Ethiopia

 by Red

51 – Land’s End (Into the back of beyond)

Sat 16th Jan, National Hotel, Logiya
The bus from Dessie went east towards to Asaita, but we would be stopping halfway in Semera (41 birr). Semera is the administrative capital of the Afar region, and we are headed there to pick up the tourist permission and compulsory guide to travel the lakes. For the purpose of this and the next couple of entries, the bus route through the towns is in the following order: Dessie –> Bati —> Mille –> Logiya –> Semera —> Asaita. From Asaita, a little local bus goes to Afambo village.

We started off in Dessie, made good progress on good sealed roads, hitting Bati for breakfast. Bypassed Mille, which was on a T-junction joining the road from the south and going northwards The terrain started to change dramatically as we moved northeastwards. From the cold highlands of Dessie, we traversed into the sweltering Afar region.Trees gave way to sparse bushes and rocky expanses of wasteland made more obvious by the complete absence of a water source. And in the midst of all this are the Afar people. Their domed huts dotted the side of the roads. One hut here, a few there. How do they survive in this heat? Why do they live here? Is there a settlement nearby? Where do they get their water supply? It is truly mind boggling, and i think i will not last a day out here. More on the Afar later.

When we hit Logiya, a bunch of passengers got off. Next stop was Semera, a mere 8km away from Logiya. The bus nearly skipped the town, not stopping till i yelled Wora Jaale! Which means stop! We were the only ones to get off, and we should have seen this as a warning of things to come. For Semera, the regional capital, with its stone buildings, is a ghost town. There were buildings, barracks aplenty, but there were no shops in sight, and hardly any activity going on. And it was hot, oh, it was HOT. We got off and found the one hotel in town, a seedy 5 room place by the side of the main road (oh look, a made-in-the-USA condom supplied on the dresser).Placed our things (man, this place is hot) and looked for the tourist office.

It is difficult to find anymore English speaking locals up here, so we were in trouble with our non-existent Amharic. Fortunately, there was a french speaking security guard who tried to help us. Unfortunately, he couldn’t, for it was a Saturday and all the offices were closed. Two options, skip the lakes and go up to Djibouti directly tomorrow, or stay the weekend and come back here on Monday. We took up option 2, and decided to make our way back to Logiya, 8km down south, where there was some semblance of village life. Semera is a dead town, the kind you imagine in those old westerns, with balls of straw rolling on the sandy ground. And it is hot.

We had to flag a passing truck to take us back into Logiya. Now this was a proper little town. We took up a coupld of rooms at the National Hotel (25 birr each) and went out for lunch. Lunch was in a restaurant with a sheep on the restaurant floor (we had tibs for 20 birr). Yes a live sheep, nonchalantly going about its own business. It could be their pet, or potentially dinner, i really don’t know.

There was no power supply in the hotel, and the barely there light emanating from the light bulb in my room was powered by a generator that ran from dusk till 11pm. There were communal toilets, and the shower was a little straw shack placed over some rocks. We had to get buckets and collect water from the trough to bathe with. Sigh. We had Sunday as well in this town, so we might as well get comfortable. Oh and somewhere on the journey from Addis to here, i lost my headlamp. I replaced it with a chunky made-in-china torch (25 birr).

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 by Red

50 – Back to “Pit-stop” Dessie

Fri 15th  Jan, Some Amharic-named Hotel, Dessie

I remembered why i really hated the journey from Dessie to Addis. This time round, going the other direction, i experienced the horrible roads again. The early morning bus terminal crowd and us not having tickets meant we paid 130 birr each for tickets. Which is the same amount from Lalibela to Dessie to Addis! Since there was no other choice (remember the tickets were “sold out” yesterday), we had to go along with the extortionate price.

