So, after a long time thinking I am here starting my first blog entry. As this is something totally new to me, I also want to start telling here my first travel story, of the first country I had visited all by myself - Ethiopia. Now, this might sound like quite some choice to go there first - well it was.
It all began with a simple dream - I wanted to travel once around the world before I start my studies. After my military service I packed my huuuge bag (with a lot of things I didn’t need), booked a round-the-world-ticket and there I was on a plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full of courage - and even more full of naivety - I landed 7 hours later. Nothing was as I imagined. The courage was gone and I didn’t want to leave my hotel room anymore. My first trip had started.
The first time I had the courage to go outside I had carefully packed my bag - a 1.5-liter bottle of water, my guide book in the size of a bible (not one page read) and my Nikon D5100 with zoom lens - everything locked with a padlock. My other backpack I had also packed - so that the cleaning lady could not steal my underwear - or whatever I had imagined then. And then there was my 55-litre Pacsafe Exo Mesh Backpack Protection. About 2 kg heavy, taking up a lot of space in my bag and costing me about $80. The ultimate protection from all evil cleaning ladies! At least until I tried to install it over my 55-litre backpack and it wouldn’t fit. I forced it, but it only made my insect repellent burst inside my bag. The Pacsafe obviously hadn’t protected me from own perfectionism.
Leaving my bag unsafe and soaked in deet, I hit the dusty streets of Addis Ababa for the first time. My hotel was in the capital’s Southeastern district, an area with a lot of roadside markets, but only very few western tourists. I felt everybody staring at me - obviously, with my foldable super light sun hat, deep blue trekking shirt, trousers with removable legs, the most colourful sneakers on the market and a small backpack to which I held on with both hands.
First destination: buying a SIM card. I had found a small store selling these at a reasonable price, but I didn’t get what the owner of the store was saying. With a friendly smile, I tried to remind him that I didn’t understand any Amharic. He replied, to my embarrassment, “I am speaking English with you.”
Next destination - 30 minutes later: Hotel
The second day I had already way more courage, mainly because spending an entire month in a hotel room would be very boring and I could also not tell people that I had seen Ethiopia when staying in my safe zone only. I packed my bag again, locked everything inside, left my smartphone at the hotel and took off. Still a little paranoid someone might steal my camera I would only open my bag for a minute in a safe corner of a random house, take the camera out, take one single picture and drop it into my daypack again. Three of the very few pictures I have from this day are the ones I will be posting here below. Still good ones, I have to say.
After walking several hours without destination and the sun having disappeared at 6.30 p.m. sharp to my great surprise, I found a restaurant, ate some injera and wanted to head back to the hotel. Not knowing how to hail a taxi, the very friendly security guard helped me find one. We crossed the road - I almost got run over by a truck without lights in a street without lights. In a side alley, we found my ride home. Happy for a customer he paid the security guard for his friendly service, even though I felt like I should have given him some money (which I indirectly did + a friendly surcharge of my driver, if you want to point that out, but I didn’t know this at the time). Back at the hotel I dove into the bedsheets immediately.
Diary, 3 April 2015
“I have been to Addis for 2 days now. Initially I wouldn’t even leave my hotel room. The world here on 2400 metres altitude is completely a different one - nothing is like at home. Goats are chased through the streets. Sidewalks are mostly unpaved, completely covered with gravel or even interrupted by massive and deep holes. For walking I need to look in all directions - is a car running me over from left or right? Is someone about to kill me by throwing something from a construction site onto the street?
I have just met my guide Alem. He explained to me the different possible routes through Ethiopia. I have chosen the one with a private 4x4 through the country for USD 130 per day + additional costs of USD 70 per day x 12 days. I am now looking for a travel buddy to split the cost, because all by myself, this is a lot…”
