Runners:
If you want an exciting time, go to Ethiopia, where I recently spent two weeks - but be prepared for some possible rough times.
The women are beautiful, but be warned that many of them have undergone an operation in a strategic part of their anatomy, which may have psychological effects on them.
Addis Ababa, two tier pricing system in operation
If you are an Ethiopian resident, your hotel might cost you just 50 birr ($5.15), but for a foreign national, the same place would usually cost triple that cost or more.
I stayed at the Taitu Hotel in Addis Ababa, Piazza district, near the Mercato area. Italian names thanks to the Italian colonists who occupied the country for just 5 years many moons ago. The Taitu hotel was the first actual hotel established in Ethiopia in the year 1898.
Taitu Hotel, Tel: 0111 5607 87, Fax: 0111 5605 15, e-mail:
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Cost for one night (foreigner rate) - 188 Ethiopian birr ($19.66 u.s.) currency exchange - $1 u.s. = 9.69 birr
My time in Addis was marred by malevolent characters who targeted foreigners in the Piazza district and elsewhere in Addis Ababa. These young guys would follow you, and initially charm the socks off you, with nice speech and words. They would follow you everywhere, but at the end of the day, ask for money and other services - even though you, as a tourist, never agreed to anything in the first place. All these actions by these touts are unsolicited, and they are very persistent and will not take 'no' for an answer.
I also suffered an incident in Addis, previously mentioned. It could have been worse.
On my second day in Addis, when one young guy started following me (aged about 20 with a rasta haircut) I waved my hands to signal to him, that his 'services' were not required. He started shouting, and wanted to fight me. Fortunately, I was rescued by a few Ethiopians who took my side. It could have turned nasty. In Gondar, during the week I was there, several Israeli tourists were beaten up for refusing to pay for taking innocent photos.
If you are white and alone, when you walk in Addis, you are seen as a 'walking ATM' machine. This gets very frustrating. In the end I had to hire a guide to 'protect' me for the entire time I stayed in Ethiopia. He appeared to be a nice guy, and the price was right, but towards the end of my stay, things got nasty, and he changed his tune and started asking for exorbitant sums of money.
Running in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is a terrible place to run. The National stadium was always closed the entire time I was there. \
Most runners in Addis run at Mesqal square in the morning, which is nothing more than a small square about 400m in length with steps. The runners run back and forth on the steps, for up to 2 hours in some cases! There is nowhere else to train. Go there between 5am - 7.30am and you will see hundreds of runners training there, including many guys who are 14:00/29:00/63:00 type runners (at altitude).
Those runners who have the necessary money, train at Entoto mountain, a few km's from the centre of Addis Ababa. Even though the cost to get there is only about 10 birr, by minibus, most runners cannot afford that price, as it represents one u.s. dollar, and for that price, they would be able to buy enough injera for a meal or two. Harsh reality.
At the National stadium, I tried to get information on the runners, but it is the 'off season' and, in any case, the federation does not reveal the training methods of the top runners, and we, as foreigners, are not permitted to access the training logs or even see the top runners. Several national class runners, like Merga were at the stadium when I dropped by, but were not encouraged to talk with me.
Violence toward street children
Everyone warned me about the street urchins, who proliferate in Addis and in every town in the country, but in reality, these poor urchins were so grateful for anything I would give them - usually just 1 birr (0.10 cents) that this was not true. The real villains are the 'false guides' - who are in their early 20's and 30's and hang around the places where foreigners stay, like the Piazza zone in Addis. Those guys are dangerous, and will rob you blind if given the chance. One unsuspecting Greek tourist had all his belongings stolen, when he left them with his guide, when changing travel cheques at the Commercial Ethiopian Bank in Piazza.
I was disgusted by the behaviour of many adults toward the poor street children. On one occasion, when sipping a drink at the disco in Assela, a street urchin approached me - he was dressed in rags, and only wanted to ask me for 1 birr, but the waiter saw this and began hitting him in the face, to the indifference of the other patrons. My protests at this behaviour fell on deaf ears.
When giving just a couple of birr to the street kids, they would thank me and sometimes kiss my hand - bringing me close to tears from emotion. In contrast, most Ethiopian adults treated the street kids like vermin, and the worst offenders were male store guards or waiters who would not hesitate to hit and kick the poor, defenceless urchins.
Food in Ethiopia
The national dish is 'Injera' made from something called 'tef.' It looks like a long piece of flour which has been made in pancake shape. Unfortunately it is cold, and to my mouth rather unpalatable, but Ethiopians love it, and add meat to it, or just sauce or tomato or spice paste. I mostly ate rice and pasta. If you order a foreign type meal, the Ethiopians always add french fries, whether you request or not.
Average cost of meal in Ethiopia - 12-15 birr ($1.23 - $1.55), and fortunately, unlike the hotels - there is just one price for meals.
Hotels in Addis are ripoffs for tourists
Overpriced, and often surly service by waiters, who start groaning when you request something. In Addis, at the Taitu Hotel, the breakfast given to foreigners was inadequate - for example - just a quarter of the glass of orange juice was full. The soup bowl for supper would not have sufficed for a mouse. In contrast, in other places, servings were plentiful.
Assela
I spent my last week in this town, capital of the Oromia region, around 4 hours south of Addis. They use the Oromic language here, in contrast to Addis and region which uses Arahmic - also the lingua franca of Ethiopia. Oromic language is easier for foreigners, thanks to the Latin script, in contrast to Arahmic, which uses around 230 alien semitic symbols.
