Awassa -Addis 1st July to Debrah Marcos 2nd July

The very bad hail storm

Our accommodation next to the garage



The road to Addis




Lunch and a welcome break on the way to Addis




A Hotel like this is way beyond our pocket




Scaffoling the Ethiopian way!!




Where in S.A can you park your car so close to a restaurant





Our luxuary accommodation at Holland House



And..... the luxury suite

 There was beautiful country side as we left Hawassa, the lands were very cultivated, we also went past a number of lakes. We also passed a sign to a wine farm. We were amazed at the many massive tunnels that we passed in which we saw a copious amount of plants growing. At the T-junction we hit the main road from Djubuti to Addis, which is the main port in Somalia and the only port from which Ethiopia can transport their goods.As a result there were so many trucks on the road and it was a bit of a shock to the system after the quiet and tranquility of the the countryside from which we had just passed through. Ian and I decided that as we had ski8pped breakfast that it would be an ideal opportunity for us to have a break and find something to eat. We found a very upmarket hotel right on the main road. The decor inside the hotel was predominantly gold edged, even the pillars outside were edged in gold. We had a very nice chicken on bread, and crispy chips it was their version of a burger! Ian had a local beer and I had a G&T with lemon and lots of ice, a luxury in this country.  Even the ladies was clean with proper toilets and a toilet seat, clean basins, soap and running water.

After a very welcome break we were ready to face the traffic again. From then on it was constant heavy traffic. when we eventually arrived in Addis the GPS kept on leading us into a lane which Ian as you can imagine, was not prepared to drive into because if the trailer got stuck it would have been a mission to try and get it out again. After driving round about three times again and many phone calls toAdri and each time being led back to the same lane. Through the help of locals we eventually found Holland House.

We were quite shocked at the look of the place when we arrived. Adri and Jo-Anne came to greet us and said that they had booked us into the luxury suite! Well it did have a sort of double bed but most of all hot water and a flushing loo and we even had a TV in our room, not that we were able to understand anything on the TV but it looked good.

It was our turn to cook so after a quick drink and a cigarette I started to prepare supper. Yes it was amazing because Ian nearly drove the Fortuner into the restaurant and even though they served food, Wim ( the Hollander who owns Holland House and Ragel his Ethiopian wife, not only allowed us to cook our own food but they also sold us some eggs and bread rolls and even allowed us to use the sink in the restaurant kitchen to wash our dishes. I made a so called cottage pie but as we only had gas to cook on it ended up being more like a mince stew! Well everyone seemed to enjoy the meal nonetheless.  We also had what looked like a pumpkin but turned out to be an enormous squash.

After supper we joined the others in the pub, there were so many interesting people doing the same or more adventurous things than we are doing. We met a very nice dutch couple, who gave us a lot of information and a lot of tips. It was a lovely evening and testimony to the fact that we all went to bed quite late.

It was a pleasure getting up in the morning to a hot bath. Ian and I had already ordered our breakfast by the time the others arrived. I had two delicious pancakes for breakfast. Roger had organized with someone in Addis to make a new number plate for him for his bike as his other one had broken in half from his last fall. Things don't happen very quickly in Africa. Ian always quotes the saying 'the clocks belong to the western world but time belongs to Africa" how true this is! Rogers number plate was supposed to be ready by eleven at the latest but they actually only started making it that morning. Roger was fuming and said that we had waited around long enough already so he would make his own license plate out of cardboard. It was agreed that Ian and I should go ahead as we drive slower.

Ian and I went to the Hilton Hotel to try to draw money as he had tried earlier at another ATM, without much luck. The Hilton is a very upmarket hotel in a very pleasant, almost first world part of Addis, very different to where we were which was a very defunct railway station in a very dodgy area.  We were able to draw money. We filled up with fuel and we think that due to the quality of the fuel, the Fortuner struggled.

The countryside was a a welcome relief after the battle to get out of Addis. Green mountainous, green and lush! People wore the most beautiful blankets in all the different colours and hues that you can imagine. Then we hit a huge hail storm and the temperature plummete4d to 6deg.. I t lasted for what seemed like forever and just when we thought that we would have to drive all the way through the storm, we ascended into the magnificent Blue Nile canyon. the temperature rose to 36deg. the canyon was very dry and rocky with undulating hills. We eventually arrived just before dark at Debrah Marcos.

the hotel was right on the road which overlooked the petrol station. The rooms were not that great but the bed was quite comfortable, there were also blankets on the bed so we were warm. the food I thought wasn't very good at all. Everyone was was tired so we all went to bed early.