Masada and Dead Sea - Day 73

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I had the most delicious hummus of my life yesterday. I never considered hummus a meal but people eat it as an entree here, and it's terrific! My host, Erez, took me to this famous little restaurant and we had hummus with ground meat and hummus with boiled chickpeas, accompanied with pita bread. So sad I can't return again since I'm leaving tomorrow.

Today, I took a daytrip out to Masada and the Dead Sea. The public transportation here is quite convenient and quite expensive. For a two hour drive out to Masada I could catch a bus by the side of the road and pay onboard.

Masada is a towering plateau in the Judaean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. I hadn't originally planned to visit there but I'm really glad my host convinced me otherwise. Not only is it visually stunning, it has a tragically inspiring history. The short version goes like this: Masada is the last Jewish rebel stronghold against the invading Roman military. It becomes evident one evening that the Romans will enter in the morning and they can defend no longer. They decide to commit mass suicide before the Romans enter so as to not become slaves to the enemy. Ten men were chosen to kill the women and children and each other. The last man left takes his own life. Freedom or death.

The plateau can be accessed by cable car or "The Snake Path." I decided to take the cable car up and walk down - again, suggested by my host. One can easily spend hours on top going through the ancient structures, palaces, and compounds, some of which are very well preserved.

After hiking down the mountain, I took another short bus ride to Ein Gedi, one stop on the Dead Sea. There is a free public beach so I was expecting hoards of people, but it turned out to be surprisingly manageable. I guess all the tour groups are taken to the fancy spas scattered throughout little resorts along the Dead Sea.

The beach (at least the one I visited) was a pebble beach and the rocks closer to the water were covered with salt residue and salt crystals. I planned the best I could given that I didn't bring a swimsuit on this trip at all. So I went in with my underwear and a "quick dry" t-shirt. To anyone who plans to swim in the Dead Sea in the future...wear shoes/sandals. The rocks on the bottom were so sharp that I nearly cut my foot open and almost lost my balance numerous times. All because of the salt crystals. But once you get in about waist deep, it's possible to just sit back and float. It really is true - the water has amazing buoyancy. In fact, it's difficult NOT to float. Even as I was treading water, the water was pushing my legs up to the surface, so I was either floating on my back or my stomach. And you definitely cannot submerge your head.

So after a quick shower at the beach, I caught the bus back to Jerusalem. Erez is working a night shift so I'm "home" alone. Time change tonight for Jerusalem and they spring forward an hour. My next update shall be from Haifa in a couple of days.

Jerusalem - Days 70-72

Successfully survived another Israeli border crossing, and no body search this time. However, there must be something menacing about my appearance or passport because I was once again put aside for additional screening procedures. The other 7 foreigners in line all went through without a hitch, but the security lady held on to my passport and made me wait for 20 minutes. They wiped down all my stuff with this specialized pad and threw dozens of questions at me. Later I found out they even called my CS host.

But I eventually managed to make it to my host, Daniel's, home but it was probably the most difficult time I had this entire trip with directions and public transportation. No one seemed to know this place and no one was enthusiastic to help. Through a combination of walking, lightrail, bus and a kindhearted realtor, I managed to make it to his tiny apartment that cost over $3ook. (Sidenote: real estate prices in Jerusalem are outrageous, but not as outrageous as Tel Aviv)

In the past two days I've managed to see quite a bit of Jerusalem, partly due to my host's weird schedule. He's one of those who doesn't want people in his apartment when he's not home - fair. So I was forced to wander around or find a place to park myself until 9pm one night and midnight the next night.

My first afternoon/evening was spent walking around the city center area, grocery shopping a bit at the huge market, and exploring the extreme Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Walking in that neighborhood is like stepping into an alternate universe and I tried to capture some of it with my camera very discreetly. I was warned not to really make eye contact with people, but I suspect that's my host being paranoid or trying to scare me. Regardless, I kept to myself and just observed. The people don't wear color and are very conservatively dressed. There is even a sign that warns girls and women to dress modestly in their neighborhood. Fascinating!

