Exploring Addis Ababa

Before I start on today’s fun there’s a story I need to share. 

My room has a light at the entrance, strip lighting and a light on either side of the bed. It also has a light switch at the entrance, three separate light switches on one side of the bed and two on the other. 

It would appear that none of the six switches connect permanently to any particular light. I discovered this last night as I went to bed and tried to turn off the light in the entrance way. I tried all of the switches and none worked to switch it off but with the switch on the right side of the bed I managed to turn on the light on the left side. That same switch would not turn that light off but the one on the left did turn it off and also turned on the one on the right side. Which ever switch I used it did a different thing each time.  I got so confused I even drew the positions of the switches on paper and labelled them so I knew what was what. At one stage I gave up and went to bed with the entrance way light on. During the night I got up to the bathroom and turned the light on. The entrance one went off and the bathroom one went on. Work done I closed the bathroom door and went to bed. I briefly thought about how dangerous this must be and then decided the lighting system was controlled by mysterious beings, rolled over and went to sleep. 

Because I am so confused with the roading system, the multiple names for each road and the lack of usable maps (Google has weird street names too) I booked myself a city tour and this morning was collected by two young guys in a rather nice car. Han was the guide and Destaw the driver. They work as a team for the tours in the city as with the traffic it is too hard to drive and explain. 

Our first stop the Holy Trinity Cathedral an Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral that looked more like it belonged to the Church of England rather than the Orthodox religion. Devoid of the gold and painted icons but surrounded by stunning stained glass windows, each depicting significant events from both the old and new testaments. Han knew so much about the Orthodox religion, which here seems even more conservative than the Greek version. 

Throughout the church were red drums. Narrow at one end to depict the Old Testament and wider at the other to depict the New Testament and growth. They are covered in red fabric to depict the blood of Christ and bound by strips of cow hide. 

The Ethiopian service lasts around three hours during which parishioners have to remain standing. To give the elderly simething to lean on they are given a ‘stick’ which can fit under their armpit and they can lean on it. The shape of the stick also has some religious significance but looks very much like an Archbishops staff. I tried leaning on it and had a sore armpit within a couple of minutes. 

We also saw Emporer Haile Sillassies tomb each part/shape having some significance. 

Outside many women were praying and I asked why to be told it could be for a number of reasons:

• They were menstruating
  
• They had sex last night (not applicable to men who enjoyed it last night)
  
• They had eaten or had something to drink today (again not applicable to the men)
  
• They had just had a baby. 
  

I made no comment and we carried on. 

From there we embarked on a trecherous drive through Eucalypt forests up to Entoti Hill 3,200 metres above sea level. There we saw what used to be the Emperor Menelik’s Palace and had great views of the city. 

Most of you will know that looking at stuff doesn’t excite me but nevertheless it was interesting to learn about some of the history and understand more about the Ethiopian Orthodox religion. 

Han told me that Orthodox and Muslim get along very well and live in harmony. He is a devout orthodox. I noticed that I wasn’t taken to a mosque or told anything about the Moslem beliefs so wonder how true the statement was. Destaw also said he was Orthodox. His dreadlocks and rasta hat seemed not to reinforce his statement, but maybe he is a trendy orthodox. 

On our way up to the hill the look of the place changed quite dramatically. 

Small shanty’s took over from apartment blocks, the roads were worse and the people dressed more conservatively with the majority of women wearing a headscarf/shawl. White for the Orthodox and black or beige for the Moslems. Also quite a few Moslem women were wearing a full burqua. 

At one stage we were stopped at the lights and next to us was a shared taxi (a run down mini van that crams as many people as possible into it and drops them where they need to go.) I looked into the taxi and in the seat where I was looking all I could see was black so assumed there was no one sitting there. Suddenly two eyes blinked and I realised I was looking at a woman in a burqua with ever so tiny slits for her eyes. 

More on the taxis. Regular metered taxis come in two flavours. Lovely looking yellow and green newish cars that are clean and run by Lucy’s Taxis (no connection with Jucy Lucy in NZ). Then there are what you could call cars at a oinch. Blue and white wrecks. No other word for it. No way will I get in one. The dents and rust can only indicate the number of accidents they have been in and although the traffic here is insane it is only taxis that are banged up and rusty. 

