Gonder, Ethiopia Day 1
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
My arrival in Gonder was meant with the usual attention from the local kids. Just about everyone wants to "help" the ferenji, or foreigner. It was probably the longest and hardest bus ride I've been on. It was hot, dusty and way over crowded. By the time I had arrived in Gonder, I really wasn't looking forward to dealing with all the local "guides", but I put on my best attitude since that's all a part of traveling. Surprisingly, most of the locals seemed to just let me be after I grabbed my bag myself and went over to the bus station steps to rest for a few minutes and find my bearings.
As I walked out of the bus station, a local kid, probably no more then 10 or 11 years old started shadowing me. I don't mind when the young kids follow you because they are easier to deal with, but what I don't like is to give them any false hope that they will get something from me. I kept politely telling him that I didn't need a guide but that he could walk with me if he wanted, but "No BIR" (which is the same as saying "No money") Even my stops for water and a pastry didn't deter him from following me. Finally, I just had to have a little heart to heart with him and tell him that honestly, he'd be better off going back to the bus station to find another foreigner help because he wasn't going to get anywhere with me. I felt kind of mean, but I really didn't see any other options.
For a few minutes, I was able to walk by myself until two older teenagers took an interest in me. These two I couldn't shake and no amount of talk would send them on their way. Since I'm not about to be an asshole in a new town in a foreign country, the only other option is to let them tag along. I started checking out hotels in the order that Lonely Planet listed them. The first, Fasil Hotel, seemed fine and I really liked it, though the price of 60 BIR seemed steep. The second place, Guday Hotel had a nice courtyard, but at 50 BIR and slightly out of the way, I ditched it. Finally I checked out the Belegez Pension, which is were many travelers stay but I found it way to sterile and over priced. However, I did see Lee, the South Korean who I had met in Cairo and seen again in Sudan there, so I stopped for a bit to chat with him. One thing that I've learned when dealing with guides is that they generally don't like to spend a long time with you and clearly the two guys with me were getting a little tired since this was the third hotel and now I was sitting down chatting with Lee. Eventually, one of them gave up and went his way, but the other stayed.
I decided to head back down to the Fasil Hotel to see if I could negotiate a better price then 60 BIR. With very little effort, I got the price down to 40 BIR but as soon as I "guide" caught wind of that, he said something in Amharic and all of a sudden the price was 45 BIR. Apparently the person I had just got a 40 BIR quote from wasn't authorized to change the price... Sure. I realized that I had just been screwed and the 5 BIR was the "commission" for his "services", which sucked since I never needed nor used his services but by now I was starting to get a terrible headache and decided to just pay the extra 5 BIR so that I could check in.
It didn't take long until my headache worsened and soon my whole body was aching. I figured it was from the long bus ride and the fact that I had barely eaten or had anything to drink all day, so I ventured out to a local restaurant to get some food in me, but that didn't really help. I ended up retreating to my room and did some much needed laundry in the bathroom sink. (And by "doing laundry" that really just means soaking my t-shirts, underwear and socks in water then hanging them up to dry.) By early evening, I was feeling pretty shitty (figuratively, not literally) so I ended up just sleeping the rest of the night.
Kenny
My arrival in Gonder was meant with the usual attention from the local kids. Just about everyone wants to "help" the ferenji, or foreigner. It was probably the longest and hardest bus ride I've been on. It was hot, dusty and way over crowded. By the time I had arrived in Gonder, I really wasn't looking forward to dealing with all the local "guides", but I put on my best attitude since that's all a part of traveling. Surprisingly, most of the locals seemed to just let me be after I grabbed my bag myself and went over to the bus station steps to rest for a few minutes and find my bearings.
As I walked out of the bus station, a local kid, probably no more then 10 or 11 years old started shadowing me. I don't mind when the young kids follow you because they are easier to deal with, but what I don't like is to give them any false hope that they will get something from me. I kept politely telling him that I didn't need a guide but that he could walk with me if he wanted, but "No BIR" (which is the same as saying "No money") Even my stops for water and a pastry didn't deter him from following me. Finally, I just had to have a little heart to heart with him and tell him that honestly, he'd be better off going back to the bus station to find another foreigner help because he wasn't going to get anywhere with me. I felt kind of mean, but I really didn't see any other options.
For a few minutes, I was able to walk by myself until two older teenagers took an interest in me. These two I couldn't shake and no amount of talk would send them on their way. Since I'm not about to be an asshole in a new town in a foreign country, the only other option is to let them tag along. I started checking out hotels in the order that Lonely Planet listed them. The first, Fasil Hotel, seemed fine and I really liked it, though the price of 60 BIR seemed steep. The second place, Guday Hotel had a nice courtyard, but at 50 BIR and slightly out of the way, I ditched it. Finally I checked out the Belegez Pension, which is were many travelers stay but I found it way to sterile and over priced. However, I did see Lee, the South Korean who I had met in Cairo and seen again in Sudan there, so I stopped for a bit to chat with him. One thing that I've learned when dealing with guides is that they generally don't like to spend a long time with you and clearly the two guys with me were getting a little tired since this was the third hotel and now I was sitting down chatting with Lee. Eventually, one of them gave up and went his way, but the other stayed.
I decided to head back down to the Fasil Hotel to see if I could negotiate a better price then 60 BIR. With very little effort, I got the price down to 40 BIR but as soon as I "guide" caught wind of that, he said something in Amharic and all of a sudden the price was 45 BIR. Apparently the person I had just got a 40 BIR quote from wasn't authorized to change the price... Sure. I realized that I had just been screwed and the 5 BIR was the "commission" for his "services", which sucked since I never needed nor used his services but by now I was starting to get a terrible headache and decided to just pay the extra 5 BIR so that I could check in.
It didn't take long until my headache worsened and soon my whole body was aching. I figured it was from the long bus ride and the fact that I had barely eaten or had anything to drink all day, so I ventured out to a local restaurant to get some food in me, but that didn't really help. I ended up retreating to my room and did some much needed laundry in the bathroom sink. (And by "doing laundry" that really just means soaking my t-shirts, underwear and socks in water then hanging them up to dry.) By early evening, I was feeling pretty shitty (figuratively, not literally) so I ended up just sleeping the rest of the night.
Kenny
posted by Kenny Carruthers at 2/14/2006 09:16:00 AM
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