After our crazy night at the Sheriff Hotel I really really hoped for something better last night, especially since I have not showered in two days yuk! We arrived in Yabello and went to the Yabello Motel that looked like good value in the Lonely Planet guide. But, then they quoted us 50USD for a room, which was way more than what the guide indicated.
As we left to see if we can find something else, two other tourists told us that they got a room at the Hawi Motel (the only other hotel in town) and that it was much cheaper so we decided to go there. The only room they had left was a room without bathroom so at R75 we decided that it was ok BUT I neglected to check out the communal bathroom, which turned out to be another dump ? eek!!! We braved the cold showers, but I severely started to limit my water intake when I saw the toilet, which is a good contester for
Africa’s stinkiest toilet award! here is our bathroom:
We went back to the Yabello Motel to get some lunch as they had a nice vibey restaurant and we ordered burgers. It was delicious and it turns out that the Ethiopians can certainly cook! It was sooo good that we ignored the fried flies (we got one each) nestled in between our chips!
The evening we tried the Hawi Motel’s restaurant too and shared our first plate of Enjera with lamb. Enjera is like a sour pancake and Ethiopians eat it with a variety of meats or vegetables and they eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner – it doesn’t really matter when! It is ok when you eat it with meat, but on its own it can be a bit potent :o)
This morning we set off to Awassa with rain falling and the weather was cool. We had a 300km stretch to do today. We started off well, but soon there were so many people, animals and potholes in the road that it took us quite long to cover the distance. We also got our first dose of “you, you, you, you!” today – when the kids see you they shout
this out loud, start running and frantically wave. This sound follows you like a Mexican wave as you travel ahead – there are about 83 million people in Ethiopia – hectic!
After 200 km we stopped at Lem Café for coffee and cake. It was great, but the best is that we paid only R12 for two coffees and two pieces of cake.
Here Francois is enjoying his cup of Ethiopian coffee – if you can remember from a post he made before we left on the trip he really looked forward to the coffee here :o) and he was not disappointed!
We arrived in Awassa at 18h00 and started looking for the Atenet Pension. After asking around we found it easily and I was again really really hoping for someplace nice! And I am very pleased to say the place is amazing! It is sooo clean and we had a hot bath so I feel human again – jippey! and for all this luxury we are only paying R180 for the room.
We then went out to see if we could find some food and ended up having dinner at a vibey restaurant across the road. We had really good spaghetti (spelt Spageeti on the menu) with vegetable and mince – the people here definitely know how to cook. Again also very cheap and we paid about R30 for a beer, cooldrink, and two plates of yummy spaghetti – amazing!
Sjoe, die hotelle klink rof *eek*! Kan onthou ook in Mosambiek hoe van die plekke net so ‘n dun straaltjie water gehad het uit die stort en dan is die hele badkamer onder water… Bly julle het nou ‘n lekker plek opgespoor om te bly en kan weer bietjie bad! 🙂 Interessant dat die kos ook so goed is daar, julle moet julle koffies geniet en lekker eet!
Hoe lyk die omgewing daar by julle? Op Google Earth lyk dit of daar ook nogal ‘n paar mere is? Ek kan ook onthou dat Etihopië famous is vir sy hooglande, maar weet nie of dit meer in die Noorde is nie?! Julle Motomia’s gaan nog hard werk! 🙂 Moet sê ek is moer impressed met julle motorfietse. Dink ek sal vir my ene moet kry om mee werk toe te ry en terug!
You you you you!!!
Martin & Amelia
Dankie vir julle comment! Die omgewing hier is regtig baie mooi, laat my dink aan dele naby die wildtuin in Suid-Afrika… Ons is tans in die stad langs Lake Awassa – baie mooi groot meer en more ry ons Lake Langano se kant toe. Hopelik sal ons ‘n swempie kan maak :o) Ons het al baie optraande begin ry en baie kronkeldraaie en ek dink dit word nog meer sover ons noord gaan. Mooi bly daar en lekker naweek hou! x T
Ek wonder of julle loo ons Mongolian grasslands longdrop kon oortref… Maar na so ‘n ondervinding weet mens waar kom ons Afrikaanse “troon” vandaan.
Baie bly julle kon weer blog – ons het al begin verlang. Wag in spanning op die foto’s, want als klink baie-baie interessant.
Geniet die lekker kos!
Bly julle het daai paaie met die baaaaie klippe oorleef! Julle en julle fietse is amazing. Dit voel vir my julle is nou op Star Trek – going where no man has gone before. Wel, nie een van ons hier tuis nie, en “in more ways than one”. Baie sterkte seën vir julle. So dankbaar om te sien hoe mooi die Vader vir julle sorg en voorsien!