Travel Report: Ethiopia

Sadly not as many air miles as I would have liked

I spent about 12 days in Ethiopia over the Christmas and New year period of 2016. In a word it was fantastic. I learnt so much about a country that I knew so little about.

The total cost for my trip was £1340 (approximate $1640 USD in Jan '17). This included the direct international return flight on Ethiopian Airlines (on a brand new A350), my 4 domestic flights, all food, all accomodation, everything.

 

Addis Ababa - Metropolitan Africa

 

Merksel Square

There isn't too much to say about Ethiopia's capital. it's about 130 years old, and home to 6 million people. It's has all the amenities that one would expect of a large city, but not much in the way of history. Of course being home to that many people, there are plenty of things to do, just not so many that could be considered uniquely Ethiopian. 

 

Bahir Dar - The closest thing to a beach resort.

 

Lake Tana

Given that Ethiopia is a land locked Bahir Dar is the closest thing that they have to a domestic beach destination. The main tourist attraction is the various monasteries dotted around the lake.

 

Gonder - African Castles

 

One of the ruined castles of Gonder

The highlight of Gonder are the numerous ruined castles that form it's center. The castles are mostly from the mid 16th Century, but vary in age due to the fact that they were built during the reigns of different Emperors.

 

Lailibela - Jeruselam in Africa

The rock hewn churches of this town were the highlight of the trip. The various churches of Lailibela were originally conceived as an alternative to Jeruselam in the 12-13 century. Apparently Ethiopian christians would take a piligramage from Africa to the Holy Land. I have no idea how long that would have taken 1000 years ago, but Google clocks it as 4000km.

Bete Amanuel

Each of the churches is made from a single piece of rock. Most of the churches are surrounded by rock, beneath surface level. UNESCO built roofs over many of the structures in 2008 to protect them from natural erosion, hence the modern looking structures you see in some of the pictures.

Bete Medani Alem, with worshippers for scale

 The cost of entrance was 50USD, and it allowed you to visit all of the churches over a 5 day period. It is important to understand that they are not only huge, but also still used. Pilgrims still travel from around the country every christmas to worship here, many of them walk.

The churches are below ground level and are connected through a series of tunnels and concealed entrances. I explored the churches without a guide, and was able to find most them, without a problem. However the sheer complexity of the entire system will leave you scratching you head as to how it was built to begin with, why it isn't a better known attraction.

 

Harar - The trading hub of Eastern Ethiopia

 

"Bad eyes" gate, one of the original gates of Harar

 Harar is  home to a walled city in the East of the country, between Addis Ababa and the Somali frontier. Unlike the other cities I visited Harar is a predominately muslim city.

A Indian style merchants house

Before the Derg, and troubles of that era the town was prosperous trading outpost host to merchants and Traders from around Middle & Far East. Modern buildings are banned within the city center, and so it's easy to imagine what the city would have been like during it's heyday.

 

Food

 

I often joke that I travel to learn, sleep, and eat. Teff is the main grain of Ethiopia. Wheat flour is available, and eaten by some but for the most part it's all Teff, all the time. The Teff is usually fermented and turned into a "Pancake" called an Injera. Then the Injera is served with everything and anything.

Goran Gorad - Raw meat

I forget the name of this dish, but it's essentially Injera, soaked in butter, served with a mild pepper

This was lovely Soup in Harar, made from a mutton stock, with mutton. The tradition was to tear up the Injera and allow it soak up the soup. possibly the best thing I had in the country.

Gomen Besiga - Which is a Lamb shank, wrapped in a spinich like vetagable.

Another delious meal, I only knew how to read meat, in Amharic so I just pointed at a meat dish and hoped for the best

Conclusion 

Bole, the cosmopolitan heart of Addis Ababa

I had avoided Africa for a long time during my travels, mainly as I didn't want to go on Safari, and I didn't particularly care to see tribes people dancing around mud huts. Ethiopia provided me with the type of travel destination I love; A long and interesting past, good food, nice people, warm weather & cheap amenties. It's not quite Colombia, but it now has a prominent place in my heart.

Dinner Dairy - Bo Bit Tet

Since i've been in Vietnam, i've eaten a lot of food. But i think with Bo Bit Tet, i've found one of my favourites. This is especially unusual as there is very little Vietnamese about it. The dish is made of a salad, chips/ french fries, a bread roll and "steak". Beef in South East Asia is a far cry from the meat in Europe & the americas.

What makes this dish so good is the gravy/ sauce. Oh the sauce! It was so good i had to purchase another Banh mi (bread roll) to sop up all the sauce.

The Bo Bit Tet cost 60 000 Dong (US$3/£2) on the rainy, cold streets of Hanoi. Incase your interested the additional bread roll cost 3000 Dong (£0.10p).

