I had been warned that Ethiopia was a bit of a hassle. But I also figured that I had just spent months traveling around Africa, and so would be fairly prepared. This experience helped, but it also meant I was tired before I even got to Ethiopia, so had a little less patience. This patience was tested in our time in Hawzen, which ended up being the epitome of Ethiopia. Gorgeous, overpriced, and not entirely what you expect.

It all started off smoothly enough, as we got to the bus station in Mekele at 6am and were immediately put in the back of a very roomy land cruiser, for the expected price of 50 birr (about $2). Two hours later, we were already in Hawzen and found a great local breakfast spot. Of course, to get to this point we had had to bargain with a tuk tuk driver who at first claimed to know where we wanted to go, and then did not, which of course changed the price considerably. And we had been told the bus left at 6am, hence our early start, but in reality vehicles went between Mekele and Hawzen all day. But we were in Hawzen, eating special ful (spicy bean dish with egg- the special part) and life was good.

We found a good guesthouse for a reasonable price and passed the day doing laundry and drinking fresh juice and coffee.

The next morning we walked to the main intersection and enquired about getting a tuk tuk for the day to the three main churches that everyone goes to. We knew the going rate was 400 birr, so simply walked away when given the firm price of 600, and pretty soon we were in the back of the tuk tuk for 400 birr. 10 minutes later we stopped in the town of Megab, where we were to pick up a guide from the local co-operative association. Our guidebooks had recommended taking a guide to minimize the hassles later of “scouts”, children and others. Plus, he could call our uk tuk driver to pick us up from each church, as we didn’t have local SIM cards.

In Hawzen, we had been quoted 750 birr for a guide for the day (but who also wanted us to rent a land cruiser for the day for $50), and online sources mentioned we should be able to get one for about 600, and theoretically the co-operative had set rates. When we enquired they quoted us 950 for the day, at which we balked, and threatened to walk out. Eventually we agreed on 750. Of course.

Our next stop was the most famous and popular rock-hewn church of Abuna Yemata, known for its great views, reached by scaling a rock face. When we arrived we were told the entrance fee had been doubled to 300 birr, as of last week. This, of course, was news to us. Very unwelcome news. After the usual threatening to walk away proved fruitless, it appeared this was the official price, and I reluctantly handed over the money. Of course, the other church we wanted to go to, the other popular one, had also doubled in price to 300 birr. We thought about changing our plans to go to a cheaper church, but then our tuk tuk driver wanted more money, even though it wasn’t any farther. We decided to skip renegotiating and cough up the entrance fee.

We made it safely up the rock face, with minor help from the scouts, and the views truly were breathtaking. On the way down, we definitely needed help from a couple of the scouts. We knew for this service we would be expected to tip, but at the same time, we had just paid 300 birr ($12 USD) to access the church. We offered the scouts 20 birr, to which they refused, saying there were 5 of them. Of course, only 2 helped us. Our guide told us to tip them, but we told him they didn’t want our “small money” as they put it (keep in mind a local meal can go for 30 birr, so it’s not that small an amount of money, and tourists are going up and down this rock all day), he told us we should give 100 birr, and we finally offered 30, which they begrudgingly accepted. Those scouts must make a mint every day.

At the entrance of the hike to the next church, our guide insisted we need a scout to help us up the rocks, to which I facetiously remarked “so why do we have you?” I don’t think he got it. He wanted us to negotiate with the scout before he helped us, presumably to avoid another incidence where he didn’t think we tipped enough. After five minutes of arguing, we walked off, leaving the scout and guide behind. Our guide eventually caught up and said no more. So much for avoiding more hassles with the guide. We reached the top easily without the scout and again, the views were fantastic.

At the end of the day, we dropped our guide off, showered off the dust and hassles, and headed out for dinner with others from the guesthouse. We ended up at a place recommended in our guidebook and which had some locals eating at it, always a good sign. We asked for a menu, were told there was none, and were offered the ubiquitous spaghetti, shiro (chickpeas) and tibs (fried meat). It was Christmas Eve so we all celebrated with a beer. When the bill came, they had charged us more than double the going rate for the food. Shiro usually went for between 30 and 50 birr, and they had charged us 100.

I sighed and was nominated to take up our case, which involved going to a back room where a woman sat counting money amongst stacks of refundable drink containers, but could not speak English, so she called someone in Addis, who could speak English. 15 minutes later our bill was down to 80 birr for shiro, after being explained it was special shiro (it was not- it tasted exactly like the one we had at lunch and every other day), that we were not being charged faranji prices (we definitely were), that locals also paid that price (there was no way) and that we should have asked the price before ordering (fair point).

All in all, another day in Ethiopia.