We are in Addis today and have decided to stay put for the day to rest and explore a little of the city. We are staying in an amazing hotel with world class facilities and have taken the opportunity to use them to its fullest.
I was unaware that Ethiopia had been a communist state for 16 years after the suspected assassination of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1975 or that Addis Ababa is actually a young city that was only built in 1887. Ethiopia has always struck me as one of those exotic and ancient destinations and whilst the areas around Axum in the North date back to the Queen of Sheba and the start of the Solomonic dynasty, Addis itself is the youngest of the 4 capitals that this country has had in its history…interesting stuff…for me anyway!!
I met with Flavio Bonaiuti this morning (the KTM man in Addis) after hearing about him for many years. My friend Shaun Barron did this trip a few years ago and broke his knee in northern Ethiopia and notwithstanding that he is not even a KTM client (probably why he broke his knee), Flavio rode 500km to assist Shaun with his bike. We had dinner with Flavio tonight, he took us to a local traditional restaurant called Fasika where we sampled incredibly delicious Ethiopian cuisine washed down with fantastic Ethiopian Bedele beer whilst being entertained by local music and dancing. Flavio has been an encyclopaedia of information about what to expect over the next 7 days whilst we travel through Northern Ethiopia. Thanks Flavio, it was great to meet you and hope to return the favour in SA one day.
The day has been a well deserved break from the bikes and tomorrow morning we leave at 7am for Bahir Dar about 550km from Addis Ababa. Apparently, the road conditions..i.e., people, cows, goats etc will remain the same until we get to the Sudan but we are excited about the next 10 days which is kind of the highlight of this whole trip for us.
Addis skyline.
The Addis Sheraton.
Dinner at Fasika with Flavio.
Traditional Ethiopian meal of Kitffo, Bozena Shiro Watt, Yebeg Alcha Watt and Yebeg Tibes…The whole plate (barring the metal bit) was a huge pancake of sorts and edible.
