Somaliland: Wajale and the Khat spitting checkpoint soldiers

My last stop was Jijiga from where I took the bus to Wajale, the border town to Somaliland.

Now I was sitting in the overcrowded bus, holding my knees almost behind my ears and riding through the desert. The street we used was the only one around 100km in all directions but was in surprisingly very good condition. I was told that the street was built only one year ago. Good for us! We drove almost one hour only straight and faaaar away we already could see the two hills of Hargeisa. But that was still more than 100km.

Main Street in Wajale the border town

We stopped for the first time when we came to a check point. Everybody had to go out of the bus and some soldiers came along to check our passports. After 10 minutes we could go back and move on. No problems. After maybe 15 more minutes again a checkpoint. A female soldier came into the bus, looked around, noticed me and called "Passport, brother!".

During the stay outside I found another non-black passanger in the bus: a Japanese called Masa. He was the same age like me, 23, and guess what? He came to make photos! We talked a bit and as it turned out later it was good to have someone with me.

We stopped some more times until we reached the border town called Wajale. After we, Masa and me, left the bus and got our luggage from the bus roof we were looking disoriented around because no one of us knew where to go. Suddenly but expected some boys came to us and told us that if we want to go to Somaliland we had to go the Emmigration Office of Ethiopia first to "check out". Then we'd to go to the Immigration Office of Somaliland to check in to Somaliland.

Hargeisa big money - 4$

My bed

The boys brought us to the Emmigration Office and of course they wanted some money for walking 40m. No thanks! I don't have much money anyway... We knocked the door but no one way in the house. After a minute a man came, opened the door and invited us to have a seat. We told him that we wanted to go to Somaliland and so he passed over a paper, kind of a list of all foreigners going to Somaliland. When we put our names in the list and got a stamp on our visa we left for the Immigration Office on the other side of the street. 

As I entered the office there was a guy who asked for my passport and my visa for Somaliland. When he saw that I'm German he got crazy and told me that he loves German football! "Maybe it's not that bad as a German... at least better than been American!" I thought.

Again I got a stamp and when Masa got his stamp we left for looking for a vehicle which can bring us to Hargeisa. That didn't seem to be an easy task so we headed up first for a money changer. I changed 10$ to Somaliland Shilling what was pretty funny because I never had such a bunch of notes in my hand! 1$ is around 13 notes of 500 Shilling. If you ever saw the money changers in the streets of Hargeisa you know what I mean.

First hot shower in one week

After a while talking to some people someone said that his brother has a car and will leave to Hargeisa soon. He's looking for some people to come with him so we decided to check that possibility. The brother came soon to us and told that his car is brand new, he bought it two weeks ago and that it has a high comfort. Comfort - a word I missed the last 800km! No problem, we're in Africa...

So we decided to go with this guy. When we reached his brand new car I was a bit surprised to see an 20 years old Toyota, but who cares. Somehow we will reach Hargeisa. We discussed about the price and we agreed to 140 Birr for the ride. That is around 8-9$ - more expensive than in Ethiopia, because (I was told that) everyone wants to go to Hargeisa - a booming city as I will see later. We put our luggage in the trunk and the guy said that I should sit down on the left side. So I sat down on the left in the back. LUCKY ME!!! When I was in the car I saw that the steering wheel was on the right side and the driver told Masa to sit down on the co-driver seat. We thought that we will leave now but that was wrong. In the next hour we were waiting for some more passengers and if you want to know how many people came in: it have been 4. 7 people in the sedan. Nice! But the best part was: first there came three people to sit on the back seats with me. Then there came another woman who wanted to come with us so the driver told Masa to sit down on the center console between the front seats: no back rest, head at the roof and my favourite part -  the gear stick between his legs, so everytime the driver had to gang he had to put his hand to Masa's balls!

Hargeisa street life

When we left more than two hours had passed and I became a bit angry for wasting so much time. We drove for maybe 10 minutes when we stopped and picked up a child which was sitting in the trunk behind my back. Nice... then we suddenly turned around and drove back! What the heck?! Masa turned around and was also wondering what happened. After a minute I asked why we drive back to Wajale. And the answer I got was the most annoying one I got on this whole trip: I forgot to refuel!!! That's impossible! How can that be?! That was so annoying but what could I do: TIA - this is Africa! You can`t do anything. Maybe I'm just too German - in time, tidy, prepared... (hahaha I'm not but that is what everybody thinks about Germans).

