In November 2010 my husband and I travelled round Ethiopia for 3 weeks by public bus with a non-public information. Travel (particularly bus journey) is an actual journey and never for the faint hearted as there may be lengthy journey days (even longer if the bus breaks down) on poorly maintained roads. But it is a wonderful approach to stand up shut and private and expertise the life and tradition of the locals.
Addis Ababa
We arrived on the airport at 3.30am. We had not booked any lodging attributable to our early arrival so we stayed on the airport until about 7am. A taxi agreed to take us into town for USD$10. We went to the Ras Hotel the place we needed to wait until 9am to see if they’d a room.
Travel Tip: We stayed on the Ras Hotel 3 occasions attributable to its central location. The worth consists of breakfast which is terrible however lunch and dinner are good.
Bahir Dar
We stayed on the Ghion Hotel on Lake Tana and did a ship cruise to the islands to see the painted church buildings. The Blue Nile Falls space is fairly however not definitely worth the lengthy bumpy experience to get there. Since damming the river, the waterfalls are definitely nothing just like the posters present.
Travel Tip: Check if a information is included along with your Lake Tana boat cruise. There was 9 of us on our boat. No information accompanied us on the boat apart from our personal information Samson. The first island we visited Samson acted as intrepreter in any other case we might haven’t understood what we have been . The second island we visited the church information spoke English.
Gonder
The deserted castles are very attention-grabbing and it’s price hiring the guides contained in the gate.
Travel Tip: We stayed on the Belgez Pension which was low cost, clear and quiet however the rooms have been very small and cramped. They do your washing for a really small payment – give to the cleaners within the morning.
Simien Mountains
We did a someday 4WD day journey with one other traveller and our information Samson.
Travel Tip: We would have favored to have stayed in a single day although we’re not trekkers, because the surroundings is beautiful.
Lalibela
We spent 2 nights in Lalibela exploring the wonderful rock church buildings.
Travel Tip: Keep your entrance ticket useful as they are going to be checked at every church entrance.
Arba Minch
Arba Minch is a in a single day bus cease between Addis Ababa and Jinka.
Travel Tip: Spend an additional evening on one of many stopovers and do the lake tour.
Jinka
We employed a 4WD regionally to tour the primary 3 tribes within the space (Mersi, Hamer and Karo tribes). We shared this value with 3 different travellers who have been on the bus and stayed on the similar lodging as us.
Travel Tip: Buy your bus ticket to Addis Ababa early (at the least 1 day prematurely) so you may receive a greater seat quantity in any other case you’ll find your self caught behind the bus on the two day journey. Buy good ear plugs with the intention to block out the noise of the loud music movies taking part in.
Transport
We used a wide range of transport that included: public bus, minivan, 4WD and boat.
Travel Tip: If you discover that fairly a couple of of you’re heading in the identical path, it is going to be extra economical and comfy to lease a minivan and driver like we did from Bahar Dar to Gondar (7 folks).
Tour Guide
We used the companies of a non-public information. This was the primary time we have now employed a information for your complete journey via a brand new nation. The information proved invaluable in protecting the touts away (definitely worth the cash alone), coping with native tour operators and acquiring lodges.
Travel Tip: Use a non-public information’s in depth information and expertise to get pleasure from Ethiopia via the eyes of a neighborhood.