The next day I took public transportation to Bethlehem, which in the Palestinian Territories. The journey was only about 30 minutes and surprisingly easy. There was no security check going in, but coming back to Jerusalem from Bethlehem involved passport checks. Bethlehem is a really quaint and beautiful city. In the old city, the streets and buildings are all stone with teal blue shutters and doors. Makes for a beautiful overall ambiance and quite photogenic. The two major attractions there are the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born and the Milk Grotto where Mary nursed baby Jesus. To be honest, I'm not very well-educated when it comes to religion but it's still fascinating being here, and makes me want to understand Christianity, Judaism, and Islam more.

Of course I also walked around the four quarters of the Old City and walked the Via Dolorosa through all of the different stations and ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Jerusalem in general is an intense place to visit - not only because of the historical significance but also observing other tourists' reactions. There are often people openly weeping, especially at places such as the Western/Wailing Wall and the site of the crucifixion. Today I also visited the Holocaust Museum and that was another level of emotional. It's a magnificently designed complex and horribly raw and moving. The images and video clips are completely uncensored and I found myself grimacing and choked up throughout the entire exhibit.

I stayed with my first host for 2 nights and then had to find another host due to a scheduling misunderstanding. And thanks to the last minute generosity of Erez, I'm staying with him in a dorm room on the campus of Hebrew University. Here for two nights and then I'm off to Haifa on the coast. Tomorrow will be Masada and Dead Sea. Definitely NOT shaving today :)

Petra/Amman - Days 67-69

I can honestly day this: Petra does not disappoint. Despiet the rough start in Jordan, Petra made up for everything and more.

To back track a little bit, I had a bit of an issue at the Israeli/Jordan border. I entered Jordan without a hitch but the taxi drivers there at the border are Nazis - one in partiular. This taxi driver ring leader, let's call him Hitler, wanted 10 Jordanian Dinar to Aqaba center, and the normal price is probably 5. And he wanted 50 JD to Petra. So he told me the price along with another group of 4 travelers and none of us wanted to take the cab since it was an obvious ripoff. And Hilter got angry and said "YOU WALK!" That's when I decided to start walking to other cabs and asking around, and he told me "You can't walk!" Men... That's when another drive (not in a taxi) approached me and offered 20 JD to Petra. He was a guide and just happened to be dropping off clients and needed to go back anyway. That's when Hitler started yelling at him and the verbal assults started. It got so bad that the police had to take them and me to the office and sort things out. Eventually after 30 minutes, Salah-my driver/guide, just decided to bribe the guy with my 20 JD and leave.

So on the way he suggested we stay at Wadi Rum at a bedouin camp for the night so I can see a bit of the desert and it was on the way to Petra anyway. Good suggestion because it didn't end up being very expensive and the scenery is gorgeous. The area was made famous by Lawrence of Arabia - both the person and the movie since it was filmed there.

We finally arrive in Petra around noon the next day and I settle in with my host, Ahmad. I decided to wait until the next day to buy a two day pass to properly take advantage of it. At 50/55/60 JD for a 1/2/3 day pass, Petra is probably the most expensive entrance ticket so far. The exchange rate is about $1 = 0.70 JD, crazy! But like I said, it definitely does not disappoint. Petra is always advertised with one iconic image so in my mind that was "Petra" but in actuality, that's about 1/100 of Petra.

The visit starts with about a 1.5 km walk from the visitor center and through the Siq to the Treasury (that famous image). So it really builds some suspense as well because just when you think the Siq (or the canyon) would never end, it opens up onto the Treasury. And that's just the beginning. As you continue walking, there are carved tombs, theaters, cave dwellings, collapsed columns everywhere. As I overheard one guy put it so eloquently, "Holy sh*t, this is a f*^king city!"

It really is. They had places for worship, sacrifice, entertainment - all the bases covered. There is also a paved main street with columns and an arch and originally shops and temples are both sides. Walking through the lost city, one can really imagine a civilization living there 2000 years ago. It makes you wonder if the residents then were as impressed with their own city. After two days at Petra, I made the transfer to Amman today via a local bus and took in some of the sights, which total about two, haha. Everybody has been saying how Amman is boring or has little to offer. It's not horrible but definitely not like capital cities of its neighbors (Damascus, Beirut, even Cairo). Too bad I won't get to visit Damascus this time!

Tonight I'm meeting up with a Japanese girl living here - a friend of a friend. Staying with her tonight and leaving for Jerusalem tomorrow. So I will have to endure yet another border entry and perhaps another body search. Maybe it'll be a total strip search this time?

