Travel Guide Hol Hol

This large village, located 52 km southwest of the capital, whose name amuses English speakers, was born during the construction of a spectacular viaduct built here (not without difficulty) to allow the Djibouti-Addis Ababa train to cross a narrow valley. This 136 m long and 29 m high bridge is the main structure of the line and was inaugurated in 1900. The work of Gustave Eiffel, it is also called the "Eiffel Bridge". The workers who worked for a long time on its construction built a camp, which became a station and then a small village. The locals sometimes call the place Biidlei, which means "the oryx trail". Hol Hol has also become today, after Ali Addeh, an important base of the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which shelters nearly 7,000 Ethiopian, Somali and Eritrean refugees. After having hosted for a long time a company of the 13th half-brigade of the Foreign Legion, the seventh city of the country now hosts the El-Hadj Hassan Gouled military school. From Hol Hol, one can reach the small plateau of Digri (Dikri), a few kilometers by track to the west. This small area could be nicknamed the "Tout Petit Bara", for its resemblance to the Grand (or Petit) Bara. The N5 road leaves Hol Hol to the north and Djibouti-City 50 km away. Allowing to contemplate beautiful mineral landscapes, it follows the railway on several portions, passes away from the small station of Goubeto, before skirting that of Chabelleï. A few kilometers further on, we reach Balbala and then the capital.