Ethiopia

[goldenecitrone]

Anybody been? Know any cheap airlines? I may be going in August to visit a friend, not sure yet. Any advice appreciated. Apart from "Don't go", obviously. :)

[Sweet FA]

:D

After our conversation, I had a quick look for flights - c. 450 from Heathrow to Addis :eek:

(About 300 odd to Cairo then a 50 quid suicide cab to Alexandria ;))

[stat]

i went for five weeks a few years back. the flight's pricey but, as i'm sure you can imagine, it's really quite cheap when you're there - if only because there's very little to spend your money on.

what are you looking for in your holiday?

[goldenecitrone]

i went for five weeks a few years back. the flight's pricey but, as i'm sure you can imagine, it's really quite cheap when you're there - if only because there's very little to spend your money on.

what are you looking for in your holiday?

Stay in Addis for a few days and then go travelling up to the highlands which I've heard are really beautiful. A good friend of mine went about 10 years ago but can't really remember the place names of where he stayed. What did you get up to in your five weeks?:)

[stat]

Stay in Addis for a few days and then go travelling up to the highlands which I've heard are really beautiful. A good friend of mine went about 10 years ago but can't really remember the place names of where he stayed. What did you get up to in your five weeks?:)

a few days in addis, then up to lallibella for a few days, then to a place nearby (can't remember name), then across to bahir dar (sp?) for a few days, then to a nearby small palce for a few days.

we then got fed up with the 'tourist trail' (lol) so just got a bus ticket to who-knows-where. that was nice - a random little village. spent about a week there, just chilling and wandering about.

finally, a week in Ngumpt (sp?) before back to addis.

tips:
- take your anti-malarials. we met a few people suffering from malaria.
- be prepared for extreme poverty (not everywhere, but in a lot of places)
- be fucking careful about what enters your body. my friend became very, very ill when we returned. he turned homer simpson yellow, couldn't stop his hands shaking or his limbs jerking, and his eyes started to bulge out. the doctors identified the problem with his liver, and tried all the hepatitis tests - all came back negative. had to have a liver biopsy (not nice) for this. they thought he might die. this was all compounded by a bout of grave's disease, which may or may not have come from ethiopia, but it's pretty likely the liver problems did come from there.
the symptoms appear to be coming back: i think it may be a liver fluke not hepititis, as i recall he swam across a river (i didn't). play safely :-)

[goldenecitrone]

the symptoms appear to be coming back: i think it may be a liver fluke not hepititis, as i recall he swam across a river (i didn't). play safely :-)

I remember in Luxor, all the local kids swimming in the Nile. Not for me. :eek:

[BEARBOT]

i went for a month in dec 2001.
is your freind an aid worker?
when i went other westerners i met tended to be.
there was definately no "backpacker" type scene there.
not many low budget tourists of any age really, some older
wealthy tourists.
i didnt think it was that cheap TBH, terrible "value for money" esp compared to for example india..paying £5 for a room with a rat isnt that much of a bargain..the quality of accomodation isnt too high, esp outside addis.
food can be very cheap..esp ethopian food at a locals place!
the spongy bread with the sauces,its nice.
very basic italian food is around too.
im not knocking the place, its definately an experience..
some beautiful landscapes, the christain ceremonies/singing is very beautiful too.but if you have any weight to lose,you will;)
buy tins of tuna in addis to take with you when you leave the capital.
emergency rations!
buy the antibotics you need for travellers diarehha in addis.
did meet another low budget tourist who was teaching english in
yemen so i ended up going there afterwards..meet some other guys who were teachers in sudan..

i was a female on my own so i didnt check it out, but there is nightlife in addis.the climate in addis is ideal, not hot, like english summer but with no humidity.you can get good fish meals in addis.oh and "the economist" is avaialble.
bring plenty to read with you..maybe an instrument.

local tranport VERY rough,awful roads..flights ok but not cheap.
the country is HUGE.
you can go treking too in the national park,but its not cheap..:(
i went up to akum i think it was called near the border with eritera.
some fighting/UN up there..
gondar has a nice castle..
eleswhere there are some interesting monestries that only males can visit..tho everyone is welcome in the churches..
some places like lailbela(famed for the unground churches) it was a struggle to find much food.
its very sad how much poverty there is , india is wealthy compared to this country..
if you addicted like me good coffee is always available.resturants with dirt floors will have huge expresso machines.

go to a place and chew khat if you can.its a mens club type scenario.
tho sometimes women run these clubs/cafes.
communal dvd watching while you chew.they burn a lot of frankensence in these places sometimes play r and b chart music, khat is an up affect so can be very social,sometimes people will speak to you a bit..generally tho, ethopian people are reserved...of course you can meet /talk to ethopians if you hang out at the right spots.

[stat]

i got a personal cassette player out there for the long bus journeys. passengers sometimes pass their tapes forward to the driver to play, which can be nice.

expect to have lots of very poor, unwell kids begging you a lot of the time (particularly in lallibella, iirc).

bearbot is right about the great coffee. we bought quite a few kilos of raw beans back with us for roasting and grinding - good fun!!

[stat]

ps common practice seems to be to buy small packs of scented tissues for arse-wiping. my travelling companion didn't like this, so take some unscented bog roll if you don't like scented (can find unscented but not very easy)

[Brainaddict]

The food is ace, the people are nice, the sights are wicked, the buses are shit - some of the worst I've come across in the world. Don't think there's a cheap way to fly there really.

Try and catch some ceremonies in some of the old churches - for that genuwine medieval religious experience :cool: