Final day and final thoughts

Waking up today I have no plan to do anything besides internet and get some fruits to supplement the meager food portion at the hotel. The reason for this inactivity was because the hotel is located way away from city center, $20 taxi ride one way, and Addis certainly is not my favorite city to get stranded in. Finally mentally I just wanted to go home.

I was pretty bored at the hotel as the only English movie channel played old movies that I have seen before. I tried to see if Ethiopian airline office next door can upgrade me free to the business section, but it was full.

The hotel airport shuttle arrived earlier than I expected while I was eating dinner at the hotel restaurant – I paid this meal as the airline only pay for 3 meals even though my flight is past 10PM.

Arrived to Addis airport for the seventh time on my trip, I used my United Premier Access card to access Ethiopian’s lounge which is kind of nice: stocked with good selection of food. I could have eaten my dinner here.

As for the flight itself, the 787 dreamliner didn’t have the wow factor that I was hoping for. Yes there is more room for overhead storage and the storage is higher up so more head room. The lighting is a bit better (led lights) and windows are controllable tint windows (no shade). The returning flight stops at Rome for refueling, not sure why it is necessary as it is non-stop from IAD to Addis. Strangely I felt the food was better on the returning flight, maybe I had such bad experience with finding decent variety of food that didn’t make me sick during my travel, the airline food looked good.

Finally my final thoughts about my trip:

Overall Africa is hard place to travel, you paid a lot (by local standard) for little service/value. Someone told me it is like paying 5 stars accommodation for a 2 stars accommodation.

Djibouti, a hot, dirty, smelly, and expensive place. Unless you are traveling in group or just want to say you been to it, I say skip it.

Ethiopia, a diverse country with so much to see and do; lots culture and nature beauty. Although there are genuine friendly people around, most of the people independent tourists encountered are in it for the money and at inflated foreigner price. Establishments and sightseeing areas usually have much higher price for foreigners and hustlers and so called official guides can really get on one’s nerves. These people are genuinely have no idea how their actions and behaviors are impacting the tourists’ experience and perception of their country or maybe they just don’t care as long their got their milk money. I would still recommend Ethiopia for everyone, but for people who want a peace of mind of no have to deal with the hassles directly, go with a tour company. When taking local tours, don’t expect too much and you will be happier.

Somaliland, not much to see, but it is so off the beaten track as of now, you better prepared not to be able to share cost with other travelers. Despite of my bad experience of getting there, the people here are generally more friendly and genuine compare to Ethiopia. You are more like to have sat down talk with locals in English than in Ethiopia. I recommend this safe and relatively friendly country to travelers, but best if you can find 1 or 2 people to travel together.

The trip was so rough that I have to say goodbye to my hiking shoes of 8 plus years in Addis :):