A story when I went to Ethiopia and was closely related to the coffee refining process.
However, please see this page for the refining process.
This time I would like to talk about the journey to the refinery.
If the story is interesting, I would be honored if you could share it with your friends, or if a customer who comes to drink Galitebe tells you, "Ethiopia is such a country!"
table of contents
■3 ways to go! where are you going
·airplane
·Long distance bus
・Rental car with driver
■ Enjoyable journey
・Bus leaving at 11:00 leaves at 5:00
・Ethiopian comedy for everyone to watch
・Country music to listen to with a roar
・ Anyway, inspection
■ Life-threatening way home
・First, hitchhiking
・ Unreasonable police
・Tattered tires
3 ways to go! where are you going
Galitebe coffee beans are produced in Kaffa, Ethiopia.
There are three ways to get to Kaffa from the capital Addis Ababa.
which one would you choose?
① Airplane
・From Addis Ababa Airport to Jimma Airport, about 1 hour by flight departing at 12:00
・ About 2 hours drive from there and you will arrive
・Arrival around 15:00 ・About 8,000 yen per person
② Long-distance bus
・Wake up at 4:30 in the morning and go to the bus terminal
・About 10 hours from Addis Ababa
・Arrival time around 15:00
・About 3,700 yen per person
③Rental car with driver
・Depart at any time and take a break at any time
・About 8 hours
・From about 15,000 yen per person
Each route has its own audience.
(1) Airplanes: Domestic elite university students and office workers who look rich (2) Long-distance buses: People who have business in the capital and have come from the countryside
③ Rent-a-car with driver: foreigner
Which one would you choose?
Without hesitation, I would choose the long-distance bus.
The arrival time is the same and it's definitely cheaper, right?
However, the neck is that the remaining physical strength becomes 1 when you arrive.
I have never met a non-Ethiopian person on a long-distance bus.
If you are in the same space for 10 hours, you will become friends.
During this bus time, I learned a little Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia).
happy journey
Well, we decided to go by bus.
You must buy your ticket in advance.
When I bought the ticket for the first time, it said "11 o'clock" on the ticket.
I slept soundly, thinking, "Well, I'll be saved slowly," but suddenly my friend woke me up.
As if it were a matter of course, the friend said, "Good morning! It's time to leave! Get up!"
I was planning to go to Kaffa with that friend.
My brain can't comprehend it, and I have trouble waking up.
"Anyway, let's leave!"
When I arrived at the bus terminal, I don't know, but there are many buses and people.
chilly early morning.
People selling water and cigarettes.
The convenience of coming to wake up.
I got on the bus without knowing what it was anymore.
When I woke up and asked my friend, I found out that in Ethiopia the time starts at 6:00 and is written in 12 hours ! !
I'll explain lol
In Ethiopia, AM 0:00 is AM 6:00.
From there, the time moves every 12 hours.
5:00 AM in the world time is 5 hours ahead of 0:00 AM (6:00 AM) in Ethiopian time, so it will be 11:00 AM.
Therefore, a ticket marked 11:00 AM is 5:00 AM world time.
That's amazing. .
By the way, Ethiopia currently keeps its own time, so it's still May 14, 2014.
(I am writing this article on May 22, 2022)
My head is already full.
This is Ethiopia.
That's how I half forcibly understood the time axis of Ethiopia.
Going back to the topic, Ethiopia's bus movement has a unique "common sense".
・Watch a comedy movie together.
→ "Dokkiri program" and "comedy movie" will be played.
It's an Amharic translation of an American TV program.
Everyone laughs while watching the program.
I don't know much Amharic, but I laugh at the atmosphere.
The atmosphere on the bus is so cheerful that you can't help but laugh even if you don't understand the language.
・Listen to country music with a blast
→ Listen to the popular songs selected by the driver with a loud roar.
If you can hum the songs that play here, the distance with the Ethiopian people will be much closer.
We get along really well with the feeling of “You know me~!”
In Japan, it's like someone from Africa humming SMAP's "thank you."
"Oh!"
・ Anyway, inspection
→In Ethiopia, there are checkpoints at state borders.
There are various rules, for example, in the case of raw coffee beans, there is a fixed amount that can be taken out per person.
Be aware that laws change all the time.
The police and the military have quite large guns, so they are quite powerful.
life-threatening way home
Finally we reach Kaffa to stay.
Stay in a town called Bonga in Kaffa.
The people of Bonga are warm and very calm.
It's been a while since I've been thinking about that.
As the day to return approaches, I get restless.
On the day of my return.
On this day, I will wake up early in the morning and leave the inn.
However, it is not the bus terminal that you are heading to.
On the way back, I hitchhike a Hiace on the road instead of a large bus.
The method of hitchhiking is easy, raise your hand when a car that looks like it passes by.
If there are empty seats, they will stop.
If it's not empty, it won't stop.
Let's give up if it is rejected by about 5 cars.
I can't go home that day.
Decided to stay overnight.
There were times when I couldn't go home because the bus was full for up to two days.
Finally got on the bus! However, you should not rest assured.
Somehow, this day is strange. . .
The bus was stopped by the police.
When I heard the story, it was an unreasonable request for bribes.
The driver paid a bribe, and when I thought it was finally starting, I stopped again.
What will happen next time? It looks like the tire is punctured.
Moreover, the tires I'm about to put on are worn out and I don't know where they came from.
Such a car has been in an accident and burned down, rolling around on the road.
It's too dangerous.
I got out of the car there today.
Hitchhiking is back!
It takes one day to travel by bus in Ethiopia.
I've experienced it many times already, so I'm used to it, but when I write it down like this, it's all things that I can't think of in Japan lol
On the way, I laugh with my neighbors, get frustrated by being kept waiting at checkpoints, etc., and am busy with emotions.
But looking back on it, it's a good memory.
In Ethiopia, nothing goes smoothly, just like life is not fun when everything goes smoothly.
And it keeps growing.
When I first started going to Kaffa, long-distance buses didn't depart from Bonga, the town where I'm staying, but about two years ago they started.
Now you can go home without hitchhiking.
Something is changing and growing every time I go to Ethiopia.
That's why it's funny. I'm addicted to it.
It's worth experiencing once in your life.
"A journey that never goes smoothly"
What do you think?
To be continued..
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