The road to Addis Ababa (2)

Jinka to Addis Ababa was a two day afair with a stop over in Arba Minch. The first leg ran smoothly and we arrived at our stopover destination in good time.

Last time we were in Arba Minch I had left Di's record book in the internet cafe. It had a lot of valuable information, including our expenses in it so we wanted to get it back. Due to the Sunday syndrome all the shops were shut. I waited outside until a familiar face showed up. It was the friendly driver that took us to the crocodile market. I went up and greeted him like a familiar friend and he was very warm in return. I began to explain the problem but he already knew why I was there. He pulled out his mobile and tried to organise someone to open the shop but no one was answering. He noted where we were staying and said he'd drop it over to us. We went back to our room and waited. Within 10 minutes there was a knock at the door. When I opened it I was surprised to see Karsa. We had planned to meet and some how he had tracked down our whereabouts. We jumped into the truck and were introduced to his two girls. He drove us back to his house where we were seated for an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. As we waited for the coffee to heat up we studied the lounge room in detail. Compared to the mud or cow shit constructed houses we had visited in the past this one was a palace. It could be compared to an okay house back home. Karsa took the time to show us his daughters school results and tell us that she wanted to attend university overseas, despite her being all of 10 years old. Di and I didn't like where the conversation was going and we tried to minimise our feedback. As the conversation was changing his eldest daughter entered the room carrying scrambled eggs, bread and injera. We weren't really hungry but we ate anyway, we even drank the water out of politeness. The coffee finished boiling and we were each served a cup as incense wafted around the room. We drank it down and Karsa offered to drive us back. He brought his daughters to our hotel and we got a few photos of us all togethor. After confirming he had our details we said our goodbyes. Di and I both agreed that he was angling at something with the university abroad conversation but besides that the experience had been worthwhile.

Without waiting to take a breath we left the hotel again. Our book had not been dropped at our room so we tried the internet cafe again. This time two men were waiting for us in the doorway. We thanked them profusely and collected the book. We finished our time in Arba Minch with one last dinner at the tourist hotel.

For day two of the bus ride we swapped seats because the bruises on Di's knees said we had to. Di nearly cried as we whisked through Sodo without stopping for Ethiopia's best bread but it didn't worry me as it meant we were making good time. This proved to be true and we arrived in Addis with daylight to spare. For our third stay in Addis we chose the Bole Rd area, particuarly because of its proximity to the airport. We found a hotel and chose to hoof it to our predetermined restaurant. I had found it in the Lonely Planet. Said to serve gigantic portions of Tex-Mex meals I had been salivating for days. After walking for over an hour we were told that it had closed down. To my dismay and Di's fortunes this meant we were having Middle Eastern instead.