An Ethiopian fairy tail

It is midnight and I have to get up at 5.30 in the morning, but I can't wait to tell you this.

Today I have flewn from Cape Town to Johannesburg and from Johannesburg to Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. My connecting flight to Kilimanjaro departures only tomorrow morning, and because of that I had booked a room in a hotel near the airport. You can only imagine that I had been worried about this night in Ethiopia. First of all, I hadn't gotten a visa beforehand, so I was a bit worried how it is gonna work out. Second of all, I am travelling all alone now in Ethiopia, and I didn't have any idea how I will get to the hotel.

I flew with Ethiopian Airlines, which was an experience. The whole plane was full of black men. There was only me and two other white ladies and approximately 10 black ladies (as women are beeing called in Africa). And the two other white ladies were travelling with a man. So basically I felt different there. There was some Ethiopian music playing on the plain and one of the flight attendants wore some kind of traditional dress.

When we finally landed to Addis Ababa, my first task was to find a counter where I could get a transit visa. After a little wondering around I found it. I had passport photos and dollars with me, because I had read in Ethiopian embassy's web pages beforehand that you would need those. But no. I was just handed a piece of paper where somebody wrote in hand writing "transit" and gave me some other papers too and explained that I have to go through the customs and then go outside and somebody will come and take me to the bus, which will take me to my hotel. Then I had a look at the papers she had given me and it said something about Hotel Intercontinental. And this is when I had to go back and ask what was going on. I hadn't mentioned anything about my accommodation to the clerck and my hotel definitely wasn't supposed to be Intercontinental. I still have trouble believing what she said next: because I have to stay the night in Addis Ababa because of the connecting flight, they will pay for my accommodation in Hotel Intercontinental, and the transports there, and all the food that i will need during my stay. What!!! It pissed me off that I hadn't known that because I had already payd 93 € for the other hotel for the night. But of course I wasn't gonna choose that over Intercontinental!

Then I just went where I was told to go, sat down and waited until somebody came to guide me to the busses. So there i stood (me and 20 black men) outside the airport next to three different busses and three different bus drivers. When I asked on which bus I should hop to get to the Intercontinental, all the three drivers started shouting to each other at the same time and showing all the busses there. It sounded like this: "alalalalalalalal intercontinental alalalalalalalala intercontinental alalalalalalalalalala intercontinental alalalalalalala inter...." and that went on for minutes. Then they finally told me to take the first bus, which was a mini version of the proper busses. I stepped in and realized that there was no space - it was full of black men. (It really lookes like women - especially white women - don't travel much here!) Then I was told to take the third bus. When I started walking there, the drivers run to me and told me to take the second bus, which i did.

At first the bus drove to an other hotel, in front of which there was standing a guard dressed up like an Indian friend of mine when its - 20 degrees in Finland, and he had a rifle hanging on his shoulder. I didn't feel like going to that hotel. But everybody else went. And then I was taken to my hotel, and oh my, what a place this is. Regardless of all the poverty that wasn't too difficult to see on the way here, I refuse not to enjoy me being totally spoiled here.

The doors were opened to me as I walked towards the main entrance. My room has a balcony and everything is so automaticed that I had difficulties figuring out how the lights are turned on in the rooom, I ate a delicious 3 course dinner at the restaurant, and next I am going to take a path. And in the morning right after (assumingly good) breakfast I will be collected back to the Airport.

And this all costed me zero money (if we don't count that 93 € that I paid for the other hotel). Somebody pinch me! I love Ethiopia :)