Belayneh Hotel Harar

... and everything seems so green. The food, surprisingly, is very good. Everything is strait from the farm. How many places can you go and just pick up fresh Mangos and Bannanas off the corner. After Addis we went to Lalibella. A beatiful holy city in the mountains. Our guide was from there so not only did we see the big touristy things we got to do all sorts of things. Lali, meaning honey and bella, meaning eater, you can only imagine how awesome fresh banana ...

... side. One of the main reasons harar is famous is for the hyena feeding by the men at the city walls. We really could have done with hiring a taxi for the time so we could really see what we were doing and so we could take good photos... the hyenas were huge and very well fed so were not a danger. I even fed one by putting a bit of meat at the end of a stick!!! There were not many places to eat or drink in the town , but a new restaurant Fresh Touch was good.

... common mad African dash to find room on the train began. I was soon joined by about 50 other people who carried with them suitcases, bags of grain and various baskets. At 12:00am sharp, only 3 hours after the scheduled departure, the train began to slowly accelerate out of the station. Around 3:30am we arrived at the same border I was turned away from a few days earlier. I man woke me up and ...

... so far). A truckload of cattle, packed tightly crossways with heads facing alternately to each side, just pulled up at the Shell station. Yesterday when I arrived at noon I made an ill-advised choice of guide. Shortly after I had engaged Johannes for 100 birr for the day, I noticed that he was walking with a slight limp. His left foot was heavily bandaged, the result of a recent encounter with a car. He led me through the market to a low-end hotel, where ...

... the bag was passed to the luggage-roofer, who stowed it up top. The bag-toter was saying "50, 50" and holding out his hand. I gave the roofer 2 birr and he was quite satisfied; When I offered the bag-toter the same fee, he scoffed. Maybe he is trying to say "5" I thought. I entered the bus to find some light and extracted 3 more birr. This was extortionate, but luggage is important and revenge is to be feared in the dark. He scoffed harder. He ...

... find us. They said that our best bet was to stay in a 'Private House'. We went to the first one and it was a lovely traditional house with an roomy living room in different levels with carpets on each - perfect for reading and relaxing. The only problem was that there was only one bed and Kirsty and I were sick of sleeping together (5 nights out of 7 we share a bed to save money) - and the price ...

... and animals. Mainly goats, drawn to the piles of tchat leftovers. As we saw yesterday, the buses get covered in the reject leaves and twigs, and at the end of the journey it is all swept out onto the station floor. We are wondering whether the tchat has any effect on the goats. Another thing the goats eat is plastic bags. Sometimes you see a goat with a swollen belly, and you wonder if it is pregnant. But then you see it from ...

This entry is mainly an account of the day taken to get to Harar. Click on the following link to read about our trip to Harar city and the Hyena man. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Day the Twelfth - in which we spend all day on a bus full of psycho-caterpillars for the sake of a single day in Harar and the reader checks us for fever. And I get the momentary urge to commit homicide. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not the most ostentatious of starts. We emerged from the Baro at ...