Impressions of Addis Ababa
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2003
1
2
14
Trip End
Aug 2003
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
I am possibly the jammiest person alive!
After finishing my post yesterday I got chatting to an Australian guy who lives in Kuwait and is here while the war continues (everyone you meet here has interesting stories). We chatted for a bit then I went for a walk around the Piazza, the area here where the cheap hotels are based.
I later bumped into an American guy. He was a bit weird (he came here deliberately to see the famine near Somalia) but we said we'd meet for dinner.
A few hours later I was waiting for him in the bar in the hotel when the Australian guy, Mark, walks past. By this stage the American guy, John, is pretty late. We had a beer and he invited me to have dinner with an American couple named Alicia and Arnold who he has been travelling with.
In a cosy little pizzeria around the corner while eating the Ethiopian staple of Injera we talked about plans. They are planning to do exactly the same route south as I was tomorrow.
And since Mark's wife had returned to Kuwait the day before they now had a spare seat in their 4WD Landcruiser.
So unbelievably I've managed to grab a lift south. And because its a 4WD we'll be able to get right into the south west corner of the country to a region called the Omo (where the people with the big plates in their lips live).
After that I'll work my way back to Addis Ababa (AA) by bus, stopping in the Bale Mountains for a week or so to go hiking.
Walking back to my room, astounded at my good luck (especially after such an unauspicious start at Heathrow), one of the hotel staff grabs me. The reason John hadn't turned up for dinner is that he had picked up a local girl. Whether she was a prostitute or not I don't know but he was worried. He said that he had checked her out and she was connected with some "gangsters". He asked me to speak to John.
Not knowing this guy from a bar of soap I just told him. Be very careful. Even if she wasn't planning to loot him, the official HIV rate here is like 9.3% or something. Russian Roulette but with 10 chambers instead of 6.
So it was a pretty eventful first day.
Today was my day to have a look around and begin adapting to the culture here.
AA is sprawling, dirty, ugly but bustles and hasn't been boring yet. After expecting loads of hassle from the guide books, I've found that its very easy to deal with. Egypt is much hasslier by far. The main people begging are children who are so malnourished its ridiculous and old people afflicted from several pretty nasty diseases from what I've seen so far. Not for the weak stomached.
My tactic of just keeping small coins spare in a pocket to give away has worked. Most of the kids are pretty happy with 5 cents (nothing in real money). Most of the older beggers are too messed up to care.
Walking down Churchill St, the main road near here, I had about 7 or 8 kids following me up the street. By then I'd given all my small change away so they were out of luck. Luckily a well dressed western woman walked past with a gaggle of about 12 children following here, asking for money, so my entourage peeled off and joined the parade down the hill.
The Ethiopian people I've found to be very friendly. I've had at least half a dozen people come up to me wanting to chat. Most are "hi, how are you, where are you from." Occasionally they spark up a convo. But again I've had so much practice in Egypt of being polite enough not to offend if they're just be nice and stern enough so they don't try any scams on. And if they did I'd just tell them to bugger off anyway.
One striking thing about AA is a huge Soviet monument halfway up Churchill St. It was put there by the communist regime in the 80s and supposedly the rebels didn't destroy it when they won the civil war as a remembrance.
The weather bears a mention too (especially for everyone in Britain - this is gloating!). The weather here is perfect! Its glorious during the day, but not too hot, with a nice cool breeze thanks to the altitude here. At night it cools down but you still don't need to put on a jacket. The sun is pretty harsh too. The altitude means a thinner atmosphere so you get burnt easier. Even through SPF30 I've got a nice red tinge from today. Beats my former vampiric white though!
Well, I've gone and got some supplies for tomorrow and changed some cash. Supposedly it will be a while before we see a bank that change cash for a while. Time to settle in a for a beer in the bar before dinner.
My email is still fubar. I'll try again now but I'm not getting too hopeful about it. From what we've heard there is no internet access in the south so I won't be able to write for about 3-4 weeks. It'll be a big long one after that though!!
Final note: The Ethiopian food is delicious. A full meal which I couldn't finish last night cost me US60c and beers were US15c. Yay!
