Over 15 years of factional warfare have rendered much of Somalia functionally lawless. The current legitimate government often controls only a small portion of Somalia. The situation is very volatile. It is common practice to hire armed escorts for traveling in many areas of the country. Mogadishu is the capital and is teeming with the militias and improvised fighting vehicles of various factions. It is unlikely that Mogadishu will be safe to visit anytime soon. If you are going there, you are most likely a journalist or brave souled aid worker since there are no normal attractions left in the city. You may want to check out the markets in Mogadishu and elsewhere. In the absence of government, many Somalis have proven to be quite resourceful and entrepreneurial.
If you do visit Somalia for pleasure, you will find some impressive scenery and will perhaps be the only tourist around. If there is a place that can be called untouched by tourism, Somalia is probably it.. The region of Somaliland (an unrecognized nation) in the north is reasonably safe to visit though, and you can see the cave paintings of Laas Geel there. Near the capital of Hargeisa, these rock paintings may be the most important of its type in Africa and consist of hundreds of paintings dating back as early as 9000 BC.
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