After refueling we finally headed up to Hargeisa. The 70km ride took around 5h through the Somali desert. Again a lot check points where everytime a Khat chewing soldier came to our car, spoke to the driver, while speaking spitted some nice green pieces of the Khat around and into the car, and then let us drive by. Most wanted to see my passport but no problems at all. I think it have been 5 check points. 

Inside "Oriental Hotel"

After 5 hours we reached the outskirts of Hargeisa and drove to the city centre where we were dropped of at the Oriental Hotel. Masa had made a reservation there before and I decided to stay at this hotel too. It was 25$ or 15$ a night, I'm not sure. We checked in and decided to have an ice cold Coke, then have a shower and after that we would go around to check our new home and location.

"Damn, first warm shower on my trip"... My last thoughts for today.

Jijiga clubbing (and prostitutes)

I wish I'd have had my photo camera with me this evening.

As I sat down with this guy in front of my cell eeeh room in the so-called hotel, I asked him, if he could set up my mobile with the new Ethiopian sim card because my Amaric wasn't good enough (haha) to understand what the voice was telling me. I sent an sms to my girlfriend. Didn't work. Good! I tried for some times and after this disappointing result I changed the sim card back to my German one.

When the waitress came we ordered a beer. I think it was around 10 Birr for 0,5L St. George beer, what is around 0,60US$. What a price! The guy, I don't remember his name, worked in Jijiga for few years as a plumber. He told me that this city is surprisingly boring (what do you expect in the middle of the desert, at the boondocks?!) but he will meet a friend this evening. He asked me if I wanna join them, they wanted to go to a bar. So after my second beer we went to see his friend in this bar. It is a traditional bar, he said, so don't wonder if people are looking strange at you. Oh really? Haven't seen a white person for more than one day!

The bar was cool, looked like something in the Caribbean with bamboo bar, loud traditional music etc.. We found his friend and sat down. The music was so loud that it was hard to order something or not to mention to have a conversation. So we only drank some more beer and suddenly all was black! Some how I wasn't shocked or surprised. I don't know why but I think the atmosphere in such an area makes you prepared for everything - getting chased, getting stopped by AK47 militias, running for you life, straaange food and even blackouts. Seconds later the bar staff came around and put candles everywhere so at least we could see something. It took a few minutes and suddenly there was music again. But not in our bar! It was the bar next door. A minute later we were on power again and music was as loud as hell again. Beer....beer...beer...beer.... blackout... beer...beer. The bar next door was on power before us again so we decided to leave and go there.

Now when I'm writing that I wonder why it didn't feel that strange doing it as it feels like by remembering it.

In the Somali region desert

As we entered the bar next door we went to a pillar in the middle of the room, to get somewhere to lean on besides we had a little table there. So we bought some more beer and drank. After a while the guys with me asked me which girl I like in that bar. I told them that I have a girlfriend but I showed them a girl that looked really pretty. She must have been around 20 years old. One of the guys asked me if they should talk to her and I said no. That didn't seem to be of any interest to them so one of them went to her and brought her to our "table". She only spole Amaric but that didn't seem to bother her. She danced me up and after a while I joined in. My guys worked as interpreters between her and me. So after maybe one hour one of the guys asked me if I wanted to take her with me. He told me that she said that I'm a handsome guy and blablabla... Now I understood! I'd never do that anyway but just out of curiousity I asked how much she costs. It was 500 Birr what is around 30US$ or 25€. So much?! At the end of the world?! That is the same price I'd have to pay in Germany for a shabby one! I mean she looked good but... how the fcuk is that possible? I told the guys that they could tell her that I have a girlfriend and by the way I never pay for that. She asked if I'm sure on that because if I am she'd go in the next room because there is a guy who wants her. Yeah, I'm quite damn sure.

After this answer she turned around and left - without saying anything, even not thank you for the beers! What a bitch!

It was late anyway and I've had a few so I decided to go back to my room. I also had to leave at 8am so one of the guys brought me back to my hotel. Meanwhile it was raining like shit and the sandy streets became damn muddy. After saying good bye to my companion I locked myself in the room and went to bed.

Nice evening at all!

After a few hours of sleep I woke up because the hotel staff was cleaning the floor infront of the rooms. Too bad that there stood some metal chairs and tables and they didn't seem to be interested that it was 5:30am and maybe someone was still sleeping. Well, not anymore. I got up at 7am and packed my stuff and left the room. There were some people in the dining room and I asked them where the mini bus station is from where I can get to Wujale, the border town to Somaliland. One of the guys was so nice that he brought me with his motorcycle taxi to the bus station.

