Somaliland: So while central and south Somalia and the neighbouring Puntland fell into the chaos of piracy, clan-warfare and Islamic militancy, Somaliland embarked on a steady course of state-building. Remarkably, it overcame clan differences, building a relatively stable democracy, an education system and, against all odds, its own currency. Women participate in a vibrant civil society, though gender relations have a long way to go. It also, as we discovered, had a small tourism industry. However, there is always a vague sense of unease when a tour comes with a compulsory armed guard. A few days earlier the hotel manager had attempted to offer some reassurance. ’Don’t worry,’ he called after us as we were led away by a man in army fatigues carrying an assault rifle, ‘Somaliland is safe.’ Its tourism sector revolves around a series of prehistoric cave paintings at Las Geel, 60 kilometers from Hargeisa. For hundreds of years, the caves were feared by nomads who thought they were haunted by devils.
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