Blogs from Ethiopia, Africa - page 9

Traveling from Bahir Dar to Gondar is a shocking change in scenery: we went from a muggy, tropical atmosphere to a mountain town in just three hours. We barely missed the 7AM bus, but after a fist fight or two between bus station touts, we found a minibus and headed to the foothills for 60 birr per person (about $3, and the same price as the bus would have been). I woke up with a bit of a stomach bug, so the winding rode made for a difficult ride. I started to feel more and more ill along the way, and by the time I arrived in Gondar I was running in and out of the bathroom every few minutes at the house of a Peace Corp volunteer friend of Hannah's. But after a day of ... read more

Addis isn't quite terrible, for a capital in the developing world. Though it's loud, dusty, and generally filthy, it has its share of open spaces and entertaining sights, it's generally safe compared to other large east African cities, and it's fairly easy to get around. Probably the best advice I have is how to deal with Ethiopian Airlines. It seems safe enough, and once aboard, the service isn't too bad and the food is better than most. But trying to purchase tickets for internal flights at a reasonable price can be a chore. If you plan on taking some internal flights, consider booking your international flights with Ethiopian Air. If you save your ticket stub, you can present it at the offices (there are several in Addis, and one in each medium-sized city) and get a ... read more

Vožnja busem između grada A i grada B u Etiopiji je vjerojatno jedna od najneudobnijih, vizualno najljepših i adrenalinski najintenzivnijih aktivnosti na svijetu... Prvo prometalo su minibusevi koji su predvidjeni za9 putnika, oni ih preuredili da stane 12, a natrpaju po 15 + prtljagu... Pa se tako vozi 12 sati s nogama za vratom, torbama, vrecama i djecom u krilu. Znatno udobnija verzija su veliki autobusi, made in China (kao i ceste) kojes su made by China sa hrpama kineza koji lopataju i u najvecim zabitima)... U kuna obično nitko ne sjedi u krilu, ali zato su odlični za izazivanje blagog do umjerenog ptsp-a. To veselo iskustvo se sastoji od zaljetanja u sela brzinom od 100 kmh medju ovce,krave,deve, pastire i djecu koji onda skaču ko zečevi u jarke, grmlja i slično... Ako slučajno neko od ... read more

After a nice farewell in Singapore with Nandi seeing me off and Halle picking me up with her mother and sister to see me off, my evening flight started off well. Headed to Bangkok where we picked up more passengers and then headed on to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where I met Samantha. From there our tour guide picked us up and we headed for Debrecen libanos. The drive was about two hours. Along the way it was interesting to see the cities and towns. Many houses are built with small tree trunks and then mud/clay. Many women were carrying her bags on their backs, many donkeys also carrying heavy loads. There were many farms with sheep, horse carriages, sheep, and cows. Many being bearded along the roads or country side. When we finally reached Debrecen libanos, ... read more

I prešao sam taj most. Doduše i granicu je bilo malo teže naći jer su je nekako skrili u grmlje, a nitko se baš nije ni potrudio me zaustaviti. Na granici je bio jedan čuvar koji se poprilično iznenadio kad me ugledao. Naime, obzirom da sam došao zadnjim busom i zadržao se poprilično na Sudanskoj izlaznoj papirologiji nisu očekivali da će još netko doći pa su službenici otišli kućama, pa ih je morao zvati da se vrate. No bili su vrlo ljubazni, ponudili me kavom i poželjeli mi dobrodošlicu. Tako sam ušao u Etiopiju, zemlju mnogih skrivenih ljepota, zemlju na neopravdano lošem glasu zbog mračnih sjećanja na priče o ratu i gladi i zemlju za koju nisam ni sanjao koliku će ulogu odigrati u mojem životu. Metema je bila poprilično skromno mjesto. Jedna glavna cesta čije ... read more