Day 129
Sleeping location: Unknown hotel, Unknown village 14.07N 37.76E, Ethiopia
Distance (km today/total): 91 / 10091
Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 64000
Decade: 80s
Distance (km today/total): 91 / 10091
Estimated climb (m today/total): 500 / 64000
Decade: 80s
Day in three words: What beaten track?
The day started with cold showers and, for once, coffee. Coffee is such a big thing here that it’s actually quite difficult to get because there’s a such a ceremony attached to it. It’s all done over coals using special cups and tables and clay jar things. First she (it’s always a she) roasts the beans and gets you to smell them. Then they are crushed and added to boiling water in a clay jar kinda thing. Finally the coffee is poured out into espresso sized cups through some straw, always with a bit of spillage, although I’m not sure this is part of the tradition. If you ask for some food alongside your coffee, the default is popcorn.
We set off into more beautiful rugged scrubland with the standard livestock wandering about. Weirdly there are still loads of camels, far from their desert home, although they seem as chilled out as usual. We battled a stiff headwind for 20km before stopping for coffee and food at a cafe run by a friendly lady who showed us pictures of a couple of other cyclists who’d come this way. From here we turned onto a dirt road which served as a shortcut between two tarmac roads. It was quite tough going but also very fun, punchy climbs following skiddy descents, and was the most interesting riding we’ve done for ages. I popped on some 80s-sequel synth pop, then some actual 80s synth pop, and enjoyed myself greatly. You haven’t lived until you’ve barrelled along an Ethiopian dirt road singing along to Video Killed the Radio Star. Unfortunately the bumps caused my drivetrain to skip and crunch in some alarming ways; it’s slowly dying, but thankfully new parts will be with me soon.
Along the dirt section we stopped under a tree for some snacks and attracted the usual audience, then I stopped by a river for a splash and attracted the usual audience from a bridge. Mostly everyone just stares silently, but they wave and smile if you engage with them. It’s kind of endearing once you get over the innate weirdness of it. After 35km of dirt we hit tarmac again, joining a beautiful smooth road that isn’t on google maps at all. For some reason there were banana skins all over the road but I used the skills learned from countless hours of Mario Kart to avoid them. Around sunset we reached a small village and decided to stop and ask about sleeping, as we didn't want the fuss of the previous night again. We asked a man in army clothes (he seemed like the most likely candidate because of his army clothes) who seemed to understand our situation and started making phone calls. Whilst this went on we went to a nearby cafe for a lemonade, but they misunderstood and brought beers, which was ok. An enormous crowd assembled to watch us, but a lovely old lady vigilantly guarded our bikes and chased any encroaching children away with a large twig, bless her.
As darkness fell we were told to follow the Army Clothes Man in a tuktuk, and ended up riding 10km in semi darkness to the next village* where there was a hotel. It was again very basic, with a jug shower and a pit toilet, but the owners were friendly and we got food and beers delivered to our room. We taught a curious child how to flick bottle caps, and the word “cat” so he could point at the cat and say it loads, then got an earlyish night.
*Which we had debated about going to in the first place, but decided against because Army Clothes Man seemed so confident that he could find us a place to stay.
We set off into more beautiful rugged scrubland with the standard livestock wandering about. Weirdly there are still loads of camels, far from their desert home, although they seem as chilled out as usual. We battled a stiff headwind for 20km before stopping for coffee and food at a cafe run by a friendly lady who showed us pictures of a couple of other cyclists who’d come this way. From here we turned onto a dirt road which served as a shortcut between two tarmac roads. It was quite tough going but also very fun, punchy climbs following skiddy descents, and was the most interesting riding we’ve done for ages. I popped on some 80s-sequel synth pop, then some actual 80s synth pop, and enjoyed myself greatly. You haven’t lived until you’ve barrelled along an Ethiopian dirt road singing along to Video Killed the Radio Star. Unfortunately the bumps caused my drivetrain to skip and crunch in some alarming ways; it’s slowly dying, but thankfully new parts will be with me soon.
Along the dirt section we stopped under a tree for some snacks and attracted the usual audience, then I stopped by a river for a splash and attracted the usual audience from a bridge. Mostly everyone just stares silently, but they wave and smile if you engage with them. It’s kind of endearing once you get over the innate weirdness of it. After 35km of dirt we hit tarmac again, joining a beautiful smooth road that isn’t on google maps at all. For some reason there were banana skins all over the road but I used the skills learned from countless hours of Mario Kart to avoid them. Around sunset we reached a small village and decided to stop and ask about sleeping, as we didn't want the fuss of the previous night again. We asked a man in army clothes (he seemed like the most likely candidate because of his army clothes) who seemed to understand our situation and started making phone calls. Whilst this went on we went to a nearby cafe for a lemonade, but they misunderstood and brought beers, which was ok. An enormous crowd assembled to watch us, but a lovely old lady vigilantly guarded our bikes and chased any encroaching children away with a large twig, bless her.
As darkness fell we were told to follow the Army Clothes Man in a tuktuk, and ended up riding 10km in semi darkness to the next village* where there was a hotel. It was again very basic, with a jug shower and a pit toilet, but the owners were friendly and we got food and beers delivered to our room. We taught a curious child how to flick bottle caps, and the word “cat” so he could point at the cat and say it loads, then got an earlyish night.
*Which we had debated about going to in the first place, but decided against because Army Clothes Man seemed so confident that he could find us a place to stay.
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