First impressions of Ethiopia 🇪🇹

It's my second day here in Addis Ababa and these are my first impressions. 

Kavita and I flew in from Islamabad via Dubai with Ethiopian Airlines on Tuesday evening. Haresh literally landed from Monrovia via Accra (also with Ethiopian Airlines) literally a few hours later. While I was looking for my 4th bag in the chaotic baggage hall, Haresh walked through the doors and, we greeted him excitedly. I had positioned our baggage trolleys and Kavita near the door while I looked for our 4th bag. 

The baggage hall itself is dimly lit and, passengers had crowded around one conveyer belt with their trolleys, leaving no room to look for yours. It was simply chaos. It seemed just about everyone had purchased a huge TV from Dubai and, they were offloading them from the belt and, trying to balance them on the trolley. I was at first amused and, then annoyed with how I could not squeeze myself anywhere. All this time, a horrific screeching could be heard from the baggage screening (which you had to pass through before exiting the airport). I started to feel cold and, got a splitting head ache. Haresh's arrival of course was a good diversion and it was good to be reunited after four and a half months. 

We had to report the missing piece and, Baggage Services informed us the bag was left behind in Dubai and would arrive with the 6 AM flight next day. 

We exited the hall and, since we had not booked any hotels (it was my fault yes), we looked for hotel desks in the outer hall: Radission Blu, Ramada, Hilton, Elily, etc. We selected a hotel after a hotel rep from Jupiter Hotel convinced us and, were escorted outside where a hotel van would pick us from. 

The Airport was shabby and, outside I was greeted with a very cold night air! What? It was cold! And, the genius that I am, I had not bothered to look up the weather online. I had left behind a cupboard of wintry coats, sweaters and beautiful cashmere shawls. I stood shivering! Kavita thankfully had one of many fleeces and more in the suitcase (her entire wardrobe is gifted to her by my mother who buys her clothes in London and Islamabad). Haresh was enjoying the icy cold weather. 

Hotels 

The first hotel we stayed at for the first night was apparently a 4-star hotel but it was shabby and unkempt. The decor colours were dingy and kitsch. The carpeting was an ugly brown. The bathroom looked like it had never been cleaned. The water was lukewarm. I just climbed into bed without taking a shower and, covered my head in the duvet, at least thankful for a warm blanket. The hotel staff, though, were kind and, went to a 24-hour pharmacy to buy me a strip of Panadol. All of us dozed off at 1130 or midnight and, then were woken up by room service at 1 AM. We had some good soup, a very questionable lasagna and a so-so burger. If I pointed out any flaws, Haresh would immediately shoot them down. 

The morning, I booked Elily Hotel (apparently 5-star) for a slightly better rate through Booking.com and, we shifted there. We got a spacious suite and, we all were quite pleased with it. The lobby is quite nice and, the corridors emanate the smell of eucalyptus. The glass elevator is also very beautiful. Stunningly beautiful and large rose bouquets are to be found all over the hotel. These are changed every day.  But still, for a 5-star hotel, I can't help notice how old the fixtures are. The bathroom belongs to another era altogether. The towels are so washed out and old. The bathroom shower curtain is pathetically old and, really cheap. I found a couple of dead cockroaches in the corner of the room. Service is generally good, though.

The most interesting thing happened while checking into Elily Hotel. I tried to be a little over smart and pointed out the seemingly incorrect time on the clock that showed Ethiopia time (the rest of the clocks showed other capital times, as is typical in hotels). It was around midday but the Ethiopia clock showed a 6-hour difference. The lady at the reception said they have their own time in Ethiopia, a little haughtily. I thought she was angry that I pointed out that the clock wasn't working. Later during my trip I realised that local time has a six-hour difference. I looked it up and, read that "Almost all Ethiopians use a 12-hour clock, with one cycle of 1 to 12 from dawn to dusk, and the other cycle from dusk to dawn. Unlike the convention in most countries, the start of the day is dawn, rather than midnight. "

The city

The first day, I was hell bent on finding a sweater or light coat. I was sure I only needed to go to a mall. We first headed to Yod Abyssinia for lunch.  I was recommended by a friend who had stayed in Ethiopia for a month-long assignment and, looked forward to trying some authentic Ethiopian cuisine. As we drove towards the restaurant, I found the views of the city to be extremely shabby. A lot of construction is going on. And, with the wet cold weather, everything looked damp and depressing, especially the concrete. There were yellow taxis in newer cars and then blue taxis with very old car models. 

Addis is framed by hills and, is full of greenery. So at least it has given some respite to one's view of the city. 

Yod Abyssinia's entrance itself was very poor. We walked through a very rough carpark to enter the premises. The restaurant itself is striking with traditional seating, beautiful decor, and stained glass windows. We ordered a traditional platter of injera and wat. Unfortunately, the food seemed cold and, I didn't enjoy it. Injera itself is served cold so all in all, I just didn't enjoy the food. Haresh feasted himself. We paid $ 25.00 for the platter, a glass of wine and a local beer. 

Afterwards, I thought we would just jump into the shops and, get myself a piece of warm clothing. We got dropped off at the Morning Star Mall. We walked from shop to shop. There wasn't any good department store. The fashion boutiques had Chinese items or some odd piece from one Western brand or the other. I balked at the prices: $ 70 for a plain sweater! We went from shop to shop. 

We stopped at a coffeeshop and got some snacks. It was reasonably priced. There was a traditional coffee corner where a lady in traditional white dress was serving coffee. 

We went to the next door Edna Mall and, Kavita enjoyed herself at the arcades. I couldn't find any shop where I could be a reasonably priced sweater or light coat. Last, we walked to the Holy Saviour Church. We walked through a garden to see the church. Beggars were at the entrance. People walking to the Church were kneeling and praying. When we got to the Church, people were kneeling at a shrine, on the walls and, some were even weeping. 

