Zeila

The town of Zeila (also known as Seylac) calls brave travelers to the far-flung north-western corner of the country, where the dry and arid land of sand dunes and rocky hills crashes into the pearly blue of the Aden Gulf, continuing the Somaliland (as opposed to Somalia) motif. Zeila was once encircled by a massive wall with five gates: Bab al Sahil and Bab al-jadd on the north, and Bab al Sahil and Bab al-jadd on the south. On the east, Bab Abdulqadir, on the west, Bab al-Sahil, and on the south, Bab Ashurbura.

The site, which is barely a stone's throw from the Djiboutian border, can only be reached by 4X4. Visitors are greeted with a mosaic of destroyed Muslim palaces and weathered colonial façade that stand like dust-caked spectres of a bygone past once inside. Others will travel to the stunning Zeila Coast, where rusty shipwrecks litter the shore and the Indian Ocean's rolling waves spray whitewash into the air.

Location: Awdal, Somaliland