Debre Ziet, Ziway, Awassa, Dilla, Gedem, Hagre Maryam, Yabello, Mega & Moyale
I spent almost three weeks in Addis waiting for some replacement parts to arrive from the UK. It was a little frustrating as Addis isn't one of the worlds great cities, but it gave me plenty of time to have a look around and get to talk more with the locals.
The Taitu hotel, my home in Addis
Most of the talking with the locals was done here at the Wegagen Hotel. It was one of the few places that you could sit outside and see what was happening on the street. I spent a number of evenings here with a fellow tourist talking about Ethiopia, Africa and the madness that was happening around us. From our seats here we witnessed fights, khat chewing, drug deals, prostitutes, arrests, police brutality and glue sniffing every evening.
Then there were the locals.
The Frenchman I meet Germany who had spent a year in Ethiopia said there were 2 things I needed to know. Firstly its beautiful and hilly, and the second was that you must be a man.
What he meant was that you have to stand up for yourself because the Ethiopians will constantly test you. They will come over and talk to you demanding beer, money, peanuts or anything you have that they might want. Sometimes this was good natured but most of the time it was anything but. Every evening at the bar there would be an altercation and an argument with someone. It was almost like a compulsion on the part of the locals. They had to have a go at the ferengi (foreigner) at some stage during the evening.
The other odd thing was people who would walk up and just stare at you. They wouldn't say anything but just stare at you until you tell them to go away. Some left quietly, other times there would be an exchange of insults and they would leave.
There were many
other random incidents that occurred but its not appropriate to write about
here. I did try but it was just too crazy. What I can say is that it is without doubt the maddest city I have
ever been to, and no I don't want to go back.
On the last stage of my journey from Gonder to Addis I had been getting a puncture in the same place every day. I thought this was because of the rim tape on the wheel melting during my time in Sudan. So I added extra tape and set off for Moyale, hoping that the punctures would stop.
I made it 90km from Addis before I got another puncture and while changing the tube the wheel changed shape. What I think happened was that in Sudan I hit a large pothole at 35kph. This caused the rim to crack and it slowly worked its way around until there was a split in the rim almost the entire way around.
With the wheel broken it was on a bus to go back to Addis. I was starting to wonder if I would ever get to leave Ethiopia.
I got back to
Addis and took the wheel to a cycle shop to get a new rim fitted. There
aren't many cycle store's in Addis and they are more like shed's than a
shop, but with a new Chinese rim installed the wheel worked again. I did
have to go back a few times to get it changed slightly but after
another few days I was ready to depart again.
It was back down the same road I had biked a few days earlier and I was more than a little worried about the quality of my new rim but it was good for the rest of my journey.
The shores of Lake Ziway
The 7000k mark also in Lake Ziway
I had been expecting some further hassles from the locals in the South but it was all pretty good until I left Awassa. It got very hilly very quickly and in the hills there are many people with small plots of land and many children that would cause me problems.
It was more of the same that I had experienced before but worse. I was chased by children wanting money, footballs were again kicked in my path and people grabbed at my arms as I want past to try and make me fall off. There was the constant yelling of ferengi and almost everyone asking where are you go? There was also something new and it was the game of chicken. This is apparently popular in Southern Ethiopia so I had cars, vans and motorcycles drive on the wrong side of the road at me in an attempt to scare me and make me fall of the bike. I played this game a few times and never deviated from the line I was taking. It was just the locals having a little fun with ferengi.
Lake Awasa
All this lead to a change in how I would deal with the locals.
I would continue to ignore the ferengi comments but when the children started running after me I had to turn the bike around yell at them and chase them until they scattered off into the fields. Where are you go comments again I would ignore unless I was parked on the side of the road. If I stationary I would tell them that it had nothing to do with them where i was going and ask them where are they going. This seemed to confuse them and that would be the end of the conversation. People who came up to look at me while I was eating/drinking would be quickly told to move on and a number of times I had to physically push the people away after some heated words were exchanged.
