Addis Ababa - This is where is started

i get to see a lot of quirky and out of place stuff in my travels and this trip is no different. so belt up for the travelogue

first halt was dubai airport. where i kept my cleanliness record of logging in a shower ever since i discovered it in the business class lounge. travel tip - always try and get a shower and s**t when on a long haul flight. another travel tip - always go to the handicap toilet. they're built like small cubicles where you can carry your hand carry stuff

addis ababa airport called the bole airport named after the village on which it was built. which is good in a way that's it's not named after some long forgotten leader. in addis everything is 15 minuts from bole road. which is about 10 km long.

addis has a large italian population - and genuine italian restaurants run by italian families serving very good food. i ate at castellis' which is supposed to be the best in africa

addis also has a huge yugoslav embassy and a personal palance of president tito. neither tito not yogoslavia exist - one is dead the other all broken up

i saw a lot of lada's which were russian version of the 60's fiat. the car has immense scrap value - becuase russia didn't have the tech to make thin cold roll steel so they made on large thickness steel to make their cars. not seen lada's anywhere else

then the last king haile selassie who was killed by the marxists in 60's - this guy was supposed to be a direct descendant of queen sheba's flirtations and lack of protection with king solomon. head of the rasta fari cult - made famous by bob marley. and his rastafarians

rastafarians come from jamaica and they've a simple philosophy. a man who smokes ganja lives happy and doesn't hurt. so they have huge opium farms in south of ethiopia, smoke, eat, sleep and do this endlessly. life is very easy there. i wouldn't mind doing it but there just a limit on how much reggage i can listen to

ethiopians have 13 months in a year with one month of 5 days (6 in leap year). they tell their time differently - as per them time should begin to count once the sun pops out and it should start with 1. so if you ever ask an ethiopian for the time, make sure you ask the person behind him as well

beyonce was in addis 3 days before i did and 17000 people showed up for her at $120 a ticket.

i also heard two very interesting comments - it is very expensive to be poor. the average ehtiopian pays $0.5 for a meal and sugar is $650/mt when it shouldn't be over $ 350. rice is double what is should be too

i could go on. some stuff depresses as it makes life seem very meaningless. but then the essence remains same. you run till you rest. or become a rastafarian. free resident visa in ethiopia and jamaica