Dahab - Days 65-66

My last day in Dahab was spent doing absolutely nothing. Just reading, sunning, and walking to get food.

I was staying in a dorm room with some eccentric characters. One was a Canadian farmer/musician who was traveling with her autoharp and played music for us. Another was a middle aged Korean women who spent her days reading and would burst out with things like "laugh now, live later" and "sweet dreams and never wake up."

And those were just two of many. I had forgotten the charms of communal living so this was a nice reminder.

The next day I took a mid-morning bus to Taba on the Israeli border and then endured the slow crossing. They were thorough to say the least...they performed a detailed body search and made me take off my pants haha. Do I look that menacing?

I was in Israel for about 1 hour - the time it took for me to take bus and taxi to the Jordan border. By that time it was 5pm and I decided to splurge and take the taxi to Wadi Rum and spend the night in the desert with the bedouins.

Today I arrived in Petra but haven't seen the sights yet. So tomorrow will be lots of walking and climbing stairs.

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Cairo and Dahab - Days 61-64

In most recent news, my phone was fixed! Quite a feat I'd say given the "4% chance."

After running around all day on Thursday trying to repair the phone, I basically cast it aside as a lost cause and decided not to think about it anymore.

The weekend here is Friday and Saturday, so my host Jola and the new roommate Mariana both had the day off. We decided to explore Islamic Cairo and just walk around and do some window shopping. It's a nice change to have company for a whole day; doesn't happen very often when traveling solo. And it was especially nice to have a "local" guide and not have to look at the map all day! Islamic Cairo is one of the more atmospheric neighborhoods and smells of spices, perfumes, pollution, and animal excrement - a fine concoction. We had tea at Fishawi which is claimed to be the oldest cafe in Cairo and has been continuously open for over 200 years (maybe with the exception of the morning hours during Ramadan). Charming.

On Saturday Jola and I took the train to Alexandria for a day trip. We had planned to catch the 9am train and be there by 11am, but instead caught the 10am train and arrived at 1pm. It's not a huge city and we had targeted specific things to see so it was still plenty of time. Spent a couple of hours at the Alexandria National Museum - MUCH better displayed and manageable than the Egyptian Museum. They had artifacts lifted from underwater along with other pieces from the different periods in Egypt - Pharonic, Greco-Roman, Islamic, etc... We then visited the somewhat newly constructed Alexandria Library that was meant to restore some glory to the city and reference the ancient library and cultural center. It was a beautifully constructed building with not so many manuscripts inside... By dusk, we were walking along the corniche and Jola walks at a very brisk rate, so I was basically trotting behind her. To be fair, I should have expected this because she does everything quickly and the cold just gave her encouragement.

Yesterday I ran some errands such as buy my overnight bus ticket and also go all the way out to Heliopolis again to pick up my phone. To my surprise, the lady said they were able to fix the phone and also wanted 60 Egyptian Pounds. I was in no mood to argue...but that leaves me with $20 for everything in the next two days.

I've been able to do pretty well on that budget. Arrived this morning in Dahab (a small hippy resort town on the Sinai Peninsula on the Red Sea) after a FREEZING overnight bus ride. The dorm bed was about $3.50 per night and I've been eating local food for $1 or so per meal. This place is lovely provides some much needed quiet and relaxation after a full week in Cairo. Everything is close to the beach and the town is tiny and very walkable. It's also a huge dive mecca because of the crystal clear waters and abundant underwater life, so people are trucking along scuba gear everywhere.

Another full day here tomorrow before busing it to Jordan via Isreal.

Cairo - Days 57-60

People who live in Cairo (Cairenes?) usually have a love/hate relationship with the city. However, I haven't really been here enough to experience the love portion yet, but I wouldn't go so far as to say hate - a strong dislike perhaps. For a culture and civilization with such a robust and glorious history, I'm not sure where it all went wrong... It's not fair to judge Cairo so harshly but the truth is it's exhausting to travel here.

