At about 1900 last night I checked with the hotel staff as to whether he had bought our tickets to Woldia (for this morning’s 0600 departure). He had said he’d buy them at 1730 last night upon the arrival of the bus that would overnight here in Lalibela. He had offered to make the arrangement but he didn’t … he had expected me to give them the fare beforehand but never asked me for it!
Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe it was his way of making sure we didn’t get on the bus so they could profit from our situation.
Anyway, he was very apologetic and quickly took me to the bus station in the hope there would be tickets left. Nope, there were none. Then he took me to another man who was supposedly the driver for the Addis-bound bus … that was full too. So in the end, he arranged a couple of seats in a shared minivan at a price that would make locals weep … I think.
After nearly 6 bumpy and windy hours we arrived in Woldia about 1300. The driver had been less than pleasant also. Marie complained that he was stopping and waiting for extra passengers through the journey and cramming us in. His threatening response was “All you foreigners complain. It is not good for you to say anymore”.
Combined with the 0500 wake-up, we were too shattered to continue and decided to overnight here.
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- Scene from a cafe at Woldia.
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- It was a delight to stop at Woldia. Macchiato and cake while watching the traffic.
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- Our minivan ride.
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- Scene from a cafe at Woldia.