Blogs from Ethiopia, Africa - page 100

This morning I spent most of the day in the hotel, but this afternoon I got to see the Ethiopian Health System close up. We toured a typical clinic and a private hospital. I have to say driving through the city of Addis, there are 10’s of thousands of people just walking around. The city has around 3 million people. There is nothing new here except this hotel and a new park that the same billionaire owner of the hotel built. This city is old and over crowded really falling down in most parts. The Ethiopian people, especially now with the current situation, are very guarded and quiet, yet friendly in a strange way. Taking pictures of people causes fear unless you ask permission. Therefore, in these few pictures, that is the reason there are no ... read more

A brothel/bar in Lalibela. 4:35am. Xavier knocks on the door: "Khwaja?" I had set my own alarm but forgot to turn it on. Good to have a travel companion. We exchange sparse words: I'm going to shit. More use of that excellent newspaper we bought. Our bags are packed and ready from the previous night. Lalibela has chronic water shortage and I haven't showered since we left Addis Ababa 6 days ago. I smell awful. X coughed all night; he's developed a dry rasping cough over the last couple of days. We went to bed around 8:30 but neither of us got much sleep. The brothel manager is patiently waiting for us to leave so she can go back to sleep. Two baby calves emerge from the bathroom area; in Turkish villages they also keep young ... read more

Round-the world plane ticket: $1069. 4-hour minibus ride over bumpy road with suicidal driver: 13 birr. Leading 25 enthusiastic local kids in a chorus of "You, you, you!" in Hagaramariam, Ethiopia: priceless. We got our first real lesson not to trust someone. We finally found a bus to Moyale from Hagaramariam but there was SO MUCH CONFUSION about the price. Locals say it's 13 birr but they want 30. Language difficulty or opportunity to soak the white folks? Then more birr for the luggage storage?? Mike said, "No, give me a better price." But this guy Hassin, sitting near us, said, "Mike, just pay." They did drop the price a bit and everything was settled. Hassin's wife had a horrible car accident and is in the hospital in Moyale but he is traveling to Nairobi(??) He ... read more

Addis Ababa isn't like any other city I've seen. There's no public transport into town, just a swarm of taxi drivers who all want to negotiate a 3-hour tour of the city. We found a driver who'll take us for 40 birr ($5). If only we had a guidebook! We're at the mercy of what little info we have and any of the cabbie's suggestions which, of course, keep costing us more money. But he drove us to Piazza, to a street between 2 hotels. Mike checked them out and negotiated for the price of the cab + the hotel (package deal, I guess.) 4 nights for 260 birr. The room's shabby but clean-ish. The electrical system is scary as hell but there is an attached bathroom. This is one poverty-saturated city. The pretty pictures in ... read more