Dinner Diary - Bun Cha

Today's dish was Bun Cha. Unlike a couple of the recent postings i actually knew what i was getting into with this one. Having seen the signs up on the streets of Hanoi, i had done a small amount of research and knew what to expect. The soup is slightly sweet, and together with the noodles and veggies makes a great combination. Floating around in the soup are bits of BBQ pork wrapped in various leafs of one form or another. It's usually eaten by popping some noodles and veggies into your soup, and letting them soak up a little of the flavour, before popping the whole deal in your "pie hole". On the streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter, it cost 30000 Dong (US$1.50/£1)

Dinner Diary - Vietnamese Market surprise

Yet another trip to a market, and yet more food that i have no clue about. This dish was contained  rice, tofu, shrimp, chicken, beansprouts, green beans, loads of fish sauce and other assorted veggies.

I think this was a slightly more "natural" dish, where it has no real name, but is just an assortment of good food thrown together on a plate.

Total cost 30 000 Dong (US$1.50/GB£1.00) including some vietnamese tea.

Dinner Diary - Beef Lok Lak

It's taken a while to while to find good cambodian food. Not because most of it's bad, but instead because they tend to only serve western dishes in most of the places easily accessible to tourists. This dish is very similar to Malaysia's Nasi Goreng, however the flavours are fairly different.

It's boiled rice, with a fried egg, beef, lettuce, green tomatoes, and the sauce on the side is lime/lemony thingy that is so totally awesome when combined with the rice. This dish set me back 7000 Riels, roughly £1.20.

Beef Lok Lak

Dinner Diary Cambodian Market surprise

Not for the first time but here is a dish for which I have no name, don't really know what was in it, but can say that it wasn't that bad.
Beneath the fried egg were some (flour) noodles mixed with some veggies, and what I believe to be a cassava dumpling with spinach inside. The dumpling was shallower fried so the texture of the dough wasn't consistent, some parts being a little mushy. Anyways all said and done this one was a $1.

Dinner Diary Pumpkin Potato curry

Had this lovely dish in Cambodia. Not really sure how Cambodian it is, but I can say with confidence that it was good. Came in at a whopping $2.

Dinner Dairy: No Name

Vegetable No name, it's essentially more of an appetizer than an actual meal. Just imagine a bunch of veggies, in batter, deep fried. Simple yet effective. Came in the grand old price of 50 Baht (£1)

Vegetable No Name

Dinner Dairy - Tom Yum Kung

Today's exciting dish was Tom Yum Kung Soup. I think the term "Totally awesome" is particularly apt here. It reminded me a lot of traditional Jamaican Soup, not so much in how it tasted, but more the technique where you are just throwing crap in there purely for taste. 

It had huge chunks of ginger, lemon grass, spring onions, parsley, bay leaves, onions, mushrooms ... did i mention it was awesome.  Anyways this set me back 100 Baht, which in Queens currency is just over £2. "Expensive", but it was awesome and should hopefully end my current trend of 3 meals a day.

Tom Yum Kung

Dinner Dairy - Pad see iew

This is Pad See iew. Apparently there are a number of different romanizations of this dish. Consists of noodles, spring onions, eggs, carrots, garlic and pork. It's also available with Chicken, but i went for the pork. It came in at the mouth watering price of 60 Baht, approximately £1.20.

Pad see iew

Dinner Dairy - Mee Goreng Ayam

Mee Goreng Ayam, essentially fried noodles with chicken. Unlike chinese fried noodles, the chicken isn't sliced, but instead hidden underneath the noodles, it's almost like a Malaysian surprise.

Mee Goreng Ayam

Dinner Dairy - Murtabak Ayam

Murtabak Ayam - Like the previous Murtabak, this is essentially Roti Cenai stuffed with meat. In this case it's Ayam or Chicken. Grand total of RM5.50 ( £1.10p ).

Murtabak Ayam

Dinner Dairy - Nasi Goreng Nelayan & Cendol

First dinner in Langkawi we had Nasi Goreng Nelayan & Cendol. By now i think everyone knows about Nasi Goreng, so nothing to new there. However Cendol was a new experience. It's Jelly Noodles and sweetcorn in sweetened Coconut milk. The Coconut milk was awesome, but i wasn't too keen on the noodles. The Nasi Goreng came in at a whopping RM12 (£2.50), while the Cendol was RM4 (£0.80)

Nasi Goreng Nelayan

Cendol

Dinner diary - Nasi Goreng

Well this was actually breakfast. Nasi goreng. Basically its Fried rice for RM4 about 80p

Dinner Diary - Murtabak

Murtabak - minced mutton with garlic, egg and onion with a series of curry sauces. This cost a whopping RM5, approximately £1.

Dinner Diary - Roti Cenai Telur

Roti Cenai Telur  and Iced Milo - Essentially Roti with egg inside served with a series of curry sauces. The lced Milo is the brown drink to the left of the plate. It is basically a cocoa power that you can find in Jamaica. It's made hot, and then has ice put in it. It's fairly awesome. Whats more awesome is that this entire meal cost about RM4, thats 80 pence.