Road trip: Ethiopia

by Sean McLachlan on

Ethiopia is like the United States–it’s best seen on a long road trip. The easiest way to see Ethiopia’s beautiful landscape and ancient monuments is to hire a driver and vehicle in the capital Addis Ababa.

My wife and I picked Abey Roads based on a personal recommendation and decided to celebrate our tenth anniversary by doing the popular two-week “northern loop” encompassing the provinces of Amhara and Tigray and the most famous of Ethiopia’s ancient sites. Our driver Sntayehu Mekonen turned out to be a handy translator/guide/fixer, not to mention a fun travel companion. Many independent travelers prefer going it alone on public transport and while that is certainly cheaper, hiring a vehicle gives you more freedom of movement plus someone who is able to tell you about the country and show you out-of-the-way spots. So after some good first impressions of Ethiopia, we headed out.

The ride north out of Addis Ababa climbs up the steep slopes of the Entonto Hills through eucalyptus forest. This fast-growing Australian import was first planted by the Emperor Menelik more than a century ago. It provides a ready supply of construction material and the leaves are used for fuel. Women carry huge bundles of the leaves on their heads several miles downhill to sell in the market. Trucks speed past them with mountains of the stuff. Coming uphill we see one of Ethiopia’s famous runners, sprinting up a steep incline at 3,000 meters (9,000+ feet). Runners train in these hills so that when they race at lower elevations they can easily outpace the competition.

Up and over the hills and we’re speeding along the Oromo and Amhara uplands, a green and fertile region that looks nothing like the image most people have of Ethiopia. Acacia and eucalyptus dot the countryside and thatched roof huts are everywhere, their walls made of the thin trunks of eucalyptus. Children herding cows and goats wave at our car as their fathers thresh teff, a popular grain in Ethiopia. Teff is used to make injeera, the sour bread typical of Ethiopian cuisine, and it fetches a higher price than any other cereal crop. The tiny grains (the word derives from the Amharic term for “lost”) are separated from their husks by having cattle walk in circles over a heap of it until all the husks are crushed.

The first stop for most travelers on the northern historic loop is the monastery of Debre Libanos, 100 km north of Addis Ababa. A rough dirt road winds down a sheer 700 meter canyon to one of the holiest spots for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It was here in a cave in the cliff that the holy man Tekle Heymonot lived for many years praying and fasting. Deciding this wasn’t enough, he stood on one leg until the other one fell off. Some paintings of the saint show him ascending to heaven, his detached leg equipped with its own set of wings.

%Gallery-87468%Like holy places the world over, Debre Libanos is permeated with a sense of transcendent calm. The verdant cliffs overlooking it to one side and the sweeping views on the other make are beautiful, and the church’s bright dome shines in the sun, appearing smaller than it is in the imposing landscape.

Once inside the scene changes completely. The interior is dim, lit only by candles and colored light filtering through a row of stained glass windows. Men and women worship on separate sides, their prayers mingling with the chants of priests intoning ancient hymns in front of Tekla Heymonot’s tomb. The liturgical language is Ge’ez, an ancient tongue that uses the same alphabet as Amharic but is unintelligible to modern speakers, a bit like Latin.

Our guide is a former engineer who speaks flawless English. Many years ago he got sick and his parents brought him here to be healed. Miraculously he was, and he gave up his job to become a monk. He takes us to every corner of the compound, from the cellar where monks stand in a circle chanting for hours as they lean wearily on staffs, up to the cave of Tekla Heymonot, where holy water drips from the ceiling into blue plastic buckets. He takes us to every place but one–the holy of holies found in every Ethiopian Orthodox Church, where the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, is hidden from the sight of all but the priests and monks. The true Ark is said to be in a special building in the northern city of Axum. Only a single caretaker is allowed to gaze upon it.

