Rural Ethiopia, Day 307

Christi and I have a disgustingly early start for our all-day drive south through rural Ethiopia to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. We’re up at 4 am and outside the (locked) bus station in the dark by 4:40am. It’s a little uncomfortable mingling with the locals in the dark and we are relieved when the gates open and everyone rushes in. We find our way to the Selam bus where our bags are swiftly deposited on the roof under a tarp and we take our assigned seats (7 and 8). So far so good, but public transport in Ethiopia can be challenging. For a start, the date on the ticket is 8 years earlier than the actual current date used by the rest of the world (because Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar while the rest of the world follows the Gregorian calendar). In addition, the time of departure on our tickets is 11 pm the night before. The explanation for this complicated system is that in Ethiopia the day begins at dawn, roughly 6 am, and not at midnight so a 5 am departure is the last hour of the previous day i.e. 11 pm. It is important to know when traveling by public transport whether the departure time is farangi (foreigner) time or local time. Just another reason to love Ethiopia. In the event we leave at neither 5 am nor 11 pm, but 6 am FT (farangi time).

It is an absolutely wonderful ride through rural Ethiopia: the whole country seems in the midst of a farming frenzy. The people in Ethiopia are super friendly and curious about farangis because the locals see so few tourists. And because the bus does not have a toilet on board (no public bus in Africa has had a toilet on board so far, unlike South America where all the buses had toilets – some even had beds [I do miss that]), we stop frequently and I use every moment to photograph life in rural Ethiopia (markets, religious ceremonies, In addition the frequent toilet stops our other main impediment to swifter progress is the number of animals sauntering across and along the roads. Lunch is at Debre Markos around 10:30 am. Christi and I enjoy the local delicacy injera with wat (meat and vegetable sauces) and then explore the local market for a few minutes before we are called back to the bus by an insistent driver.

The most stunning part of the whole drive comes as we enter the Blue Nile Gorge. It takes more than an hour to drive to the bottom of the gorge, cross the new bridge and climb up the other side. It is a steep, winding, and absolutely spectacular route. After this I just want the journey to be over. But the closer we get to Addis Ababa, the worse the traffic becomes, until we’re eventually crawling along past rain-soaked, gray buildings. We reach the Selam bus station at 4 pm, where we have to haggle hard for a decent taxi fare to the Hilton hotel. I’m sure if we were staying in some backpacker hovel, the price would have been less.

Of course the Hilton hotel would not normally be in our budget, but I had accumulated a lot of air miles from a lot of business flights and I’m now cashing those in for a few nights of luxury in the Hilton Addis. Christi and I can’t wait. By 5pm we are gorging ourselves on sumptuous Hilton luxury. It almost brings a tear to my eye to see a king-sized bed, soft sheets, pillows, and blankets, an immaculate bathroom with soap, shampoo, and body wash not to mention a TV and phone. There is also complimentary water and fruit, and wi-fi and a mini-bar. Sheer heaven. Eat Asian food in the Hilton restaurant for dinner and collapse most contentedly into bed. I may never leave this place.