Reached Dessie after like 12 hours, the bus driver was pretty reckless, rounding the narrow corners and overtaking needlessly. We got a place near the bus station, 70 birr for a double bedroom. Had a quick dinner, I have already wandered around the town and there isn’t anything of interest. Tomorrow we head towards Samera, in the Afar region, close to the Djibouti border to the east.

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 by Red

49 – A day at the musuem(s)

Thu 14th  Jan, Itegue Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa
So i decided on going clockwise and stayed another day. That way i can visit the salt lakes along the way (since the Danakil Depression was expensive with 4WD hires and all that) and also save on costs in Djibouti, which is an expensive place to go.

In the late morning, took a walk down to the bus station and get the Dessie-bound tickets. But they were sold out. One ticket guy tells me to turn up tomorrow morning and he’ll sort it out. Not sure how he is going to do that, but it will probably cost more.

Next, went down to the museums around town, namely the National Museum and the Ethnological Museum. The first museum (10 birr entry) was of interest because of Lucy, our apeman ancestor first found in Ethiopia. There was also Selam, a 3 year old ape from around the same period, discovered in 2003.

The second musuem was in the middle of the Addis Ababa Univesity grounds, in their ethnological studies building. The museum (20 birr entry) was divided into 3 sections, Chilhood, Adulthood, and Death & Beyond.  The exhibits were interesting enough to keep me occupied for a couple of hours.

Dinner was a tuna pizza, another welcome change from the daily dose of injeera. Tonight would probably be the last one though. Tomorrow I go back on the road, together with Chris the Englishman i met yesterday at the embassy.

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 by Red

48 – Hooray for successful visa applications!

Wed 13th Jan, Itegue Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa
I’m typing this as i go along in the Internet cafe. Slept in…. ahhhh…it is lovely to be able to sleep in and not wake up at 4am for buses. Then made my way to the long distance bus station to buy a ticket to Dire Dawa. The big Merkato market was there. So i walked around the market, holding on tightly to my pouch and valuables. The tout back at the Piazza was here! He started following me around, and i got really pissed. I get freaked out by people trailing me, so i turned around, and blasted him in the face: “Stop following me, i dont know what you want but leave me alone. If you dont Ill call the police. Get lost!” Which apparently worked. The hassling has always been there around the country, but here at the Piazza area especially, they are relentless and persistent.
I bought my kettle (a hefty 250 birr) but i figured in the long run it would be worth it. Along the market i also bought a bowl and a fork. I am fully self sufficient now. Later on at the supermarkets i stocked up on instant noodles, hibiscus tea and eggs.
I tore my shirt today when it got caught on a railing. So that’s three time i’ve sewn my pants, once my jacket and now i need to sew back my shirt. I think i’ll be back home with rags…and locally bought clothes.
In the afternoon i made my way to the embassies area again. My Djibouti visa got approved with no problems. I am elated. Two visas in two days. Then i met Chris, an English guy at the embassy. He also is doing the Djibouti Somaliland run, albeit in the other direction. I am now considering whether to travel together with him. I was walking back to the hotel, and we were talking about our travel routes (he did the same from Egypt) and i realised he was on the Egypt-Sudan boat the week before mine. We talked about how we meet people on the boat, and keep meeting them over and over again. I talked about Andy and Z who I met first at the ferry and later in Khartoum. He actually knew them, having traveled the Simien Mountains together!
We were still talking when suddenly the ultimate coincidence of coincidences happened. We saw both Andy and Z on the same uphill road headed towards the same hotel. All 4 of us were staying at the same place! Amazing right? Right? Haahaha.
Dinner together just now ( i had lovely pasta) and now im at the internet place. So all’s good. Now i just need to see if i want to go clockwise or anti-clockwise into Djibouti and Somaliland. I’ll join them to watch African Nations Cup football at the hotel lobby later. It has been a good day =)

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 by Red

47 – What’s up Addis?