After a few minutes of asking around I was brought to the right bus and again a few minutes later of negotiating I gave my luggage to the roof and sat down in the bus.

We left Jijiga and drove through the desert.

Addis Abeba to Jijiga, please

The next morning (I went back to Taitu Hotel because I knew that there is internet access) 40$ left. Damn it, I need money! I wrote an email to my mother. Most of my money is in my big luggage which is stuck in Amsterdam but I need money - that's what I told her. If she can send me.... maybe 200€ what is around 255US$ by Western Union. Well not that much money but at least it is something plus that would make my adventure much more... interesting! I need to go really cheap. So once again a day went by. I was going around with a guy who showed me the main post station and invited me for - guess what? Right" - Injera. I bought some post cards which looked like they are from the 70s. There don't seem to be many people who wanna send post cards from Ethiopia. I'm wondering why? I decided to send a card with two black, completely naked guys with spears in their hands to my neighbour who once in a while seemed to be a bit racist. Harrharrharr... nice one!

Outside the bus

After that we took a ride by mini bus to Bole area, where some embassies are to get my Somaliland visa. I applied for a tourist visa in an office which looked like a big garage. Few minutes later I was brought to the office of the ambassador who gave me the necessary stamp and we left. Next stop was a Western Union shop to receive my money (thank God!) and from there we took a ride to the Selam Bus station. Selam Bus is one of the two big bus companies in Ethiopia. Their slogan is: "German quality, Chinese prices!". Before we reached the office - again a small garage like room - we had to go through some sandy, muddy ways and broken down houses. In front of the office there stood a lot old big busses which had to be repaired. I was glad to hear that the bus I'd take would be another one - a big western like coach. Nice! But German quality? Couldn't wait to see it! 12€ for the ticket to Harar what is around 700km from Addis I think. Well, price seems to be Chinese. Let's wait for the quality.

Ethiopian highlands

This night I stood in a cheaper hotel which cost around 8€ per night. Again no warm water and the shower didn't look very trustworthy so I decided to wait for the next shower. Again. The third day. Yummy! I'm in Africa, that was my comfort. I went to bed early because I had to leave very early in the morning. Around 4:45h I went out of the hotel and took the taxi which I ordered last day and stood in front of the door. All Selam busses leave from a very big square in the middle of the city so I left and waited for my bus. I was suprised to see such a new busses when nearly everything seems to come from the 70s here.

Sweet litte me in the coach

My bus left at 6:00 in the morning just in time and when the sun rose, the rainy clouds disappeared. Good start. Inside the bus everything looked like we know it from a western coach. Two TVs with nice Amaric movies about college students in love, murderers and a suicide. Everything a good movie needs. I don't remember the name of the bus brand, but I remeber that it definetly wasn't German but Chinese also. Didn't matter, the bus was cool and much better than I expected. During the drive all passengers got a piece of cake and cool drinks what I found very good and nice.

With a hour break we had a 11h ride and arrived at 5pm in Harar. My plan was to take a room for a night and on the next day I wanted to drive via Jijiga to the border to Somaliland and then Hargeisa. When we arrived I was told that there is a Muslim festival in three days in Harar and most of the hotels are fully booked or if free they take four times the prices they usually take.

Big camel flock

Inside the mini bus

No thanks, where is the mini bus station?! I decided to take the next mini bus to Jijiga. The sun went down slowly and I thought the sooner I leave the better it is, because I heared that driving in a mini bus in the night isn't the best idea. Soon I found the bus station and after a few minutes seesaw with the driver I sat in the bus which soon got full. We left the station with 16 people in the bus what I heared later isn't that bad at all. With 24 people it becomes poky I was told. Well, good for me!

Landscape around Jijiga

During the ride I saw on the right side of the street a crashed mini bus with a blue canvas over it and maybe 50m further on the left side another crashed car with a blue canvas as well. The guy besides me, his name is Yonathan, told that these cars crashed into each other few days ago and because it is in the middle of nowhere the dead bodys are still under the canvas. That really appeased me!

My bed in my "prison cell"

Door and window of the "hotel room"

After 3 hours we reached Jijiga and lucky me my neighbour Yonathan wanted to show me around a bit. He brought me to a "hotel" which looked more like a prison. But I couldn't complain. It was the cheapest hotel I had on my whole trip - 2,5€ a night! A very large bed, a bucket to pee into and one small green light bulb at the ceiling. Pretty cool! The window and the door where made of metal what underlined the prison-like feeling. I left my stuff in my room and went with my new mate to a restaurant which is called Restaurant Djibouti. Very good food in a strange, end of the world atmosphere, sitting in a large, neon-lighted room, eating and watching Al Jazeera. Awesome!

