The plane landed in Addis around 11 pm. Actually, half way through we had stopped in Khartoum, so I could almost claim I have been in Sudan as well…

Upon arrival, the first thing was to arrange for my visa and change some money. I had no clue how long I was going to stay in Ethiopia, so I didn’t want to change too much. But I knew I had to take a taxi to the city and at least needed to be able to pay for my first night at the Baro Hotel which I had booked one month ago while I was still in Germany. It was late, I was tired and exhausted, so all I wanted was to go to bed. Unfortunately, this would have been too easy… in short: I had to unpack almost all my big backpack at the money exchange because the woman behind the counter asked for a paper I didn’t have at hand; as soon as I left the airport I was apparently considered fair game for all those guys hanging around outside the building trying to carry my bag or get me into a taxi for which they would get commission; when I finally sat in a taxi I had to argue with the driver to bring me where I wanted to go and last but least, upon arrival at the hotel it turned out that they didn’t have any reservation on my name and all rooms were booked. I couldn’t believe it. It was far past midnight, here I was in Addis Ababa, all alone with my luggage in the middle of the night, and no roof above my head. Tolle Wurst! I wanted to cry.

Finally, I decided to try another hotel close by which had been recommended to me by other travellers. The receptionist kindly “offered” to phone them and check if they had a room – and then charged me for the call. At least, they had rooms available and the taxi driver was happy to make even more money with me. On the way, I saw a couple of backpackers trotting in the empty street, obviously also looking for a place to stay and I invited them to hop in and check out the Taitu Hotel. They were happy about the prospect of accommodation and I was relieved to have company. In the end, everything turned out well: the hotel had enough rooms for us (I didn’t mind there was no water at this time) and I finally dropped dead to bed sometime around 2 am. Welcome in Ethiopia.