Tue 12th Jan, Itegue Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa
Woke up early morning looking for a bank for me to change money. I had 30 birr on me (3 SGD) and wouldn’t last too long in Addis without cash. The Ethiopian Commercial Bank changes US dollars. I later realised Dashen Bank was the bank to use, as they were the only bank that accepted VISA and Mastercard, and i even withdrew cash (for the first time since Egypt) through their ATM.
Next made my way to Bole Road, a long stretch of main road with various embassies found on the many side streets. Took one of the minivans bound there (2.6 birr) and made my way to the Somaliland representation. The visa application was over in a jiffy. It was a lot easier than expected. I filled up a form, attached a photo, paid 40 USD and got it in less than 10 minutes. I was elated.
I walked over to the Djibouti embassy next. Similarly i filled up a form, added my photo, paid 40 USD but this time had to wait till tomorrow to collect the visa. I did notice the secretary already had a stack of visa applications and passports on her desk. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, no worries, i had time in Addis.
I decided to celebrate with lunch at a fancy restaurant. That set me back around 25 birr. However, i was an idiot and ordered traditional firfir, instead of some western dishes. So i had to munch through injeera coated with butter. I know better now and will avoid local food, at least while i am in Addis.
Addis is really cosmopolitan. Besides the range of food, the supermarkets along Bole Road (which i presume is a rather upmarket stretch) sell western favourites such as pasta, HP sauce, various cheeses and other imports. I decided to walk back north instead of taking the minibus to check out the city. I visited at least 4 supermarkets, checking out each one in the hopes of getting my own electric kettle. Found many 2 litre ones, which were too bulky (cheapest was 350 birr) to stuff into my bag. I’ll try in the market tomorrow, if i can’t find one i might just buy the 2 litre one. In the end, i just bought every single English language newspaper i could find (Fortune, 3 birr. Sub-Saharan news, 4 birr, Capital, 4 birr)
Continuing on the cosmopolitan bit…the general populace about town are well dressed, with fancy hair and accessories, going their way about town, sipping their cup of macchiatos. It is certainly different from the countryside in the north where i’ve been roaming the past two weeks. Fended off more would-be tricksters (Hi, im a student (a really old one!) from Addis Ababa University. Would you like to see a coffee ceremony?) and decided i don’t really want to see any sights or museums today. Instead i will go and watch a movie at the nearby Cinema Ethiopia. The selection of shows are pretty old stuff i think and the only show was King’s Ransom (no i havent heard of it either). The price was 4 birr (thats 40 cents in SGD, hah, beat that!) I was strip searched at the entrance, and my camera was put under lock The interior of the cinema was much like how old cinemas look like, the seats pretty spartan. And you had these cinema ushers going around with buns
on trays. The peculiar thing was that halfway through the show, there was a break, the lights went on and the cinema ushers did their thing with their trays. I’m not sure whether the break was intentional or there was something wrong with the reel.
Had some internet time next, yes it feels great to not be doing anything, instead of rushing to see some sight or taking a 12 hour bus ride. The connections were much faster here than elsewhere and cheaper at 12 birr/hr.
For dinner i had a fish burger and 7 up (grand total of 26 birr) at a restaurant. I figured in Ethiopia there are no street food (besides snacks such as the abovementioned samosas, barley, sugar cane, kolo etc.). Instead there are cafes (for pastries), bars (for drinks) and restaurants for food. Any combination of these would make the establishment.
Lastly, i am in africa in the midst of the Afican Nations Cup 2010. This meant that all the satelite Tvs are tuned in to the live matches where everyone is watching. Today was Egypt Nigeria, though i did not catch the game.