The best thing about travel by car is seeing the in-between places. Many visitors to Ethiopia bypass the country’s long and often rough roads by flying from city to city. That’s no way to learn about a country. After Debre Libanos the next popular stop on the overland route is the source of the Blue Nile. To be honest it’s nothing more than a geographical curiosity–a muddy little spring that’s considered so holy that visitors can’t photograph it. But getting there proved that the journey is not the destination. Bumping along a rocky back road we spot a horse race in a nearby field. Local farmers, decked out in red and gold costumes, are racing in pairs across a long stretch of pasture marked out with poles as a small crowd cheers them on. We randomly pick our favorites and cheer too.

This of, course, attracts everybody’s attention, and soon we’re encircled by curious kids practicing their schoolbook English. After we decide we’ve stolen enough of the horsemen’s thunder, we say goodbye and go to the source of the Blue Nile. The same thing happens again. Soon the Nile is forgotten and we’re trading English words for Amharic. “Butterfly,” we say, pointing at one flying past. “Birabiro!” shout a dozen kids. “Acacia?” “Graal!” “Pen?” “Esceribto!”

Some of the kids are in high school and have good enough English to carry on a conversation. My wife explains what her work as an astronomer is like and encourages the girls to study science. As I watch her surrounded by these girls, telling them can be anything they want in life, I’m reminded of one of the reasons I married her.

And that’s what a tenth anniversary trip is all about, isn’t it?

A renovated NYC boutique hostel, from $24 per person per night

by Amy Chen on

Is a hostel still a hostel if you get a private bathroom and a room that looks like this?

The recently renovated Broadway Hotel & Hostel on the Upper West Side is blurring the line between backpacker digs and, well, boutique hotels. Billing itself as New York’s first boutique hostel, the property is promoting dorm-style rooms that start at $24 per person per night, while a private space like the one to the right will run at least $119 for two people.

The dorm-style rooms have been switched to a more spacious setup that features one bunk bed for two people, as opposed to squishing four people into the space. Booking the dorm-style room category means you’ll have to share bathrooms, though there’s a sink in your room. (How very European.) Like other hostels, a solo traveler can be paired with a roommate of the same gender if you ask.

To upgrade the hostel experience, consider booking one of the private rooms that has a bathroom en suite (which I consider a luxury by hostel standards). Even for April travel dates, I still found plenty of availability for the private rooms; prices will vary if the bed type is a double (from $89), a queen (from $109), or two twins (from $119). The beds are each covered in a crisp white down duvet, and the private rooms come with amenities like flatscreen TVs and iPod docking stations.

Linens and towels with daily housekeeping service are included in all rates. There is no curfew or lockout. Common spaces include a lobby with free Wi-Fi and a fireplace. There’s also a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

As someone who has let visitors crash on my couch so they can save a little dough, I suddenly feel like my New York apartment and hospitality skills are very inferior. But I should note that recent TripAdvisor reviews are mixed, so as always, practice due diligence in researching beforehand. For example, payment for the dorm-style rooms is cash-only, so make sure you have enough funds to cover your stay.

Update: A Broadway Hotel & Hostel spokesperson informs that they’ve just updated their website; major credit cards are accepted. However, the balance of your stay is due up front, so make sure you’re prepared to pay with either cash or by credit card.%Gallery-73514%

Before you go, be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; and shows how to cook brats the German way!

First impressions of Ethiopia

by Sean McLachlan on

They say first impressions are lasting impressions, and while that’s a cliché, strong first impressions of a country can tell you a lot.

I’ve been in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, for four days now. My wife has just joined me and I’m treating her to a two-week road trip around the historic northern part of the country to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Memories make the best presents, after all.

This is our first time in sub-Saharan Africa and we’ve both been taken by surprise, summed up by my wife’s assessment of the Ethiopians: “They’re like us.”

(She’s Spanish, so when she says “us” she means Mediterranean people.)

To a great extent they are–in attitudes, priorities, even many mannerisms. With 1500 years of Christianity and an even longer period of nationhood, along with several centuries of Islamic learning and contact with the Mediterranean, Middle East, and South Asia, they’ve developed a culture similar enough to Southern Europe to be recognizable while different enough to be intriguing.