It didn't help that my first day was spent visiting the Pyramids in Giza. It is surprisingly close to the city and I managed to get there by public transport in under an hour. Before I went, I read about the notoriously pushy and/or smooth touts who try to sell you camel rides around the desert and overpriced souvenirs. Armed with certain information, I was determined to see the pyramids, not get ripped off, and enjoy myself. First two - mission accomplished. Last one - debatable. The place is amazing and it's awe-inspiring to think about how they accomplished such magnificent engineering . I've seen hundreds of pictures but pictures really don't do them justice.
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Too bad the place is positively swarming with damn Egyptian touts. They will come up to you with a radiant smile, start explaining stuff, help you take pictures, and then ask for money. Or, they will shove in your hands a scarf or deck of postcards and say it's a free gift and ask for money as you walk away. Then you spend 5 minutes trying to give back the stupid postcards and they won't take it. So I just gently put it at their feet and left. OR they will just put an Egyptian headdress on your and snatch your camera and take pictures of you and demand money. When you refuse to give anything, they turn into bitchy divas. I had a guy yell at me and force me to delete the pictures. Um...done! Just leave me alone!!!

Day two was a bit better. I visited the Egyptian Museum and then Coptic Cairo. The Egyptian Museum holds so many artifacts it's mindblowing, but my host said it's like a granny's attic and I must agree. The building itself is becoming delapidated and there are just too many items for them to display it all properly. Nevertheless, it was interesting to walk around and take in the numerous tombs, sarcophagi, jewelry, masks, etc... The coolest thing were probably the animal mummies. There were dogs, cats, snakes, crocodiles, rams...all mummified!

Day three was spent wandering around Zamalek, which is where my hosts live. The girl is Polish and her boyfriend is from the UK. And today a Spanish girl moved in so I've been kicked to the couch - it is Couchsurfing after all... The area is a bit more upperclass and has a lot of embassies and expats. So I took it easy and hung out in bookstores and cafes and updated my phone with some widgest and whatnot since I finally had free wifi. And then my phone died. Completely died and refused to power on.

So today, day four was spent commuting to the supposedly official repair center. Long story short, they said they couldn't help, then told me to come back and they'll try to repair it, and then said it'll be a 5% chance they can do anything. The repair center is about 90 minutes away by public transport. I'm officially done with fancy phones now. Who cares if I can't get online to check my email or text anyone; none of my dumbphones ever died on me. But I still need one as a clock and alarm, so maybe I'll pick up a super cheap one somewhere. * sigh*

Dubai - Days 55-56

My last full day in Dubai was spent walking around the historic part of the city. BUT before I talk about that, I need to continue with the previous night.

I mentioned that my host and I were going out for drinks. It was initiated by another girl on couchsurfing who had contacted Girish two years ago and never showed up. This time however, she made it to Dubai and was renting an apartment and looking for a job. So we managed to all go out together to a placed called "Barasti" on Jumeirah Beach. The girl, Sabine, was hilarious from the get-go and of course everything is funnier with a French accent. We had a terrific time chatting and watching an Arab dance-off straight out of the "Step Up" movies. We didn't leave until 3:30am and by then Girish was completely hammered. His famous last words in the club were, "I'm going to stop drinking because I feel like I'm about to cross the edge." Well...20 minutes later he crossed that edge. We took a cab back to the neighborhood and I had to drive his Jeep back to the apartment. I'm not often around drunk people because most of my friends prefer sober fun, but I discovered that night that drunk adults are like little kids. At one point he almost threw a tantrum cuz he thought someone stole his Jeep :)

He felt so bad the next day that he volunteered to drop me off at my destination on his way to IKEA. I spent the day walking about the Dubai Creek area with Bur Dubai and Deira on the two banks. It was really interesting to see how Dubai started as a little fishing and trade village, and also the traditional architecture. The government has invested substantially in restoring some of the prominent landmarks and heritage sights. The added bonus was that most of the points of interest were free or really cheap admission. I walked around the gold souq, spice souq, and perfume souq as well as hit up an old school and a few old Arab homes.

The last thing I did in Dubai was buy a replacement phone. No budget for an iPhone but this one will do.

Noon flight the next day to Cairo from Dubai via Doha with Qatar Air, which I must say was probably the nicest airline I've flown with. Super clean, terrific service, gorgeous crew, and an amazing onboard entertainment system. I don't normally say this but I wished the flight didn't end so soon.

I'm in Cairo now and have been exploring the city for the past couple of days and a bit behind on my blogging. But I will try to hit an internet cafe again soon to catch up.

Dubai - Days 52-54

Dubai is ridiculous. I think coming here from the US would have been a shock, but coming from Ethiopia absolutely has my head spinning. The contrast is actually giving me a headache.