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 by Red

46 – Helloooo everyone, yeah i feel fine! (That and i am high on qat)

Mon 11th Jan, Itegue Taitu Hotel, Addis Ababa
It was another long journey. At 5am, a few hundred people were freezing in the cold (phooooo, see the cold air i can blow out of my mouth!) waiting for the bus station gates to open. If there was a stampede i wasn’t sure i’d survive.
By this second day, i had made contact with the passengers still in the bus, heading to Addis. I’m the asian faranji in the back corner of the bus, who’s not from China as the thought. The Ethiopians have their own mannerisms (like those Egyptians who have their hisses, and the Sudanese who have their tsktsks).. The Ethiopians exaggerate to show they are surprised, like sucking in your breath with your eyes and mouth open, making only a mild almost silent sound. I’ve seen this many times now.
Along the way, i was offered qat by the bus conductor, who had a whole bagload. I took a few stalks and started munching, providing a spectacle for the rest of the passengers in the rear. They were amused this faranji was munching his qat. The way to chew the qat is to take in some leaves, put it at the rear of the teeth and coat it with saliva, chewing and sucking on the bitter leaves. Now, as i mentioned some posts back, qat (or chat) is a mildly intoxicating stimulant. Its banned in neighbouring Eritrea, and is exported to Djibouti and Somalia. I began munching on my leaves. When the bus conductor started going on about how “I feel free! Free!” then i realised maybe it’s not such a good idea. The other passengers told me through hand actions, pointing at the head and then at the stomach to not eat anymore. I stopped at 2 stalks, and i think i went to sleep.
On reaching Addis, i got off and made my way to the Piazza area, where i hope the hotels were concentrated. The LP maps had hotels sprawed all over the place and i wasn’t sure where the best place to base myself was. I had decided on Piazza simply because it was within walking distance. However this entails passing through the Merkata, Addis’ large market, the largest in Ethiopia. Plenty of pickpockets, confidence men and the like abound in the area. I would explore the market later, but not now with my large backpack. Arming myself with a samosa (its the same like ours, but without curry and with beans as filling) from a street vendor, i tried to look as though i knew where i was going. Taking bites out of my samosa, i nonchanlantly asked for directions here and there. It was 5pm and i better find a place to stay before dark.
Reached the Piazza area, which i realised is near the city centre. All the better, a centralised location to base myself. Trailed by a guy who won’t leave me alone (i just want to be your friend, i want to improve my english..), i asked around 3 hotels before settling on the 1st, the other two were full. Singles with bathrooms went up to 200birr in the Taitu hotel’s newer main building. I picked a skanky room with common toilet (i got my own shower though, but no hot water) in the older rear building for 94 birr. Rooms in Addis were (relatively) expensive, i could get better rooms back in the northern region. But this place is comfortable enough, with my prerequisite, a power point, so i am happy. And for the first time in two weeks, i have showered and am clean. Don’t get me wrong, i do shower and stuff over the last couple weeks, it’s just that as soon as i step out of my room, i get covered in dust again.
Tomorrow will be visa hunting day again. I hope it will not be like in khartoum, where i spent days waiting for my visa application, only for it not to be approved. In the meantime, i will spend the rest of the night in the loo. I realise what the lady in the bus meant when she pointed at the qat i ate and then at her stomach. I didn’t know it was a laxative too!

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 by Red

45 – Pit stop, Dessie

Sun 10th Jan, Royal Pension, Dessie
I woke up at 4am in the morning and made the challenging 20 minute walk across town in the dark towards the bus station. There was some big hoohah at the station, delaying set-off by an hour more (normally its only 1 hr delay, this time its 2 hrs). Apparently there were too many people wanting to take the two buses out of Lalibela bound for Addis. Priority was to be given to those going to Addis, or maybe Dessie, or Woldia. For those going to nearer destinations, such as Gashena, the buses are unwilling to take them. (for the record, the route goes like this: Lalibela –> Gashena –> Woldia –> Dessie (overnight here) –> Addis Ababa).
What this means is that going to Bahir Dar, via Gashena (and changing buses here) may not be such a good idea after all. One option is to pay the Addis fare (130 birr, 2 days) and alighting at Gashena. I decided then to bypass Bahir Dar. There were a lot of shouting, pushing outside the bus, before the bus sped off.
The bus ride itself was long, uneventful and painfully slow (oh look, that’s the hundredth minivan/bus/4wd that just overtook us!) Staple snacks eaten by the locals were kolo (barley), sugar cane (the whole stalk cut into 30cm long bars) and a lemon (they smell them!)
Arrived at Dessie, your typical bigger town with its usual hassles. (i take down your bag from the top of the bus? 10 birr! Or. Hey mister, give me money, i am hungry!). The main drag is a slope and going up and down for dinner and to find a room was tiring. Got a place at the Royal Pension (50 birr), a simple room with less than stellar common showers (i’ll pass, i’m cleaner than the toilet, it needs to shower more than i do). The bloke tried to charge me 80 birr, but took my offer of 50 birr after i walked off. Tomorrow morning we continue on to Addis.