Then there are the blue and white shared taxis which charge a flat fee depending on where you are going and are much much cheaper than the metered. People wait in groups at pre determined places to get one of these then they squeeze in as much as possible. Sardines have nothing on these. I saw one go past and a guy had his bum hanging out the window as there was no room for it inside. 

After taking a few shots of the smog covered scenery we moved on down to the National Museum where Han whisked me round as I gathered we were running late. But I did get to see the 3.2million year old remains of Lucy so named because when the bones were first discovered in 1974 ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was playing on the radio. 

The Museum also showed the differences in bone structure between the humans in Lucy’s time and the apes, and then also with human remains from much later. 

Lunch time and I was taken to the Taitu hotel, the first ever hotel in Addis Ababa and named after Emperor Menelik’s wife Taitu. 

 From what I had read the restaurant was very popular and cheap. Indeed it was full. And it was a buffet, a ‘fasting’ buffet as that, advertised to tourists as a ‘vegan’ buffet.   It was little more than lots of plates of chopped salad vegetables, some injera, a few sauces and some ‘spagetti with tomato sauce’ the only hot thing. I nibbled on injera and some of the sauces careful to only use my left hand as I ripped off the injera and scooped the sauce. Washed down with a coke I paid my bill (about $8NZD) just as Han was coming to collect me. 

Destaw and I enjoyed a coffee which was pretty good but Ethiopian style with sugar, something I gave away years ago. 

While Han was off on a message Destaw offered his guide services to me for tomorrow or for tonight when he could take me to the club where he plays some sort of ‘Rasta Jazz’ - his words. I got out of that pretty quick and thought it very cheeky that he was trying to drum up business for himself when his partner was out of the way. Anyway I am not going anywhere. 

I was looking forward to the next stop. The Merkato. The largest outdoor market in Africa. I was intrigued and having read about the pickpockets prepared myself and attached all my belongings to my body. This is where most of the people in this city do their shopping; anything from fruit and veg to toilet bowls. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this, and I have been to some large insane markets in my time. This was beyond insane, streets and streets of permanent ramshackle ‘stalls’ grouped by the type of goods they sell, the seller peddling their wares while sitting on the ground outside. I didn’t even get out of the car but kept shooting photos through the dirty window (as you can see in the photos) although there were too many people crowded around the car for me to get photos of the stalls. The Merkarto is also the dumping ground for the city’s recycling.  

I had been told not to open the window as my camera might be stolen out of my hands!!! so it was quite difficult to capture anything meaningful that showed the chaos. 

I’m not sure if I was excited or horrified by it all but needless to say I wont be returning as I had planned. I would get lost in a second and had no desire to purchase any of the wares on offer. 

My tour over I am returned to the hotel where Destaw had another try to gain my custom. No go mate!

Time for coffee and banana cake I take a different road to go exploring. Along the way I found an artisan store with some exquisite handcrafts which I would like to have a second look at. When I asked for their business card so I could find my way back I noticed it didnt have an address on it, so asked the street name. None if the staff knew, all they could tell me was that it was opposite the EU premises. Fortunately another tourist filled me in with the address which she had found on her paper map. Must be the only one in the city. 

Having located my position on google maps and following the street numbering system I easily found my way back to the coffee shop I went to yesterday. Again I enjoyed banana cake and an Americano. I have now marked myself some landmarks and tomorrow I go exploring in the other direction. 

Dinner?? Rules broken again. Not Ethiopian but the best Turkish at the Hanedan Restaurant. I have just devoured a huge divine chunk of Turkish Bread, dipped into the best turkish chilli sauce I have ever had. My main a beautifully presented Adana kebab perfectly spiced and ever so tender, accompanied by grilled tomatoes, grilled chillis, homemade fries and flat bread. As good as any kebab I had in Turkey and true to its roots. Baklava would have finished it off nicely but in its absence I settled for apple tea and went on my way with a very full tummy and a smile on my face.  Middle Eastern and Turkish foods remain some of my favourites and this was way up there with the best. 

I will be back to Addis a few times before I leave and so will be back. Easy as it is only 50 metres from my hotel.