VibakuUsefull is beautiful

In November 2010 my husband and that i travelled around Ethiopia for 3 weeks by public bus with private guide Samson Wolde. Travel (especially bus travel) is really a real adventure and not just for your faint hearted as there is long travel days (much more when the bus reduces) on poorly maintained roads. However it is a superb approach to getting up close self and witness the life and culture of those locals.

Addis Ababa
We found the airport at 3.30am. We had not booked any accommodation resulting from our early arrival so we stayed along at the aiport till about 7am. A taxi agreed to take us into your city for USD$10. We walked to the Ras Hotel where we required wait till 9am to view assuming they experienced room.
Travel Tip: We stayed for the Ras Hotel 3 times resulting from its convenient location. The price value includes breakfast that’s awful but lunch and dinner are good.

Bahir Dar
We stayed at the Ghion Hotel on Lake Tana and did a spead boat cruise to your islands to view painted churches. The Blue Nile Falls area is pretty however not well worth the long bumpy ride to have there. Since damming the river, the waterfalls are certainly nothing like the posters show.
Travel Tip: Check in case a guide is included along with your Lake Tana boat cruise. There arised 9 of persons on our boat. No guide accompanied us at the boat aside from our private guide Samson. The initial island we visited Samson acted as intrepreter otherwise we might haven’t understood what we were looking at. The 2nd island we visited the church guide spoke English.

Gonder
The abandoned castles are incredibly interesting and it s worth hiring the guides inside the gate.
Travel Tip: We stayed along at the Belgez Pension that’s cheap, neat and quiet still the rooms were confine and cramped. They will your washing to have a confine fee – share with the cleaners before going to work.

Simien Mountains
We did an at some point 4WD pleasure trip with another traveller and our guide Samson.
Travel Tip: People usually have liked to have stayed overnight although we’re not trekkers, as the scenery is stunning.

Lalibela
We spent 2 nights in Lalibela exploring the amazing rock churches.
Travel Tip: Keep an entrance ticket handy as they is going to be checked each church entrance.

Arba Minch
Arba Minch is usually an overnight bus stop between Addis Ababa and Jinka.
Travel Tip: Spend a further night on a single of many stopovers and to the lake tour.

Jinka
We hired a 4WD locally to tour the main 3 tribes by the area (Mersi, Hamer and Karo tribes). We shared this cost with 3 other travellers who were on the bus and stayed at the same accommodation as us.
Travel Tip: Buy your bus ticket to Addis Ababa early (a minimum of 1 day beforehand) to help you to obtain a better seat number otherwise you will find yourself stuck behind the bus on your 2 day journey. Buy good ear plugs so that you could quit the noise of the loud music videos playing.

Transport
We used numerous transport that included: public bus, minivan, 4WD and boat.
Travel Tip: If you learn that plenty of of you are heading in precisely the same direction, it is going to be more cost-effective and comfortable to rent a minivan and driver like we did from Bahar Dar to Gondar (7 people).

Tour Guide
We used the services of your private guide. This was the earliest time we have now hired a guide for the complete trip via new country. The guide proved invaluable in keeping the touts away (well worth the money alone), dealing with local tour operators and obtaining hotels.
Travel Tip: Utilize a private guide’s extensive knowledge and experience to truly enjoy Ethiopia in the eyes of your local.

Name – Elwynn Jones

Since 1999 my husband Gavin and have travelled to 53 countries.

Our shortest trip was 5 days and our longest was 7 months. We travel independently and Simien Mountains map out an approximate itinerary (hence our website name), when we know that our plans will possibly vary as a consequence of weather, local circumstances or finding out about other attractions not listed in the guide book. We have now created this internet domain to share our knowledge, experience and other details we have now learnt under the Ethiopian Mountains way.