Sight seeing

I made a list of things to go see in Addis Ababa in the morning. Google came up with: 

1. "Red Terror" Martyrs' Memorial Museum: Museum dedicated to 'Red Terror' victims. History museum dedicated to victims of the 1977 & 1978 'Red Terror' period in Ethiopia.
2. Tiglachin Monument: The Tiglachin monument is a memorial to Ethiopian and Cuban soldiers involved in the Ogaden War. It was built under Mengistu Haile Mariam on Churchill Avenue in Addis Ababa. The monument is composed
3. Yekatit 12 monument: Memorial to historic massacre victims : Obelisk commemorating the politically motivated mass killings of Ethiopians by Italians in 1937
4. National Museum of Ethiopia: Ancient relics, contemporary paintings; the famous fossilized bones of the early hominid Lucy.
5. Holy Trinity Cathedral: Historic 1930s cathedral & burial site: This historic 1930s cathedral; royal burial site has a copper dome, murals; many ornate features.

You can see how many politically significant sites are in Addis. 

Today we bought tickets to Lalibela at the Ethiopian Airways office at the Hilton. I had been told from a UK friend (who had been working in Addis for a month) that the price for a return ticket would be 300 British Pounds and, local flights are monopolised by Ethiopian Airways. We bought our tickets at Ethiopian Airways at the Hilton and, paid about $ 100 each. Because we had flown in with Ethiopian, we paid $ 100.00 each. In fact, we did not have our tickets with us but the Ethiopian Airways staff was able to look up us up using our passports. 

We then proceeded to Lucy Lounge for a fantastic lunch. The service was impeccable and so was the food. I finally started to enjoy my time in Addis. Kavita wandered around the garden and, found one stunningly beautiful flower after another. It started to lightly drizzle.

The weather is how Islamabad is in November: quite chilly!

I really enjoyed seeing Lucy, our human ancestor, at the National Museum. It reminded me of 7th grade class at the American School of Bucharest and, classes with Mrs. Suma who taught us Lucy, cave paintings, etc. It's a good museum with ancient human fossils, pottery, paintings and important features of Ethiopia's royalty including Emperor Haile Selassie's Throne. 

We walked along the wide boulevard to see the Church of Maryam and, then the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The sidewalk and the boulevard is very wide linked with pine trees. Things seem a little 'shabby' and not well maintained. I had a sense of my trip in Iran in 2008 with my brother - the sense of how closed and frozen things are.

We stopped to have tea and coffee at a small 'dhaba' close to the National Museum. Next to it, some outdoor shacks were selling clothes. I managed to finally find a long sweater for 1,500 birr, that is $ 50.00! The sweater is OK but would have paid $ 10.00 or maybe $ 15.00 for it anywhere else.

The largest market in Africa is in Addis: Mercato. We were told it was too far away and, perhaps I would have found some reasonably priced warm clothes. At least I learned something from my search for warm clothes : clothes are expensive!

The experience at the churches has been quite significant. I have seen many Churches in Europe as a kid and adult but never experienced Christianity like this in Africa. The structures are very impressive and, the atmosphere was very sombre, serious and, profound. We missed the opening time of all the Churches but still could see men and women kneeling and praying at the entrances and walls. In fact, at the Trinity Church, a priest was giving a very long sermon over a microphone. 

Although I am not so religious any more and, not sure whether there is a Creator in the religious sense, it is still always a profound feeling to see worshippers and believers at holy places. That they are full of religious spirit and, are moved, praying, weeping and, in awe of the place, fills one with a certain quiet. I know how it feels to pray in earnest, eyes closed, appealing to a higher deity, seeking good fortune and blessings, protection for one's loved ones. 

We found an unofficial guide at the Church who gave us a good sense of the Church and how historical it is. In fact, Haile Selassie's tomb is in the Church and we can only see it in the day time before 5 PM. There was also a smaller church built by Emperor Menelik. He said, Ethiopia is the only place not colonised by Europeans! We all know this fact, but to actually heard this while in Ethiopia is a treat. 

We walked the overhead bridge near the Victory Monument and, got some good views of the square. The bridge was  rackety and, extremely old. 

Overall Impressions

We were told black market money exchanges have been banned. Exchange of money is strictly controlled. Exports of coffee, leather, flowers, etc are controlled by the government. 

I could not use my UK Bank Card to withdraw cash from the ATMs. Sometimes even payment through a card has been a challenge because the "system is down." 

All public places including malls and hotels and museums are staffed by security who throughly check your belongings and person before you can enter.

It seems that clothes are imported and, are extremely expensive! People are mostly wearing Western wear and since it's the rainy season, everyone is wearing warm clothes. 

Entrance to the National Museum was only 10 birr per person and I bought 30 beautiful postcards for 60 birr. It's  27.65 Birr to 1 US $. 

Taxis though are a bit of a rip off. They aren't metered and, they would like to charge you as much as they can. It cost us $ 12.00 for a one-way trip from our Hotel to the restaurant. So you need to get the hang of it and bargain as much as you can. Start with 50 birr for any trip. 

Modern coffeeshops also have the traditional coffee corner where a woman is serving coffee by roasting the beans. Everyone sits on short stools. 

Addis is a big urban space with sky scrapers.

It's not a liberalised economy as we are used to everywhere else so you will not catch familiar global brands.

The only name I recognised was Pizza Hut but wonder whether it was the real Pizza Hut.

Soup is delicious. 

Haresh said, "if all this development was done by export of coffee" then it is quite impressive. 

We are off to Lalibela tomorrow.