All this seems a little extreme now I am in Kenya but it was the only way I could be left in some kind of peace. I spent a long time in the bike thinking about my reactions to the locals and if it was the best way to deal with it but I don't think I could have done it any other way.
The best analogy I can come up with is this.
You are walking around a shopping mall pushing an empty Pak n Save shopping cart. Then every person from the age of 2 to 12 you see screamed ferengi at you Then 20% of them started following you asking for money as you calmly walked around. You are unable to go faster than them so all you hear as you walk is ferengi, money, money,money. While that's going on another 30% of the adult population is asking/yelling where are you go? when it clear you are going to Pak n Save. When you stop for a coffee people come and stare at you. They don't say anything they just stand 2m from you looking at you. Then more people start to come because a crowd has developed and finally that are 50 people who have stopped and are staring at you as you drink your coffee. You leave your coffee because of the crowd and then the whole thing starts again and it last all day every day.
When I stayed in the towns it didn't get much better. There were often ferengi insults from people I walked past and even from the police. I wasn't going to tolerate that anymore after what I had experienced on the bike so there were arguments and yelling every day. It only happened a few times in each town but after the insults were exchanged I was usually left alone for the rest of my time in the town. It seemed like the people of each town wanted to test the ferengi.
This lasted from Awasa until I left Ethiopia, so it was for six days. Aside from that it was constant hills and some wonderful scenery. The strange thing about it was that aside from all the bad things that were happening I meet some wonderful people but the overall experience was very, very difficult.
The rock throwing, the sticks people swung at me, the roads, the driving and the hills were all tough but it was the racism of Ethiopia that will stay with me far longer that any of these. I have never experienced anything like it and I cant understand it all.
Maybe it's because as so many Ethiopians love to point out Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that was never colonised. Because of this there seems to be an arrogance and a total disrespect of any foreigner by most Ethiopians. This exists while they rely on foreign aid for food, hospitals, schools, roads, ambulances, water and other essential services.
I really don't understand the people of Ethiopia, their reaction to me on the bike and their actions. It makes no sense at all. I am just a person riding past on a bicycle but my very presence seemed to offend them.
The relief I felt when crossing the border into Kenya was incredible. I was close to tears and I was just so happy that it was over. I had encountered all kind of difficulties in Ethiopia but I had made it to Moyale, Kenya and I didn't have to go back to that country again. There was the hills, the altitude, the roads, the driving but most of all it was the people that made it so incredibly difficult.
Its very sad because it is such a beautiful country but the whole experience was ruined by its people.
After arriving in Gonder I had a few days break.
Sudan had not gone well and I needed some time to think about what I did right, what I did wrong and what I needed to do to ensure that I wouldn't end up on a bus again.
The best way to forget about Sudan was to get back on the bike so I departed after 3 days.
I had been told Ethiopia was very beautiful, very hilly but there could be some problems with the locals - especially the children.
The top of the first climb in Ethiopia
Everything I had been told was true, The roads were great, the countryside amazing, the hills large and the people terrible. On the first day I had rocks thrown at me, people yelling at saying you, you, you, where are you go? people demanding money on the side of the road and the children were the worst.
Just around the corner from this photo 2 kids kicked a football at me while I was doing 50k down the hill. It missed by less than a meter.
Helping out some locals with bike problems.
All of this was a bit of a shock. I had been expecting some harassment but this was something else. Over the time getting to Addis I worked out how to deal with all this.
When rocks were thrown at me I would turn around and chase who threw them - it was usually kids.
I watched people beside the road closely to see if they picked up rocks. If they did then I would stop and pick one up too and then they would drop their rock.
If someone was yelling faranji (foreigner/white person) on the bike I would ignore them.
When someone tried to spit on me I would chase them.
For the footballs kicked at me I would take get it, take it down the road 1 km and leave it there.
The people/children on the side of the road who demanded money I would ignore.
