there is manually reset by someone. It's a young boy who puts them back in their places. This is the Khulafa al-Rashidun Mosque, located in the center of Asmara.
It’s the largest mosque in Asmara, the capital. It was built during the Italian colonial period, as the Italians constructed mosques and churches for the people, since they're 50% Christian and 50% Muslim. This city is called Piccola Roma, which means Little Rome.
This is another mosque. It was built in 1916. We’re going in to pray now.
This country was built after enduring wars until it gained independence. In the middle of the city, you’ll find this tank graveyard. They collected all the destroyed tanks and equipment in the country and put them here.
They were destroyed during the war. So, what’s the story of Eritrea? This is a country that has witnessed ancient civilizations, Italian colonization, and decades-long liberation wars until it reached what it is today.
This is the story of a country with a diverse culture and rich history. The story began when an Italian company bought a piece of land in the port of Assab in 1869 and then turned it into an Italian colony in 1882 because of the strategic importance of the Suez Canal and to have control over the Red Sea. They remained in control of Eritrea for 60 years until England and its allies invaded Eritrea in 1941 during World War II and defeated Italy and the Axis powers.
After that, it remained under the trusteeship of the United Nations until it joined Ethiopia in 1952. The war between them and Ethiopia lasted for about 30 years, a long and grueling struggle of resistance and determination for freedom. Finally, in 1991, the Eritreans were able to expel the Ethiopians and regain control of their country, becoming recognized as a new state.
Two years after this event in 1993, Eritrea separated and became an independent state. Its president took over and has remained so until now and has completely closed the country to everyone. Every citizen is required to serve in the military for an indefinite period.
Traveling abroad requires a special permit that you present at the airport before departure. Hello. -Hello.
-How are you? I'm fine. -Leave the internet and come here.
-Forget the internet and come here. This is the traditional dress in Eritrea. They wear it at weddings.
The Eritrean people are very kind and friendly and it is very easy to talk to anyone on the street and become friends. The residents of the city have a nice habit, every house is responsible for its garbage. Every house must take the garbage out to the garbage truck in the morning.
You have to wake up at 6:30 am every day to take the garbage from your house and put it in the garbage truck yourself. Imagine! All the people of the city gather around the garbage truck.
This is the metal market in Asmara. Look at these skills here in the metal market in the center of Asmara. The sign says "Ministry of Tourism, Information Center," from here we take permits to leave the city.
We took a permit to leave the city. We must visit another city, a coastal city on the Red Sea, to understand the importance of this country’s location. Now we will go to a city on the Red Sea called Mitsiwa.
This city is full of wonders. We’ll pass through mountains, descend into the lowlands, and arrive at a very hot city by the Red Sea. We are at the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Let's go. Saudi Arabia and Yemen are close, we are just on the other side. This city was occupied by Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Italians, and later Ethiopia then it became independent.
All for its port. It has been a historical port for centuries. They say it has the first mosque in the world outside the Arabian Peninsula.
Look, this is the old city of Mitsiwa. This is what the buildings look like here. It's a completely destroyed city.
But it has ancient monuments classified as world heritage. Hello. The number of tourists is almost zero because the country is so closed off.
Its visa is one of the hardest to obtain in the world. Mitsiwa was first stop for the Companions who migrated to Abyssinia. They landed here and built the first mosque in Africa in 615 AD, and it was named after them, "Mosque of the Companions.
" This mosque was even built facing Al-Aqsa Mosque, facing Jerusalem directly. It dates back to the 7th century. These bricks are the original ones, standing here since the 7th century.
In Eritrea, there are no ATMs, no credit card usage, and the internet is limited. About a million people have left the country out of a population of 3. 5 million.
So, what does the future hold for Eritrea and its people? This is the end of our journey in Eritrea. We traveled to Italy and Eritrea to film this video.
Give me 10 seconds before the video ends. There’s the largest sound library in the world on Epidemic Sound. Every sound used in this video comes from this library.
It includes over 200,000 sound effects and 50,000 music tracks. If you like a song and want something similar, just copy the song’s link from Spotify and paste it into Epidemic Sound, and it’ll find you similar music. The latest feature allows you to edit, trim, extend, repeat, and select specific parts of any track, all with simple steps.
Check out the link in the description box. The next video will be from an Arab country you all love. Goodbye!
Translated by: Abdalrahman Khalil Mostafa.
