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Ethiopia is a very interesting place. My parents are from there and I spent decades living there. It is very historical and unlike what a previous poster said it is a mainly christian country. But everyone gets along quite well. Best coffee around too.
I spent three weeks in Ethiopia last year. They are very pleasant and friendly people, but it is still a backward country. Addis Ababa is not much worth seeing from the touristic standpoint, there is barely a building in the city more than 100 years old. Except for the main thoroughfares, there are very few streets that a car can be driven on, even in the heart of the city, people walk from the busy streets over steep ankle-spraining cobblestones to their houses. Outside Addis, I only stayed a week in Dire Dawa (pronounced dray-dwah), since I was on my way to Somaliland. Dire Dawa is a sleepy town that was until recently Ethiopia's second city'. Nothing to see there, either, but don't leave your phone or anything outside your hotel room, the monkeys will come and take it.
That was my first visit back to Africa since the 70s, and I was surprised to see how little things have changed. More cars now, and cell phones are everywhere, but the continent is still in another century. Women in Addis dress beautifully in traditional dresses. Take warm clothes, it is cold in Addis. You'll want a jacket or sweater, even in midday.
I believe the old railway to Djibouti is now running again, I heard when I was there that was making its first runs at the time. It would make an interesting train ride, but Djibouti is not worth going to, it's expensive and not very nice nor interesting.
As I understand it, it is very challenging to get into Eritrea, the only open border is from South Sudan which is difficult enough to get to. Once you enter Eritrea, you can never go back to Ethiopia.
You can get an interesting look at the underbelly of life in Addis, by watching episodes of Ketezegaw Dose on Youtube. It's a well-produced crime reenactment series, very realistic exteriors.
As I understand it, it is very challenging to get into Eritrea, the only open border is from South Sudan which is difficult enough to get to. Once you enter Eritrea, you can never go back to Ethiopia.
But yeah, from Ethiopia, no flights into Eritrea. I was wondering about the visa stamps. That makes sense that Ethiopia would block anyone with an Eritrea stamp from coming in. Unfortunate though, but not uncommon for countries to do that.
I spent three weeks in Ethiopia last year. They are very pleasant and friendly people, but it is still a backward country. Addis Ababa is not much worth seeing from the touristic standpoint, there is barely a building in the city more than 100 years old. Except for the main thoroughfares, there are very few streets that a car can be driven on, even in the heart of the city, people walk from the busy streets over steep ankle-spraining cobblestones to their houses. Outside Addis, I only stayed a week in Dire Dawa (pronounced dray-dwah), since I was on my way to Somaliland. Dire Dawa is a sleepy town that was until recently Ethiopia's second city'. Nothing to see there, either, but don't leave your phone or anything outside your hotel room, the monkeys will come and take it.
That was my first visit back to Africa since the 70s, and I was surprised to see how little things have changed. More cars now, and cell phones are everywhere, but the continent is still in another century. Women in Addis dress beautifully in traditional dresses. Take warm clothes, it is cold in Addis. You'll want a jacket or sweater, even in midday.
I believe the old railway to Djibouti is now running again, I heard when I was there that was making its first runs at the time. It would make an interesting train ride, but Djibouti is not worth going to, it's expensive and not very nice nor interesting.
As I understand it, it is very challenging to get into Eritrea, the only open border is from South Sudan which is difficult enough to get to. Once you enter Eritrea, you can never go back to Ethiopia.
You can get an interesting look at the underbelly of life in Addis, by watching episodes of Ketezegaw Dose on Youtube. It's a well-produced crime reenactment series, very realistic exteriors.
Nice! I was there again in 2017 as well. Yep, pretty similar to my experiences with Addis Ababa. I really think they have a rich culture, fascinating people, and so much to offer...
BUT....the city. Even with the new metro line...it is more of a commuter line, that just spreads things out further. The city isn't pleasurable to walk around, as just too many sidewalks that aren't so functional, and very few streetlights at night. It has a good future, but I"m routinely surprised it just isn't there yet.
With Ethiopian Airlines, the Metro in the city....you'd think it would catch up with streetlights and decent sidewalks, but they are still largely absent.
That being said, culturally, there is something fascinating about the city, and once some of these things are fixed, I could see it become a very interesting place. BOLE for one, this has so many people walking around at night, but so few streetlights or walkable sidewalks. You'd think that all the money that area attracts, they'd somehow put it back into that community, so they could make more money out of it.
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