Day 154
Sleeping location: Armaniya Hotel, Armaniya, Ethiopia
Distance (km today/total): 86 / 11244
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1400 / 81900
Then there was: 1
Distance (km today/total): 86 / 11244
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1400 / 81900
Then there was: 1
Day in three words: What goes down...
Despite the presence of the mosque/itoes I slept pretty well and am not even sure the sunrise call to prayer happened. After enjoying our night apart Rebecca and I decided to test out a few days apart, agreeing to meet in Addis 300km ahead*, so she set off half an hour before me. To kick off solo cycling I had a nice descent, down into the lushest green valley so far, then up and down through more lush green valleys. The roads were reasonably quiet and free of hassling kids, but to make up for this adults started asking for money, including one security guard who was literally earning money whilst asking me for money. I did have some nice interactions though, with a nice lady and her son at her coffee shop, and at a broken tap where I was brought some water in a little kettle so I could have a wash. The hassle and attention in this country is at times overwhelming but it usually comes from a good place.
The land descended gradually through increasingly dry land to the lowest point for ages, 1130m. but it’s ok because in Ethiopia what comes down must go back up, and the way to Addis involved 2100m of almost continuous climb up to a 3200m pass. At the nadir it was hot and lots of people were selling onions and khat. The first bit of the climb was 25km of gradual ups and downs, but because of the heat it was hard work I began wishing I’d bought some of the khat (and learnt how to chew it right). I stopped in a town called Shewa Robit because my Scottish friend is called Stewart Roberts, and spent an amusing half an hour taking pictures of signs with his “name” in them. Further along I was followed by a kid who kept saying “hey turkey” and “turkey money”. I kept replying “why am I a turkey?” but he had no satisfactory answer. The area was still pretty quiet and when I stopped to refuel with biscuits and fake Nutella I was miraculously undisturbed for a whole 15 minutes.
The refuelling was handy because soon afterwards the concerted climb started. The road wound up through trees with good views, with stiff gradients but nothing stupid. It stayed blessedly quiet so hassle was very limited. After 10km of this it was sunset and I rolled into a small village hoping there would be somewhere to stay. On the way into the village two dogs were chasing a goat, hopefully so they could just chat with it and do nothing more sinister. The village surprisingly contained a proper hotel, with a sign in English and everything, and I was even more pleasantly surprised by a room containing a private bathroom with actual hot water, much needed after a sweaty day. In the room was a praying mantis which flew around for a bit, causing chaos because I wasn’t actually sure if it could hurt me or not. I went on a hunt for spaghetti and found a nice lady who made some kind of bespoke and very tasty veg spaghetti dish for me. Despite Rebecca’s absence I had company in the form of a legion of mosquitoes, several of whom I killed whilst I waited for my food. When I came to pay there was some confusion as it seemed scandalously cheap even for Ethiopia. She kept pointing to the beer and saying 25, then to the pasta plate and saying 85, then charging me 40. After several attempts to confirm this I gave up and left.
*Bike touring with someone is pretty intense and we’d always discussed cycling apart for periods, we just hadn’t got round to it yet.
Despite the presence of the mosque/itoes I slept pretty well and am not even sure the sunrise call to prayer happened. After enjoying our night apart Rebecca and I decided to test out a few days apart, agreeing to meet in Addis 300km ahead*, so she set off half an hour before me. To kick off solo cycling I had a nice descent, down into the lushest green valley so far, then up and down through more lush green valleys. The roads were reasonably quiet and free of hassling kids, but to make up for this adults started asking for money, including one security guard who was literally earning money whilst asking me for money. I did have some nice interactions though, with a nice lady and her son at her coffee shop, and at a broken tap where I was brought some water in a little kettle so I could have a wash. The hassle and attention in this country is at times overwhelming but it usually comes from a good place.
The land descended gradually through increasingly dry land to the lowest point for ages, 1130m. but it’s ok because in Ethiopia what comes down must go back up, and the way to Addis involved 2100m of almost continuous climb up to a 3200m pass. At the nadir it was hot and lots of people were selling onions and khat. The first bit of the climb was 25km of gradual ups and downs, but because of the heat it was hard work I began wishing I’d bought some of the khat (and learnt how to chew it right). I stopped in a town called Shewa Robit because my Scottish friend is called Stewart Roberts, and spent an amusing half an hour taking pictures of signs with his “name” in them. Further along I was followed by a kid who kept saying “hey turkey” and “turkey money”. I kept replying “why am I a turkey?” but he had no satisfactory answer. The area was still pretty quiet and when I stopped to refuel with biscuits and fake Nutella I was miraculously undisturbed for a whole 15 minutes.
The refuelling was handy because soon afterwards the concerted climb started. The road wound up through trees with good views, with stiff gradients but nothing stupid. It stayed blessedly quiet so hassle was very limited. After 10km of this it was sunset and I rolled into a small village hoping there would be somewhere to stay. On the way into the village two dogs were chasing a goat, hopefully so they could just chat with it and do nothing more sinister. The village surprisingly contained a proper hotel, with a sign in English and everything, and I was even more pleasantly surprised by a room containing a private bathroom with actual hot water, much needed after a sweaty day. In the room was a praying mantis which flew around for a bit, causing chaos because I wasn’t actually sure if it could hurt me or not. I went on a hunt for spaghetti and found a nice lady who made some kind of bespoke and very tasty veg spaghetti dish for me. Despite Rebecca’s absence I had company in the form of a legion of mosquitoes, several of whom I killed whilst I waited for my food. When I came to pay there was some confusion as it seemed scandalously cheap even for Ethiopia. She kept pointing to the beer and saying 25, then to the pasta plate and saying 85, then charging me 40. After several attempts to confirm this I gave up and left.
*Bike touring with someone is pretty intense and we’d always discussed cycling apart for periods, we just hadn’t got round to it yet.
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