To the Simien Mountains (2)

? June 2008

Woke early the next morning. Still no hot water or heating. Went down for breakfast and ordered cornflakes followed by scrambled eggs. Told I could have one or the other! By this time, I was very annoyed. The other guests had started to arrive and when asked, said they had hot water and heating.

I went to see the manager. The manager said he would look into it but did nothing more than prepare the bill and then come and present it to me. No apology, no reduction, no courtesy. I have to say this is par for the course in Ethiopia – out of Addis, there are few places that offer customer service as opposed to simply providing food. Very little thought goes into training staff. However, this is supposed to be an international standard hotel. It certainly charged prices to reflect that. I spent 1,500 Birr for a bed in a cold room, a sub-standard meal and meagre breakfast. That is about £75 and equates to my allowance as a volunteer in Ethiopia for one month. So, whilst I have thought carefully about writing such a negative review of one of Ethiopia’s few attempts to offer a higher standard of service, it is unlikely that it will attract more than the very committed traveller.

Another 4 hour hike the next morning to areas of outstanding views including the waterfall.


Waterfall Simien Mountains

We started back towards lunchtime. By this time the ‘road’ was dry so we were not slipping and sliding but very definitely bumping. Lunch in Debark where I tried to obtain some cash as the Hotel had cleaned me out. However, they don’t do credit cards or traveller’s cheques in Debark. Fortunately I had a $100 dollar bill and after checking via three bank staff and putting through a machine and ensuring my id was appropriate, they finally cashed it for me.


Baboons