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 by Red

44 – Market Day & More Rock Hewn Churches

Sat 9th Jan, Alef Paradise Hotel, Lalibela
Started off the day by checking out the rest of the churches. The most impressive has to be St George’s, standing away from the other clusters and built into the rock in the shape of a giant cross.
On the way to the grounds, noticed there was a Sat morning 5km Lalibela run sponsored by World Vision and UNICEF. Everyone was in a red or green t-shirt. I would have joined the run if I had known about it yesterday. I think my fitness level is very low, evident from all the huffing and puffing while trekking up the mountains. I wonder what route they take, since the town is built on the slopes, an uphill 5km would be vastly different from a downhill 5km run.
I spent all day walking around the town, from the hotel across town to the bus station, to higher ground where the churches are, to the saturday market. Yet i am unable to fathom the layout of the town. I pride myself on being able to orientate with the help of a map, which in this case is the LP printout. But this town has me stumped. Don’t get me wrong, i am able to go from point A to point B easily.. But I have no idea how I get there. The reason is there are multiple parallel roads built along the contours of the mountains. And they criss cross each other. There are also two sets, on either side of the ridgeline where the churches are. All too confusing.
The other interesting thing to mention was market day. Everyone was at the market. I had a field day taking photos of the sellers and their wares. There was honey for tej, a honey wine, salt, coffee, beans, barley, tef the grain for injeera, onions, spices, dried chilli, sorghum. For livestock they were trading goats, donkeys, chicken. Clothes, gabis, daily necessities and the like. It was a small market, yet everything is compacted in that area.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be up at 4am to go to the bus station. I haven’t decided whether to go to Bahir Dar or Addis (130birr, two days overnighting at Dessie). There is no direct bus to Bahir Dar, so i will have to take a bus down to Gashena (30 birr) if i want to go that way. Then join the Woldia-Bahir Dar bus, Dessie-Bahir Dar bus or another one of those.