After dinner he left me and I went back to the hotel where I soon found a guy sitting right in front of my door at a table. He had a beer and I asked him to sit down to him....

How to get ripped off without knowing

This time I'll tell you how I got ripped off and didn't even realize it. Cool!

Some kids at the market

View in to an alley

As I told you before I left the property of the hotel and only wanted to have a look around. My plan was only to go around the street in the part of Addis Abeba called Piassa but I got caught by three boys who were standing around there. They talked to me, asked where I was from etc. and I found them very friendly. It seemed to be a holiday or at least that was what they told me. They wanted to show me around Piassa and some other places so we went down the streets and took a minibus to Mercato. Mercato is the biggest open-air-market in whole Africa with around 13,000 persons working on an area of 1-2 square kilometers. There they have different areas, for each business one. I went through the spice area and the iron area where they worked a lot of different steel works. Quite impressive!

Need some plastic cans?

Injera

Well, I usually don't drink coffee at all but I thought: where should I try coffee if not in Ethiopia, plainly the land of coffee? So I was invited to a cup of coffee - not bad at all. Meanwhile it was noon and we went to eat some Injera, the national dish of Ethiopia. It is a veeery large pancake, made of a local grain called Teff. You get some cups of meat with sauces and pour it on the "pancake", take your fingers and tear a piece of the pancake to grab some meat and eat it. Tastes... let's say interesting, very different to our western food. But I can't imagine to eat that all day long: for breakfast, lunch and diner. But as we know humans can get used to everything so I didn't worry about the well-being of my Ethiopian fellas. After lunch we went some more around the streets. We decided to go to a Khat-bar to sit down and relax a bit. A bus ride and some minutes of walking later we reached a part of the city which almost looked like the border to a slum. Cute! Good place for me to stay, I thought. My new companions seemed to watch my back so I wasn't afraid of anything. As we entered the so-called Khat-bar I was surprised to see what I saw. It wasn't that shabby at all but far, far away from what we can call a bar (or anything like that) in our hemisphere. We went through a room and sat down in the room in the back. That all was more a wooden shed than something else. A lot of pillows on the floor and a big carpet. That's it. Oh, I forgot the Bollywood posters at the walls. We sat down and a girl came in and brought us the first bunch of khat. For all who don't know khat: that's s plant which is grown in Ethiopia and Yemen and is consumed all over Eastern Africa. In the leafesthere is Cathin, an Amphetamin-like substance, which shall effect analeptic: you feel good, talk more and you're not tired.

Solomon (left) and Daniel (#+-?(&%)

I tried. At the end we sat there for 5 (!!) hours and chew all the time, ate fresh rosted peanuts and drank tea and lemonade. After all that time I had enough of this khat stuff - they almost forced me to chew some more but when I almost had to vomit I realized: okay, the defo enough! They paid and we went on. During the stay I also talked to two guys, TI and Solomon, nice guys but didn't talk that much.

Meanwhile it was 6pm already and dark outside. We went to have some diner - Injera again - and took a bus to go to a bar with live music, beer etc. After a while we found what we were looking for and entered the bar. It was nearly empty and we each ordered a beer. While talking one of the guys left to get some weed - I was told that one joint is around 4$. I wasn't that educated in that business but I always heard about 10€ for a small package in Germany so I expected it to be a good price. When I came back I told a friend of mine about that and she laughed. They once bought a blunt (a joint full of weed for the less-educated-non-smokers) for 0,16$ in Uganda. Damn, that's a price!! We smoked two of these sticks and went back in. At the end they weren't good at all... After that the third guy, Daniel, (who bought the stuff) left us.

Well, I didn't know so I enjoyed my evening with some more beers (St. George - pretty good stuff) and when the live music started I began to get funny. The ladies in their white dresses startet to sing some traditional songs and asked me for a dance. Me?! Dancing?! Until the 3rd liter of beer that is usually a bad idea. But there was no way out so I had to. In the meantime there came two or three other white guys to this bar which seemed to have a lot more fun of that "strange" dancing.

At all that seemed to be a very nice evening. It seemed. Until we left the bar and I checked for my money. Due to the reason I had no big luggage and that the Taitu Hotel was that expensive I checked out in the morning already and took all my stuff like rucksack etc. with me. So when I left the hotel's property I thought I'd be back soon or look for a new hotel but what I didn`t expect was a day long tour through Addis. That's the reason why I didn't put all my money, which I had in an envelope in the rucksack, into my fanny pack und my shirt. BAD MISTAKE!

