Ehtiopian Visa

Cairo, Egypt

 

Well after having spent the last week or so under the assumption that there was no Ethiopian Embassy in Cairo, I learned yesterday that there is in fact one and that I could get a visa from them in "24 hours". So, off I went this morning across town to the address that was printed both in a Lonely Planet guide book and in some "Cairo by Day and Night" booklet. Sadly, there was no embassy to be found at the address given, instead there was an embassy looking building, complete with security fence and guard. Luckily, he spoke a little English and understood that I was looking for the embassy and was able to point me in the right direction. Combined with a little dumb luck, I "stumbled" across the new Ethiopian Embassy after about 20 minutes of walking.

 

Unlike the Sudanese embassy, the Ethiopian one is quite nice. Not as new and modern as the American one, but will nice. Turns out, getting a visa is pretty much a no brainer for Ethiopia. You just show up, fill out a basic form, give then 30$US and a passport photo then just wait in a rather nice reception area complete with leather sofa chairs and a television showing the BBC (which in turn was showing live updates that story in West Virginia of the trapped miners.) So there I was, in the Ethiopian embassy, in Cairo Egypt, watching a British news channel showing live coverage of an event in West Virginia. Would you say it's a global world?

 

After about 1 hour of waiting, I got my passport back complete with a 3 month visa which strangely starts today and not when you enter the country. Whatever, I'll be in and out of Ethiopia before April 4th, I hope... ;)

 

I also learned that there's a Kenyan embassy here in town but when I called them up to ask about a visa, the representative started listing a laundry list of items I need to bring in to get a visa. Somehow I didn't think she understood that I was a) traveling by myself and not with a tour company and b) was traveling overland from Ethiopia. Doesn't really matter since I should be able to get a Kenyan visa in Khartoum, Addis Abba or maybe even at the border.

 

As for Cairo, I'm leaving on Friday night on the train bound for Luxor, where I'll spend the next week or so before catching a ferry to Sudan which, in theory, leaves on January 16th...

 

Kenny