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 by Red

43 – Lalibela’s treasures

Fri 8th Jan, Alef Paradise Hotel, Lalibela
At 5am in the morning, we made our way to the bus station. The bus didn’t set off till about 7 though (60 birr, 6 hours). It was good road east till Gashema where we stopped for lunch. Then it was a further 2 hours or so northwards on OK road. The trip itself was not too exciting: Spectacular mountainside scenery, bus packed to double its capacity, we picking up a driver with broken ribs from a minivan that had just flipped over, and locals who’s features were decidedly different from up north.
We reached Lalibela around 1.30pm. It is a small town at 2600m set on the countours of a mountain. As such, getting from the bus station to the hotel on the other side of town involved an uphill climb. But we stayed at the Alef Paradise, which so far has to be the nicest place I’ve stayed in so far (singles 120, twins 170 birr). Since it was post holiday and everyone had left, we brought the price down to 150 birr. We asked, yesterday the price was 600 birr and room reservations were done up to 3 months in advance. Now this was a hotel! With hot water, a bathtub even and a patio to sun dry my clothes.
Went out to explore the famed churches. The ticket office was hard to find if you did not follow the main road in. Tickets were a hefty 300 birr, and good for 4 days. Access to the museum would be a further 50 birr, and an official guide quoted me 25 USD and an unofficial one quoted 10 USD! I decided to cover myself the two groups of churches. Today I would do the southeastern cluster (4 churches). Tomorrow i have a full day to do the northwestern cluster (6 churches) and the single standalone Church of St George.
The churches are a real architectural marvel to look at. Remnants of the old Zagwe kingdom, they are cut straight out of the rock. They are standalone too, which makes its special and different from Jordan’s Petra, who’s structures are carved into the rock, as everyone tells me. Each one is remarkably well preserved and located just metres away from each other. Getting from one church to another by myself is quite an adventure, as it involved going through caves opening, tunnels and climbing over rocks. From Bet Gabrile-Rufel to Bet Emmanuel, there was a narrow tunnel that was maybe 30 to 50 metres long in pitch darkness that led to under the church. You opened a trapdoor and voila, you appear on the grounds of the second church.
Tomorrow I will do the other cluster. Kang in the meantime decides to leave tonight for Addis, a two day journey.. For me, i will leave the day after, but headed towards Bahir Dar, further west. Since Kang had arrived earlier, he had a week’s headstart to cover Bahir Dar and the other destinations i will do for the next few days. We will probably cross paths again, possibly in Addis.

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 by Red

42 – Town Hopping During Christmas 2002

Thu 7th Jan, “Hotel”, Woldia
At the time of writing, I am in the small town of Woldia, along the Mekele-Addis Road, at the junction towards Lalibela. The room is 20 birr, cheapest i’ve seen so far.
Today is Christmas 2002, or Leddet in Ethiopia, based on their calendar. The plan was to travel from Mekele to Woldia. However, the said public holiday made things difficult. First, let me explain the way the public transport system works. Buses leave before dawn, often when the bus station opens at 5 or 5.30am. There is normally only 1 maybe 2 buses daily to one destination. Then you have the minivans, which are more comfortable than the buses. These cost slightly more, depending on whether you rent the entire minivan (contract minivans) or get a seat in a van bound for your destination (shared minivans). The latter is much cheaper and will leave only when full.
So as the tale begins on this particular public holiday, you have two tourists waking up late, making their way to the bus station at 10am, only to realise that there are no minibuses to Woldia. This was mainly due to lack of demand, since the minivans wait till they are full, yet no one travels on a public holiday. In the end, the two tourists met an Australian volunteer worker who was going halfway down to Maychew (pronounced Mai-Cho). This was a good option (35 birr) though we got charged 40 birr. The van charged a variable rate and since “it was a public holiday” plus there is demand (6 faranjis in the bus in total), all the passengers were charged 40 birr. Those who were unwilling to fork out the extra 5 birr simply got off, like one local who had waited for an hour for the van to fill.
It was a scenic paved road through the mountains this time, and the journey took 2.5 hours. Reached Maychew and stopped for cheap lunch (13 birr) at a local hotel. Again there were no more buses anywhere, so it seemed that the two stranded tourists would have to spend a night in Maychew. But after some persistent hanging around at the bus station (“yeah maybe there will be a bus, or maybe there won’t”), the two stranded tourists picked up a minivan bound for Alamata, another small town south of Maychew (16 birr, 1+ hr). This journey wound up and down over a couple of mountains before reaching Alamata.
From Alamata, it happened that at the moment of entering the bus station, there was a minivan leaving to Woldia (20 birr, 1.5 hr). This ride was interesting since it was on flat ground, along which there were numerous villages. The passenger turnover was very high, and not much consideration was given to maximum capacities of minivans. Luckily the two tourists sat up front with the driver, so they had a comfortable journey throughout.
So there the tale ends. There they were, despite there being no buses, on a public holiday, at their intended destination. Morale of the story. Wake up earlier at 4am so that you can catch the bus!

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