Take social life, for instance. Ethiopians have a great cafe culture and love to while away the hours sipping coffee, chatting with friends, and reading the paper at their favorite cafe. Addis Ababa has a wealth of cafes, both traditional and modern, to suit every mood. The Ethiopians discovered coffee, and it’s equally excellent everywhere, so you pick your place by location and decor.

Their attitude to education is similar to ours too. Private schools abound, the capital has plenty of good bookshops, and every city of any size has at least one university. I’ll be taking a closer look at the schools in a later post in the series.

There’s a relaxed relationship between the sexes here that’s much like our own. While many people frown on premarital sex, that doesn’t stop them from having dating. This has a beneficial effect for female Western travelers in that they won’t be constantly harassed by chronically lonely men like often happens in northern India and parts of the Middle East. Both male and female travelers will receive a fair amount of innocent flirting, though. Considering how good looking the Ethiopians are, this isn’t a bad thing.

%Gallery-85449%I’m ashamed to admit that I thought Addis Ababa was going to be dirty. While it’s a poor city, a small army of street sweepers keeps it pretty tidy. They can’t stop the dust that blows everywhere, though, and the pollution is as bad as a Western city during rush hour. One stark difference is the poverty. There are countless beggars. Many of them are farmers whose crops have failed and they’ve been forced to come to the city to find food. Others are handicapped or have suffered injuries that keep them from working. More prosperous Ethiopians readily give to beggars and don’t judge them simply because they’re poor. This is a pleasant difference from our own culture.

So in the first four days we haven’t had any real culture shock. Expats living in Addis Ababa say it’s easy to slip into daily life here. The Ethiopians we know in Madrid say the same thing about Spain!

Of course we’ve only seen the capital city so far and talked to members of only three of Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups, so as we travel around Ethiopia for the next two months I suspect we’ll discover many differences.

But I bet we’ll find some more similarities too.

Woman’s body found inside a motel bed frame

by Melanie Nayer on

The body of a Memphis mother of five was discovered stuffed inside a hotel bed frame, according to local Memphis news services.

Sony Millbrook, 28, was first reported missing in late January. News reports say Millbrook was staying at the Budget Lodge hotel and was last seen on Jan. 27. A missing persons case was opened a few days after her disappearance, and family members had later come to clean her belongings from the motel.

The case ended abruptly today (March 17) when Millbrook’s body was inside the bed frame in the room she was occupying.

According to MSNBC.com, “Millbrook’s room had been cleaned many times since Jan. 28, workers told police. The room also had been rented out several times since her disappearance.

On Monday, motel staff called detectives after a foul odor coming from the room led to the discovery.

Police said Millbrook’s body had been stuffed in the metal box frame, which sits on the floor. The box springs and mattress also set inside the metal frame.”

[via The Commercial Appeal, Memphis]

Are Delta Skymiles worth anything any more?

by Grant Martin on

The ire of Delta Skymiles members continues to grow stronger and more vocal.

To summarize, many loyal Delta passengers are miffed at the recent poor value of the airline’s frequent flyer miles, or Skymiles. It’s true that on the surface the airline claims to offer mileage redemptions for the same price as their competitors — but when one actually goes to search for available tickets, those cheap seats are almost nowhere to be found.

The Cranky Flier sums up the problems pretty well over at his blog, where he simply states:

One thing I’ve found… is that Delta SkyMiles are really not easy to burn and when you do, they end up costing a lot more than on other airlines in terms of miles and dollars. As a loyalty program, SkyMiles is hard for me to love as a non-elite.

One can see from the rocking comment section beneath the post that there is unanimous agreement from the ranks. Want more insight? Head over to the Delta thread on Flyertalk where frustrated passengers have been venting for months.

For Delta’s part they acknowledge the difficulties with their award calendar but don’t seem really interested in finding immediate solutions. Blaming IT integration issues, they hope to have things ironed out by summer.

And until then? Diversify your mileage portfolio.

RELATED: Where did all the bargain fares to Europe go?