The reason for my stay in Assela, was to discover the training secrets of the world class distance runners (Haile Gebreselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba) who hail from that town, and the nearby hamlet of Bekoji.
The track in Assela was nothing more than a 400 m circle of cinder and rock, but at 6am in the morning there would be hundreds of Ethiopians of all ages running here - the vast majority running in shoes which were nothing more than pieces of rubber and primitive material - usually with holes and other signs of wear and tear. Many of the kids ran bare foot, on the cinder and rock track. I checked the feet of a 12 year old boy who had run a time trial on the rocky surfcace, and to my amazement, his soles of the feet were unscathed, such was the tough 'second skin' he had developed on the soles of his feet.
Assela sits at 2700m above sea level, and even for people in reasonable shape, running there is difficult. One morning I went for a run around the track, and was passed, without difficulty by boys and girls who appeared to be no older than 10 years old, and in many cases younger. I could only watch in envy, as they ran away from me, with their magnificent strides and regal postures.
In Assela, my budget was much nicer, as I found a modest hotel for the price of 30 birr ($3.10) - the shower was cold, but like our friend David Docherty in Korea - good for health. Of course I had to pay the hotel room for my guide as well, but even allowing for that - my budget in Assela, for 2 people was just around $15-$17 a day including accommodation and all meals. It also included inviting some of the street kids for meals - to the amazement, and sometimes consternation of the locals.
In Assela, my last day was marred by a few young adults who demanded money for services which I had never agreed to, including following me all around the town, and generally pestering me. These young parasites would initially charm the socks off you, but their motives would be revealed at the end, and if you did not comply, things could get nasty.
On my last day, at the stadium, I needed police intervention, in order to walk back to my hotel, such was the aggressiveness of certain louts, who demanded money and shoes for services rendered, which I had never agreed to in the first place, such as following me all around town, even though I never needed these guides. My guide was passive, and would only watch from a distance
Teaching Demo, Global Language school, Assela
During my week in Assela, I gave two teaching demos, and they were well received, compared to the trials and tribulations I had endured in Korea during my tenure at GIFLE. They appear to be very gifted and motivated, and love talking in English, which aids the process of retention and fluency. In contrast - the Ethiopian guys tend to speak too fast, such is their excitement and motivation to speak with foreigner. They should slow down and pause more, to reduce the sometimes garbled sentences which ensue.
The street kids in Assela, adopted me and were grateful for just tiny sums of money (1-3 birr) which I gave them. Sometimes, I felt like the proverbial 'Pied Piper' as around 10-15 urchins would follow me around town, but as already mentioned, I preferred their company to the outwardly respectable parasites who demanded exorbitant amounts for following me around town.
Be careful if invited into a home for a coffee ceremony
This is usually a big con in Ethiopia, and the coffee ceremony in most homes is just a scam. After about 30 minutes, the invitation can turn nasty when exorbitant sums of money are demanded for the ceremony. One tourist was taken, manu militari to the ATM machine at the Ethiopian Dashen bank, and relieved of 1000 birr ($100 +) for agreeing to attend the coffee ceremony.
Lesson for the future if coming to Ethiopia
On my last day in the highland town of Assela, I had to cough up around 500 birr, to several people who were harassing me. At my hotel, in the courtyard several young men who had followed me and 'befriended me' for the week, demanded their share of birr and clothes that I no longer needed.
If coming back to Ethiopia in the future, I will do two things to reduce these bad things which happened to me.
1. Learn Amharic or Omoric language to a decent level. This will help me to communicate and make my intentions known from the start.
2. I will not use a 'guide' I would say that over 90% of these guys are not good. They are very deceitful and dishonest, and will change the initial agreement toward the end. They use all kinds of sob stories like - I have lost my family through HIV and other stuff like that. They go on and on, and just to get rid of them, you are forced to pay. It gets really nasty at times, and the intervention of police is sometimes necessary, but without the language - you are really in a vulnerable position.
You can gather from this letter that I have mixed feelings about the country. I met some very good people - and my resounding memory was helping the street kids. Perhaps, my vocation should have gone in that direction. Seeing the poor urchins crouching down at night in the gutters side by side - in cold windy conditions (the highlands in Ethiopia get very chilly at night) was depressing and sad to see.
Physical appearance of Ethiopians
Impressive in most cases. A natural grace when walking. Superb erect posture. Nice features, and a cross between classic negroid features and arab. Lean and hungy look, and different shades of brown to black. At the dancing cafes, it was impressive to see the young people dance. A natural ability, and check out some of the rock music produced in Ethiopia - it will grow on you.,
Summation
Traveling alone in Ethiopia is risky, but some tourists have good experiences. Perhaps my ectomorphic - geeky appearance is a signal to some of the unfortunate characters, to take advantage of me. I met some good people in Ethiopia, but also man con artists. I have to decide if Ethiopia is a country worth investing in for the future. Only time will tell.
If you have questions about Ethiopia, let me know, and I will fill you in.
I hope, soon, to visit Kenya, and contrast the two countries. Eritrea is also not far from where I teach, in Saudi, and I am told that Asmara, Eritrea, at 7000 feet plus is a nice town with a good climate.
Ghost