When I am writing this, we are no longer in Ethiopia but have arrived in Bangkok. We had wonderful six weeks in Ethiopia filled with so many experiences and I have written about many of them here. I wrote this not only to keep you, our friends and family, informed about all the great things we do and to make you jealous but also to sort my thoughts and to record what we did. Often it felt like writing a journal or a trip report. I think after we finished our trip, It will be very nice to have this possibility to look back and rediscover some of the details that are no longer present in our memory. So, I am writing all this for my own benefit as much as yours.
Of cause, not everything we saw made it into our posts. Here I would like to visit some of the things we experienced in Ethiopia that are noteworthy to us.
- Cash is the absolute king in Ethiopia. We were able to pay one time for one hotel room with VISA, every other time it failed. Often they have multiple card readers and once you ask to pay by card you have to try them all, even if you can see almost the ATM from the reception desk. They plug it in and out again and try to reposition the SIM card… ATMs on the other hand are everywhere.
- Larger sums are frequently quoted in US$. I think they are afraid of the large numbers that result in their currency. For some purchases, for example the tours we did, you are asked to pay in US$ because it is nearly impossible to exchange Birr for any other currency. Euro is often accepted as well even though they are surprised that the Euro is stronger than the Dollar. Also, who carries so much cash? These multi-day tours range at about 200 – 300 US$ per Person. If two people do two tours for 300 US$ each, that’s around 1000 US$. I don’t think I have ever had that much on me in Germany, much less in a country with a reputation for pickpocketing. Maybe Americans…?
- Ordering food in a restaurant is challenging. A few times we asked for a menu because the waitress did not speak a word of English and were brought a full Amharic menu. Since the Amharic script is very different that was absolutely useless. In these cases we had to leave. When we got an English menu the Ethiopan dishes were not explained. Since there are dishes consisting of raw meat and other things we wanted to avoid we stuck to those where we hat at least a slight idea what we could expect but even google did not know it all.
- A surprising amount of people speaks no English at all. Even in the touristy places the waiters and waitresses did not understand simple things like ‘bill’, ‘check’, ‘pay’ or ‘food?’. Also sign language failed in these cases, eg. waiving your wallet or moving your hand to you mouth. I am not sure if it’s a lack of will or if they use different sign altogether. But the opposite happened too: I’d explain something the other person would look at me like he had absolutely no idea what I was taking about, left and came back with what I had asked them for!
- Paying in a restaurant takes at least three people. Not including the customer. And sometimes longer than ordering. First you have to make clear what you want (see above), then the waitress vanishes and confers with other people. There is usually one person in a booth who handles the money. At some point you get you bill in a small folder which needs to be checked. If everything is roughly ok you put your money into the folder and wait for it to be picked up and that your change is brought back. Otherwise you have to start discussing the bill.
- Everything in Ethiopia works day to day. You can book pretty much anything the day before and even on the day of. Even multi-day trips, busses and, as some people reported, domestic flight. You just have to do it over the phone or in person. E-Mail is not a thing. Also, only because you are told no today does not mean that’s still true tomorrow. Call again. We met people who could not get a reservation in a hotel where we had acquired a reservation for the same time after they had been told no.
- As a foreigner you pay often more. It depends on how well you bargain and the places. The differences can be between 100% and 500%.
- As a white person you are immediately identifies as a ‘Faranji’. People, especially kids, will yell after you ‘Faranji, faranji!’ or just ‘You, you’ but my favourite was ‚chinese‘. Another popular question is ‘Where are you go?’. It does get annoying after a while but strongly depends on how it is said. Some are just very excited to see you and Faranji is not an insult per se. Often they just want to shake your hand or wave at you. But sometimes children would even run towards us yelling ‘Money, money!’, holding out their hands. Some would ask us for pens or chocolate. In any way, we had decided not to give them anything and only made few exceptions for food or water. I think that many, especially children are conditioned on the fact that they get something from white people and it’s not good. Instead we have decided to donate some money to an organization which is active in Ethiopia after we are back.
- Flying in Ethiopia is quite the hustle at least until you make it into the plane. There is a checkpoint asking for you passport to enter the airport grounds. Then there is a security check to enter the building, which was especially long (45 min) at Addis
Ababa airport when we went there to fly to Bangkok. Then, of cause, they ask for your passport at check-in and there is the actual security check to get to the gate. At both security checkpoints you have to take you shoes off. I actually found one of our knives in my backpack which must have been in there for a flight, too. Luck for me, but not very reassuring. - Noise is something Ethiopians are not aware of. If there is music it’s loud and it’s ok to turn on your own either with another speaker or your cellphone. Also, the church worship and sermon is always transmitted via loudspeaker. The first days we thought it was a mosque, as it sounds quite similar but it goes on much longer. On Sundays even longer. They start at 4 or 5 am and don’t stop until 8 am or longer. One of the priests chanting is given the microphone and when he is about to fall asleep it is passed to the next. When hearing the whole not-amplified choir it is intriguing. The distorted version on singer with varying talent is not. It was absolutely horrible, the frequencies carry far, the windows don’t close by design and ear plugs are powerless.
To give you a better overview here is a summary of where we were and when
December 2019
- 14 Flight from Frankfort to Addis
- 15 – 18 Addis
- 18 – 20 Ziway
- 20 – 22 Shashemene
- 22 – 24 Hawassa
- 24 – 25 Christmas Eve in Addis
- 25 – 26 Dire Dawa
- 26 – 28 Harar
- 28 – 29 Dire Dawa
- 29 – 31 Blue Nile Falls
January 2020
- 31 Dec – 2 Bahir Dar
- 2 – 4 Lalibela
- 4 – 6 Mekele
- 6 – 8 Danakil Depression
- 8 – 10 Mekele
- 10 – 12 Gherata Escarpment – Hawsen
- 12 – 15 Axum
- 15 – 16 Gondar
- 16 – 19 Siemen Mountains
- 19 – 22 Timkat in Gondar
- 22 – 24 Addis
- 24 Flight from Addis to Bangkok
Ethiopia is an amazing country. It is definitely worth traveling there and we haven’t even seen it all. The people there are friendly and courious and the cultural heritage is purely amazing. It is easy and safe to travel in the most parts. During the six weeks in Ethiopia we expierienced a country of very strong and pure religious belifs and stunning nature as well as impressive structures. I really hope that peace prevails and the country and the people can grow. A gereneral election will be held this year but I wish this country the very best.