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https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesteadman/16036162196/
The Morsbags should stand out as they are made of fabric, all the local ones are made of woven plastic. As there aren’t any large shops or supermarkets, the flimsy plastic bags dished out here by the billion don’t exist.
Gauge of 950mm is the standard Italian narrow gauge, Eritrea was an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941 and the whole country still has a strong Italian feel to it even now. Unfortunately, the country is just plain broke and they don’t have money for anything.
In the countryside, most people were living in shanty towns.
I expect if you go back in 20 years time, the locos will still be there just where they were parked at the end of our trip just slowly rotting away.
The Eritrean Railway is something of a throwback, rebuilt after the independence struggle, finally reaching Asmara in 2003. Unfortunately, the locos are now in a very bad state of repair. The line has also suffered several blockages and washouts. Our trip may well be the last ever steam trains to run. More pics are on Flickr – see mikesteadman’s photostream.
