Hargeisa

Fly from Addis Ababa or Dubai to a country that officially does not exist. Visa on arrival or from the Somaliland mission in Addis.

A city hotel with a walled courtyard — the Oriental is the storied traveler haunt.

A peaceful, functioning unrecognized republic: camel markets, money-changers with brick-sized stacks of shillings, and Laas Geel's 5,000-year-old rock paintings an hour away.

Change twenty dollars into a shopping bag of cash at the money market, then arrange the Laas Geel permit and armed escort — mandatory, cheap, and mostly ceremonial.

November to March

Iska warran — how are you, in Somali.

Warriors by Gerald Hanley — Somalia observed with rare love and clarity.

Berbera's crumbling Ottoman-and-British port on the Gulf of Aden, three hours away.