There was also the constant yelling of you where are you go? where are you go? I would ignore this too.
Rocks were thrown and I was spat at 2/3 times each day. Faranji insults, money money money, you where are you go would happen 100 times a day and the football kicking only 2/3 times a week.
The most notable of all of this was a group of kids out walking some cows. They setup the cows on the right had side of the road, then put a rope across what was left of the road so I had a small area to pass them in. I went through what was left of the road and one of them hit me with a cattle whip. It mostly missed and I did chase them but I had to give them credit for a very cunning plan.
I try not to stop in the middle of a town as I will be mobbed by people,
so I would find a bar/restaurant/hotel like this one to take a break. If I
stopped where people could see me they would just stop what they were
doing walk over to watch me do things like buy water or eat something.
I
found this was a bit weird to begin with but it was pretty much the
same everywhere. Oddly you get used to everyone looking at you all the
time.
Often I would get kids running beside me wanting money. I would ignore them and after 500m or 1km they would stop. This kid was different. He ran beside me for around 2km going uphill wearing a blanket and gumboots and I couldn't go faster than him. I was doing 13km/hour and he was still there so I stopped, gave him a drink and some biscuits and took this photo.
The children of Ethiopia can run.
Occasionally I would meet locals on bikes. We would have a chat and I would try to ride through through the next town with them. I don't get hassled nearly as much when I am with a local.
Ethiopia has some good cheap beer. Here I am writing up the days events (distance/times/speed/what happened) and having a Jambo. This is 400ml of beer for around 12 birr (80 cents). There is always someone watching.
Ethiopia is the home of coffee so I get to drink good cheap coffee every day. They have a “Coffee Ceremony” here. They roast the coffee beans, grind it up and it ends up looking like this. Coffee like this costs about 10 birr (60 cents) and you get 3 small cups.
It was my birthday as I approached Debre Markos so this is the birthday photo. Its at the top a 1 hour climb and it had a great view. Climbing hills in Ethiopia was a pretty good way to spend my birthday.
Debre Markos
Two days after my birthday it was onto the biggest descent/ascent I have
faced so far at the Nile river gorge. It was 20km decent that took 45
minutes. Its not fun going downhill that far, the brakes get hot and I
had to stop three times to let them cool down. My hands get sore from
pulling on the brakes and I had to constantly watch the road for changes
in the surface, animals, broken down trucks/buses and people.
The road downhill was beautiful and gave me time to think about the climb that was to come.
I have climbed many hills now and there is a kind of process that I go through with the larger ones. I try to work how big the hill is hill is either via the gps or in this case I can see that its very big.I accept that this is something I have to do. Its not optional and I will bike to the top of the hill no matter what it takes.
I try to work out how long it is going to take me. I looked at this point and I thought it would be 2 to 3 hours. I look for sections within the climb. I use something on the hill to break it down it 4 or 5 sections, usually this is flatter parts, changes in direction or points where I turn the corner. In this one it was the power pylons. There were 5 of these on the hill so I would use each one as a different section.
Looking back to where I had come from.
So by the time I get to the start of the climb I have an estimated time based on the 3-5km hour for steep sections and 5-8km hour for the not so steep. I have sections that I can tick off along the way to see my progress and I will force more water down me, eat some food and get mentally ready in this case for 3 hours of pain.
This is the gorge bridge. It was taken by some police officers who were sitting on the side of the road. Ethiopia has its own calendar so whilst this is called the millennium bridge it was finished in 2007. The friendly officers confirmed that it was another 21km to the top.
So this changed the plan and I knew it would be a 4 hour climb.
I stopped at the 3 hour mark to fill the water bottles again.
I have only one rule when climbing a mountain. Do not stop. It doesn't matter how much it hurts you do not stop until you reach the top. This sounds a bit crazy especially on a 21km climb but its how I do it.
I see it as a battle me vs the mountain. The purpose of the mountain is to destroy my motivation, my legs and to make me quit. My single purpose is to defeat the mountain by climbing it. If you stop its because you are physically or mentally tired and the mountain is starting to defeat you. This happens when if you go too fast, eat to little, don't drink enough or start thinking that this is too difficult and you have to stop
Once you stop a first time then you will stop again. It will begin to hurt too much and stopping feels like the best thing to do. This carries on until eventually you are resting more than you are biking and the mountain has won. It all ends with you pushing the bike up hill, mentally demoralized and worse off physically - its harder to push the bike uphill than ride it.
I have been defeated like this many times on my travels but after Austria I decided that enough was enough I had to start winning these battles.
So to the climb
I take off my watch. Time is irrelevant as it me vs the mountain and it doesn't matter how long it takes. I put the GPS away. I don't want to know where I am on the climb, how far I have come or how far I have to go. Looking at these things in the early part of a climb can only demoralize you.
I have a few sayings that I repeat just before I begin and then it starts, and it doesn't stop until I finish the climb.
A climb always has steeper and flatter sections.
The goal in the steeper section is to get up that section at a comfortable place. I need to be breathing comfortably and keeping the heart rate as low as possible, so at times I get down to 3.2km/h hour but it averages between 3-5km/hour. At this speed its difficult to keep the bike upright but I can continue to climb like this for as long as it takes.
On the flatter sections I try to take it easy, drink, eat and recover as much as I can from the steeper section. This might see me going at 5-8km/hour which isn't quick but if necessary I can get the breathing and heart rate back under control.
The summit
Time passes, and it all becomes a bit of a blur. I just focus on getting to get to the next corner, to the next section and my at some point my mind drifts off somewhere else
I don't think about the biking but try to think of anything else.
Time passes and eventually you finish the mountain.
I won, the climb did not beat me, the reward is the view and I get to have a break.
This was a 3 hour 58 minute climb. The longest but not the toughest.
I haven't been beaten by a climb since Austria. Then its onto the next one.
The break at summit.
After the gorge climb it was a few days later that I arrived in Addis.
I still get hassled here but not all day every day and it was was good to have a bit of time to unwind after what had been a difficult ride to get here. It wasn't so much the the ride that was difficult (it had its moments) but it was dealing with the people that was tough.
I have been in Addis for just over two weeks now - I needed some bike parts & MP3 player sent from the UK (Thanks Damon & Jo). It was a complex business getting them sent then clearing customs so it took longer than I was hoping but now they are here I will get back on the road soon.
Its been an interesting stay.
The area where I have stayed (Piazza) is cheap and full of bars that are very dimly lit. The Ethiopians like a drink so later in the evening the pubs are full of men dancing, clapping and singing. Its quite a thing to see when the pub whole pub is dancing and in full voice.
There is extreme poverty with homeless children, men and women sleeping rough and there are many people with disabilities begging in the streets.
There is also a lot of money here, with Addis being the headquarters of the African Union and there are many NGO's investing money in health, welfare, education & agriculture. The UN has 26 agencies and programs here so you see their vehicles everywhere.
Because of all this outside assistance people usually assume that I am working here rather than just being a tourist.
There has been some fights which usually end up with the police taking someone away in handcuffs made of tied string. There was a comical situation where the police chased some homeless kids up and down the street for 10 minutes. I would see the kids run past then the police chasing. Then a minute later the same thing from the other direction. Everyone stopped watched and laughed but it did end badly with the kids getting hit with the baton.
Addis was always going to be a bit difficult because it was my first major African city and you never know quite what to expect. I have visited the major tourist sites (there aren't many) and I have meet some interesting local and talked with them about Ethiopia's past, present and future. I have also meet some fellow tourists and had a few late nights and some fun times in Piazza.
So all in all its been fun in Addis but now I need to get back on the bike, finish off Ethiopia in a little over a week and then into Kenya.
I have a meeting with an Elephant somewhere in the very near future and I cant wait!