During our stay in that Khat-bar I went for a slash. Man, I wish I had a picture of that toilette! I thought - and that was the big mistake - I could trust these guys sitting with me in the room. They brought me through the city, invited etc.. I left my rucksack in that room with these guys, Daniel sitting beside it. You know what happened? You know! He took the money. That was almost all money I had with me. around 650$. Good deal for you, lucky motherfcuker!

So when I realized it, it was too late. The other two guys didn't know where he was living or didn't want to tell, so I was in a fix. Nice very first day in Africa!! Fortunately I had some money left in my fanny back so I wasn't completely without money. But 50$ for three weeks isn`t that much, is it?!

To learn how I managed my trip through whole Western Ethiopia up to Somaliland's capital Hargeisa just stay tuned!

Adventure No. 1 - Culture Shock

It was in June 2011 when I came back from holidays in Croatia with my girlfriend (after that holidays fiance). When I went to the office the first day after holidays our boss wasn't there but again touring through Germany, doing some unimportant things so I decided not to do too much. At that time it was more fun to surf in the internet or to complain with my colleagues about work. We haven't been paid correctly since few months so our ambition to work hard has been to holiday also. After three days sitting in the office doing nothing I took a descision: I quit my job in this company and found my own one. It was my long time dream to found my own company plus I knew that I'd get some thousands Euro which I usually had to get the months before already. That was the moment my idea was born: take some of this money and fly to Africa. You're young and you always dreamed about that. Now you got the chance - take it!

My luggage

The 21st June 2011 was my last day as an employee. Then everything happened very quickly. I got my vaccinations when I decided where to go. "Hi, I'm here to get some vaccinations." - "Good. Where do you want to go to?" - "Ethiopia and Somaliland. Three weeks." - "Okay. You need this and that..."

Pinprick - booking - sitting - waiting - boarding.

Nice and clean toilet

I flew from Düsseldorf to Amsterdam and then via Khartoum to Addis Abeba. When I arrived I noticed that my luggage was somewhere else but not where I was. After watching the assembly line for nearly one hour, waiting for my large backpack. Negative. After an hour long procedure at the airport I finally went out. It was midnight already and a lot of people talked to me or tried to talk me into some crappy hotels with their special offers. In the end I went out of the airport and took a taxi. Taitu Hotel was my first address. The hotel's ratings in the internet varied from very bad to good. But man, it was the oldest hotel in this country so I shouldn't miss it, doesn't matter how shabby it is!

My room in the brothel

When I went to the taxi (funny blue 40 years old Ladas from the communist era) the culture shock began. It smelled very very different to anything I ever knew before. It was a mixture from exhaust, burned wood, shit and something else. The next step on the culture shock ladder was driving in this car. Particularly there was no bottom in that car so I could see the street when driving. Nice! Then there came some cars without lights in the middle of the night but everything seemed to be in a flow. It works - somehow.

We finally arrived at the hotel, I got my room and paid some exorbitant 23 $ for a room that night. I was brought to the room which looked more like a room in a 60s brothel. Well, nice. It's the middle of the night and I don't know any other hotel near to that so I had to take it. I slept bad in that 100 years old bed and all the bedclothes felt wet somehow. So I was glad to wake up the next morning and start my adventure.

I went out of my room, checked out and left the hotel property. I stood on a street, looked around and just thought: well, that pretty looks like Africa!

How I met guys, chewed Khat for the first time and how I get fucked by the first chance I will tell you the next time.

The journey can begin

My dear fellas,

there is a reason why you are right now reading this text: we share the love of Africa.

I can't say why exactly the black continent is fascinating me that much and I don't think there is a rational reason. But that doesn't matter. There is this love and this love keeps me going through the days. Since my return home in the last year' summer there hasn't been a single day I didn't think about going back.

When I was in Ethiopia and Somaliland last year I got infected by this desire: there are so many things waiting to be seen and so many places to be explored by me. That is what I feel and so much more.

Anyhow: during my time there I met the most friendliest people and had my life's biggest adventures which I remember so often. This hunger for adventure made me thinking of this blog, because I want to know what you experienced when you have been in Africa.

Have you done camel trekking through the Sahara? Or a tour with a motorcycle through West African countries? Is there anything to tell about how you survived awesome situations or have you been put to jail with creepy strangers?

That is what I want to know and what I want to share, because people who read this blog have this hunger for stories to fill the gaps between their stay at home and the anticipation to go back soon. I want your stories, I want your pictures - show me your Africa!