An alarm clock at half 5 even here, with little stress and daylight on its way, is still way too early. Alex and I were heading north to Adwa and Axum. Two towns near the border with Eritrea, the latter being the big tourist attraction, having the Stelae fields and Ark of the Covenant to visit. Our journey "experience sharing" was to catch with up fellow volunteers. So a college car took us into town to the bus station for 6am. A bus left just as we arrived. As our bus had 8 people on we knew we had to wait for the bus to fill up before departing. However, after 30 minutes and only a few more people on we were on our way. Out the gates, back up the road, shouting and stopping for any late passengers that desire a lift. Oh. What's this? We stop 1km down the road, turn round and head back. Why? Think of this start as a tease or an enticement for any people standing at the side of road. For those people who may just have been thinking "Oh yes actually I wasn't going to, but I think I will get on a bus for 3 hours". So as we circle the town looking for more passengers that cannot be bothered to go to the station, we soon find ourselves back where we started.
9:30 - Three hours later, the bus is nearly full. Alex and I are contemplating paying for the remaining seats. Actually, we both realise that in this short time we have both changed. As back in the UK by now we would have been livid, while here you just sit back, relax and smile. I'm not sure why they stick with this process, but a few people who we saw in the morning, appear from shops to take their seats as the bus honks its way finally out of town. It is not uncommon for children to sit and save seats for others and they just holler when they reach the intended occupant.
The rest of the journey, except the flat tyre an hour later, was conventional enough: crammed onto a seat; Live chickens squawking, children jumping on, at every village stop, to sell lemons and nuts; bags of charcoal and tef shoved under every seat; a bumpy ride reminiscent of Sheffield City Centre; pipe-dream signs stating maximum speed limit of 40kph; radio so loud mp3 player has not effect; a curtain-pulling fight between two old characters wishing to shield themselves from the sun. Adults staring. Children staring. Actually, the children pass the time with games of "peekaboo" and getting their photo taken. Traffic police getting on to check for standing passengers. Apparently, Ethiopia is one of only two African countries where it is banned.
Read amazing stories to your kids on Messenger Try it Now!
