Dila, Ethiopia | 3 May, 2007 | $3.40 One day on the bus from Addis brought me to the unremarkable town of Dila, for an overnight stop on the way to the Kenyan border. It was so unremarkable that the photo above is the only one I have from the trip. Enjoy!
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 2 May, 2007 | $7.95 Arriving back in Addis, I did a little souvenir shopping, visited the restaurant with Mexican food and made arrangements for my flight to Madagascar. Sometime while I was up North my bank canceled my ATM card, leaving me unable to pay for my hotel bill or…
Dessie, Ethiopia | 26 April, 2007 | $2.84 It took two days to get to get to Lalibela and another two days to get back to Addis Ababa. Although I would have liked to head as far North as Aksum it was long, lonely trip and I decided to head back South. Traveling in a…
Lalibella, Ethiopia | 25 April, 2007 | $7.95 There was no direct bus from Nefas Mewcha to Lalibela and the local buses heading East were filled to standing capacity. Despite getting to the bus before dawn all were already full. Before I could think about my next move an official came by and kicked people…
Nefas Mewcha, Ethiopia | 22 April, 2007 | $2.27 The two Americans I traveled with in Southern Ethiopia flew to Lalibela from Addis and came back before I’d left town again. Good thing they came back, because they forgot to pay their hotel bill and stored all of their luggage in my room. I took…
Gonder, Ethiopia | 20 April, 2007 | $7.39 The cobblestone streets of Gonder were more fun to explore than Bahir Dar and the downtown area had a lively group of teenagers hanging out, eating pizza and drinking expresso. There wasn’t many places in Ethiopia where I could find Western food but this was one of…
Bahir Dar, Ethiopia | 18 April, 2007 | $8.52 The hotel grounds were lovely, with flowers and a lakeside location, but it was run by indifferent staff and had few travelers to talk to. My first room had no hot water and I spent hours trying to change rooms. Looking back, I don’t know why…
Bahir Dar, Ethiopia | 17 April, 2007 | $8.52 Driving after dark in Ethiopia wasn’t allowed since the war. I’m not sure how the private minibus companies got around the restrictions or if public buses were being extra careful. The minibus I arranged to take me to Bahir Dar, in Northwest Ethiopia, arrived at my…
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 13 April, 2007 | $7.95 After eleven days driving around it was nice to start exploring by foot again. I hadn’t had any time to look around when I first arrived so I visited the museum when Lucy is kept, walked through the market and came down with a horrible case…
Awasa, Ethiopia | 10 April, 2007 | $7.60 Finally back to a descent-sized city! We arrived late in the day and walked down to the shores of Lake Awasa where local sweethearts walked hand-in-hand along the shore, sharing snacks and watching the sunset. There are a few photos of the trip to Awasa and Awasa…
Yabello, Ethiopia | 9 April, 2007 | $5.68 Due to our extra day in Turmi driving around dirt tracks for five hours in search of a bull jumpers we had to make up time. We quickly made our way back East toward the main road at the town of Yabello—a nine hour journey. Along the…
Turmi, Ethiopia | 8 April, 2007 | $3.41 Our original plan didn’t include a three night stay in Turmi, we had only stopped in order to catch the traditional market day in Dimeka. Most towns have one day a week where the market sets up and people from different tribes in the surrounding area come…
Turmi, Ethiopia | 7 April, 2007 | $3.41 Turmi wasn’t much of a town. The dusty orange dirt road ran through a few concrete structures, and we stationed ourselves down the road at one of the only hotels in the area. We each had our own cement cell which became oppressively hot with the door…
More than anything else on the road, I’m interested in seeing how local cultures live and how they dress. Textile design and traditional costuming are something I will go out of my way to see and the Mursi are known for their atypical adornments. Because Mursi women are so well known for stretching their lips…
Jinka, Ethiopia | 5 April, 2007 | $5.68 Jinka is a sizable town in the remote Southwest area of Ethiopia near the borders of Sudan and Kenya. It was also home to a fascinating little museum that’s part of the South Omo Research Center. I enjoyed the chance to walk around town and people watch.…
Arba, Minch | 3 April, 2007 | $5.68 We stuck around Arba Minch for another day to meet up with our travel partner, who took a short flight from Addis Ababa. Driving around Nechisar National Park, I saw my first wild zebra! What a contrast from Tanzania, when zebras were so plentiful that I stopped…
Arba, Minch | 2 April, 2007 | $3.40 During our second day on the road we stopped for gas in a town named Ziway where I first noticed how popular fooseball is in Ethiopia. Kids and young men played on dusty tables on street corners and hung around waiting for a free table. In the…
Wondo Genet, Ethiopia | 1 April, 2007 | $5.68 My rough plan for Ethiopia was to head up North first and then find some people to join me for a trip around the South. I had been worried about timing because rainy season was on the way, which makes navigating many roads in Southern Ethiopia…
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 31 March, 2007 | $2.60 (my portion of a 2-bed room) Although I arrived from the airport with two Americans, one left the next day for an interview in the Middle East so we switched to a double room. Before his flight the three of us explored Addis a bit and…
After I skip more than a few days of posting on my “Where I Slept” series I never catch up. For that reason I’m going to skip ahead from where we left off in January and transport us from India to Ethiopia—skipping over Southern India, Jordan and Egypt. Don’t worry, I’ll fill in the blanks…