Khartoum, Wadi Mendai, Gallabat, Gondar
After turning back in the desert the bus dropped me on the outskirts of Khartoum so it was 12k of night riding through the city to get to the hostel.
The plan was to get my Sudanese visa registered (supposed to be done 3 days after arriving into Sudan so I was a little late) and get my visa for Ethiopia.
I thought that this should take 3 days at the most but because it was the festival of Eid the Ethiopian embassy was closed and I would have to wait 6 days for it to open again.
So I had to have a week in Khartoum. All the tourist activities were closed because of Eid and most of the shops were also closed.
Downtown Khartoum. The drains don't work as they are full of rubbish so when it rains the water stays.
I meet up with Tim the Australian from Wadi Halfa for a BBQ near the Nile and spent some time with Nori a Libyan who was also staying at the hostel. He has travelled all over Africa and gave me some good ideas of where to go for the rest of the trip.
I went to the football (Sudan v Nigeria) that was a qualification game for the Africa cup of Nations. A 1-0 win to Sudan but it wasn't much of a game.
I got my Sudanese visa registered. It took 4 hours and 2 trips to the registration office at the Airport and $50US but it allowed me to leave Sudan.
Apart from that there was a lot of coffee drunk and I spent the hottest part of the day in the air conditioning at the mall just to get out of the heat.
The main problem I had was that I was running out of money. I had budgeted what I would need based on the costs in the Lonely Planet Africa book but I didn't know that the rate of inflation in Sudan is 40% so even though the book was only a year old all the prices were double. I also didn't plan on spending a week in Khartoum.
There are economic sanctions in place against Sudan (The president/dictator Omar al-Bashir has been charged with war crimes) and the Visa card doesn't work there so I had no way of getting any money.
The day after getting my Ethiopian visa I left Khartoum. I was happy to be leaving, there wasn't a lot to do in Khartoum and it was very hot.
I want to say it was good to get back on the bike again but it wasn't. I was low on money and probably wouldn't have enough to get to Ethiopia via bike, it was very hot, my MP3 player broke in the desert heat, it was 500k to the nearest beer and the events in getting to Khartoum were fresh in my mind.
The driving in Southern Sudan wasn't good. There was plenty of traffic and every 10 minutes I would be forced off the road by a car overtaking and ignoring that I was there. I would also be forced off the road when two buses or a bus and a truck converged. Sudan has 9370 deaths per 100000 cars, the second worst in the world, and I was beginning to see why.
The 6000k mark
As it turned out it was only 260km before I had to stop. I had become unwell after eating/drinking something bad and some simple calculations meant I had only just enough money to make it to Ethiopia via bus.
I was around 300km from the border and then a a further 180km from the nearest ATM at Gondar. So at Waid Mendai I had to take the bus. I had enough money for around 4 days biking and it was going to take me at least 8 days to get to Gondar.
The bus station at Wadi Mendai. From here it was to Gallabat.
This is my hotel for the evening in Gallabat. I rode 30km around Gallabat in the dark after arriving looking for the bus stop that would take me to the Ethiopian border. I couldn't find it so I found a cheap hotel using the GPS.
Its a what am I doing here/can I do this moment. Egypt had been a failure, Sudan a disaster and I was about to get up in the morning and get on another bus to take me to Ethiopia.
It was a horrible, empty felling to know Sudan had defeated me again for the third and final time and there was nothing I could do about it.
My time in Sudan was over and I was happy about that. The people of Sudan had mostly been incredibly friendly but the heat, the lack of tourist sites, the rubbish that was everywhere, the bad food, the driving and the poor economic situation mean that Sudan isn't a great place to visit. Would I go back? No, once is enough.
So it was onto Ethiopia via the bus and to the town of Gondar.
There was sensational Ethiopian coffee
Stunning scenery and lots of hills
Sheep roaming the streets
A nice castle
And beer!
Ethiopia was going to be a big challenge because of the hills and the altitude but I was really looking forward to it.
