Almost all volunteers are in Asmara this weekend, there’s a ride halfway down the escarpment in a steam train tomorrow. The track was originally built by the Italians and then fell into a state of disrepair during the struggles. It was renovated a few years ago, reportedly with the help of some of the elderly Eritrean engineers who worked on the original line. It usually runs a diesel engine down to Massawa on the coast but a tour group has chartered the steam engine and as there’s only ten of them there’s room for thirty of us so they’re going to be outnumbered, I don’t know if they’ve been told that they’ll be sharing the train with a load of scruffy (slightly) loud VSO vols but they’re soon going to find out. There’s a picnic and a coffee ceremony as well so should be a good day.

The cake culture here is not good for me, my daily chocolate doughnut and cappuchino seems to hampering the weight loss we were told that volunteers experienced in Eritrea. I think it must only apply to the ones in the villages, not the Asmarinos.

Fat C