In Ethiopia, there were beggars almost every few meters and everything was dusty and falling apart. Macchiatos cost 50 cents and public transportation was minibus jalopies. A 4 hour flight and sleepless night later, I was in Dubai. The city is spotless and everything seems as if it was built yesterday. The public transportation system is undoubtedly the easiest and most intuitive I've encountered. Stops are announced in Arabic and English along with display on the monitors. Piece of cake finding my host's place :)

I'm staying with a Indian guy who has been working and living in Dubai for the past six years. He has a nice apartment on the west side of Dubai that's pretty accessible by bus and metro, but it takes at least 30 minutes to get to the city center. The first couple of days I basically mall hopped and saw some of the major sights around the center of town. Day one was spent walking about Dubai Marina, the Mall of the Emirates, and Jumeirah with its 7 star Burj al-Arab hotel. About half of the day was spent looking skyward at all the highrises. There's still construction everywhere and new buildings being erected - each one taller, quirkier, and shinier than the next. The Mall of the Emirates and also the Dubai Mall, which I visited on day two, are like indoor, air conditioned mini-cities. Indoor ski, park, ice rink, aquarium, etc...you name it and they have it. It's amazing to see the extravagance and wealth here. Despite all the modernity and wealth, there's something almost insincere and intangible about the city. Even looking at the skyline from my host's apartment - these massive clusters of skyscrapers just rise up out of the desert like a mirage, especially with the glistening glass. Nobody pays you any attention (which is a nice change from Africa) so you glide through feeling somewhat disconnected from the culture. Can't quite put it in words but you definitely feel like a "visitor" in this country.

Anyway, I went to the Burj Al Arab and they wouldn't let me in. Not just me; they wouldn't let anyone in without a restaurant/bar reservation. I was politely handed a list of restaurants and the associated charges. I think the cheapest was a $25 hookah/sheesha experience. Also, the tickets to go up the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building) were sold out until Tuesday. Fail.

Today, my third day in Dubai, I went for a LONG ride with my host and the Harley Davidson Club of Dubai. He mentioned his plans the previous night and I shamelessly invited myself along, but he was really excited that I expressed interest so I didn't feel so bad. We arrived at the meetup point at 6:30am, had coffee and left a bit after 7am with about 45 riders. Rode East through five of the Emirates and arrived before 10am at Cove Rotana Resort for a super fancy breakfast buffet before heading back individually. My host, Girish, took me back via a different route through the dessert and also stopped in Sharjah for a quick break. Then we rode back to Dubai and stopped at a french bistro at the Jumeirah Beach Walk for lunch. Amazing day and I'm broke. We're going out for drinks tonight too...

Lalibela - Days 48-51

I'm back in Addis for the afternoon after having spent 3 full days in Lalibela. Tonight I fly out to Dubai :)

Spending a few days in Lalibela was exactly what I needed after the mayhem of Addis. And I'm super thankful to have found a good deal on a roundtrip flight; otherwise I would have spent 2 whole days on the bus. 45 minute flight = 2 day bus trip. I was having trouble comprehending the math until I saw the landscape from the air - mountains as far as the eye can see. I'm amazed they were even able to find a plot of flat land for the landing strip.

Lalibela is dubbed the "Holy Land" of Ethiopia and was actually created as a second Jerusalem outside of Israel by King Lalibela. It is the main reason for my visit to Ethiopia. The village has 11 rock hewn churches in the city carved and entirely freed from the mountains. Some people call it Little Petra or something similar to that, but it differs in that several of the churches are entirely detached from the mountains (freestanding) rather than having just the facade carved from the mountains. Quite spectacular!

I arrived mid-morning on Saturday and found a guesthouse to settle in. After a quick nap (to escape the noon heat), I visited the weekly Saturday market. Africa, in many aspects, reminds me of China a decade ago. This particular market was very similar to those I visited a kid whenever I went to see my grandma in the countryside. It was buzzing with mules and people selling vegetables, raw honey, second hand clothing, etc... I could only take about 20 minute of that before the stench and flies got to me. I then went to the ticket office to buy my pass to the churches. The ticket (350 Birr or $20) is valid for four days and allows free access to any of the 11 churches. Geographically, the churches are in three locations - two groups and a stand alone St. George. I visited one of the groups and ran into a deacon who offered to show me around since there were some hidden tunnels and underground passages. I was wary after the incident in Addis but decided to take a gamble, and it paid off. He turned out to be a really nice guy and told me to come back the next day before dawn to experience the mass.

