In November 2010 my spouse and I travelled all around Ethiopia for three months by community bus with a non-public guidebook. Travel (particularly bus vacation) is a true adventure and not for the faint hearted as there is extensive journey days (even extended if the bus breaks down) on badly managed streets. But it is an excellent way to get up close and private and working experience the life and lifestyle of the locals.
Addis Ababa
We arrived at the airport at 3.30am. We experienced not booked any accommodation thanks to our early arrival so we stayed at the airport till about 7am. A taxi agreed to acquire us into the town for USD$10. We went to the Ras Lodge exactly where we had to wait around till 9am to see if they experienced a area.
Travel Tip: We stayed at the Ras Resort 3 moments due to its central location. The rate contains breakfast which is terrible but lunch and evening meal are very good.
Bahir Dar
We stayed at the Ghion Hotel on Lake Tana and did a boat cruise to the islands to see the painted church buildings. The Blue Nile Falls space is pretty but not value the long bumpy trip to get there. Since damming the river, the waterfalls are definitely absolutely nothing like the posters show.
Vacation Idea: Check if a manual is bundled with your Lake Tana boat cruise. There was 9 of us on our boat. No guide accompanied us on the boat other than for our private guidebook Samson. The very first island we visited Samson acted as intrepreter in any other case we would have not comprehended what we were searching at. The 2nd island we frequented the church information spoke English.
Gonder
The deserted castles are incredibly attention-grabbing and it is well worth hiring the guides inside the gate.
Vacation Tip: We stayed at the Belgez Pension which was low-priced, clear and peaceful but the rooms were quite tiny and cramped. They do your washing for a really smaller charge – give to the cleaners in the morning.
Simien Mountains
We did a one particular working day 4WD working day journey with a further traveller and our information Samson.
Travel Tip: We would have preferred to have stayed right away even although we are not trekkers, as the surroundings is amazing.
Lalibela
We invested 2 evenings in Lalibela exploring the awesome rock church buildings.
Travel Suggestion: Keep your entrance ticket handy as they will be checked at just about every church entrance.
Arba Minch
Arba Minch is a overnight bus end amongst Addis Ababa and Jinka.
Travel Suggestion: Invest an additional evening on 1 of the stopovers and do the lake tour.
Jinka
We employed a 4WD locally to tour the major 3 tribes in the area (Mersi, Hamer and Karo tribes). We shared this value with 3 other travellers who were being on the bus and stayed at the same lodging as us.
Vacation Tip: Invest in your bus ticket to Addis Ababa early (at minimum 1 day in progress) so you can acquire a better seat amount usually you will obtain yourself stuck at the back of the bus on the 2 working day journey. Get great ear plugs so that you can block out the sounds of the loud audio video clips enjoying.
Transportation
We used a range of transport that provided: community bus, minivan, 4WD and boat.
Vacation Tip: If you discover that quite a couple of you are heading in the very same direction, it will be additional cost-effective and comfy to hire a minivan and driver like we did from Bahar Dar to Gondar (7 people today).
Tour Manual
We utilized the providers of a private information. This was the to start with time we have employed a guidebook for the overall journey via a new place. The manual proved priceless in keeping the touts away (value the cash by itself), dealing with neighborhood tour operators and obtaining hotels.
Travel Tip: Use a non-public guide’s substantial awareness and knowledge to take pleasure in Ethiopia through the eyes of a area.