So based on his advice, I woke up at 5:30am and hiked to the churches before daylight to see the service. Thank the deacon I sacrificed some sleep because it was an inspirational sight. Before I arrived at the church, I could hear the priests chanting and saw the town's folk all wrapped in white cloth heading toward the various churches. This is just one example of how Ethiopia has preserved tradition. Seeing hundreds of white specks scattered throughout the barren landscape was like being transported to another time. I met the deacon and saw all the rest of the churches by 10am.

Monday was another early start. I hired a mule to ride up to the to top of a nearby mountain to visit yet another church/monastery. The church itself was meh but the view was spectacular. I was debating whether to hike up or be touristy and ride the mule, and I can say 1000% that I made the right decision. Lalibela town sits at an altitude of 2800 meters and the mountain is over 4000 meters. Even on mule, it was almost 2 hours of steady uphill hike. Had I walked, I'm sure it would have taken me over 3 hours. There were parts where it was too steep and I had to walk up by foot...and I felt like my lungs were on fire. The old grandpa guiding the mule barely even broke a sweat. Needless to say, he got my respect and a generous tip.

Now I'm back in Addis trying to catch up on some email and Couchsurfing messages. Oh yea, I'm also caught up on my Glee episodes :) Off to get my share of fresh avocado juice and macchiato while I can still afford it.

Addis Ababa - Days 45-47

Who knew when I came to Addis that I'd be here for an entire week * sigh*

As promised, the phone mishap had some new developments, but don't get excited...I still have no phone.

So I had the email address of one of the thieves' friends, whom I also met at the coffee/chat bar. I emailed him to say his friends Abraham and Yonas stole my phone and asked him to please help me if possible. I didn't expect to hear from him but he responded quite shocked and said he doesn't know them well but would revisit the chat bar to see if he can run into them again. Fastforward 2 days, he gives my new local cell phone number to Abraham (I borrowed someone's phone for the remainder of my time in Ethiopia).

Two days ago, during the afternoon, I actually receive a call from Abraham! He claims that Yonas told him to steal the phone and that he merely wants the money I owe him back. However, Yonas wants 3500 Birr ($200) for the phone. I don't like being extorted. After he said that I actually laughed out loud. Sure, to him the phone is worth more than that, but it was a freebie for me to begin with. The only thing I'm really devastated about is all my music. What am I supposed to do from now on on my 10+ hour bus rides?

Still, I played along and asked him if we can meet to do the exchange and agree on a place and time. We decided that same evening, 7:30pm, at a popular cafe that I've been to a couple of times. I promptly call my cop friend and tell him this new development and he said he will be there with another cop in plain clothes and with concealed weapons.

I get there at 7pm, the cops arrive around 7:20pm, and Abraham is still yet to show when 7:30pm rolls around. His number is inconsistent to say the least. Sometimes no one answers, sometimes it's turned off, and occasionally he's in the mood to talk. He said he's afraid to come and ask if I'm alone. I said I'm already at the cafe waiting by myself and I have the money. Another 25 minutes pass and he's still not there so I call again. He texts back that we should wait until I come back from my trip to the north but he "promises" to give me my phone. So we waited around for an hour for nothing, and I felt horrible for wasting other people's time.

After I get back to John's home that evening around 9pm, Abraham calls again and says he's sorry for not coming but he was scared. But he again "promises" to meet me again the next day. I didn't think he'd show but agreed anyway since we had to go into town anyway. This time we decide on noon at the same place. I call him that morning and his phone number was canceled so I basically figured he wouldn't show but John and I swing by around 12:15pm anyway to see if by some miracle he was waiting. No big surprise, he wasn't there and I didn't even bother waiting.

So that's that. On a positive note, I purchased my roundtrip flight to Lalibela yesterday at a third of the price I found online. Apparently it's substantially cheaper to purchase domestic tickets at the airline office here. So now I can afford to fly both ways instead of taking a rickety old bus for two whole days. 3/3 -3/6 will be spend in Lalibela and then I will fly to Dubai on the 3/6 evening.

Ethiopia has definitely been the most memorable country so far, but I'm not sure if I want to come back...