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 | Bahir Dar Warnings or Dangers | Tips 1 - 6 of 6 |  |
Popular Warnings or Dangers | Miscellaneous Warnings or Dangers Tips | All Tips (6)  | |  |  | The fake Hotel scam | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
I arrived to Bahir Dar by bus already at night (19:00h) and that is something I hate, as you can't get used to a city with daylight. As I was the only foreigner in the bus (the only white in fact), taxi drivers came to me as soon as I got down the bus. I had already a hotel in mind, but at night wasn't sure of how to get there by foot, so took a taxi. I made 1 MISTAKE: not arranging the fare previously. He just said, no proble, I'll take you to Ghion Hotel. In no more than 2 minutes we entered a garden by the lake. I knew tha hotel Ghion was by the lake so wasn't really worried. The driver came with me to the reception and asked the girl if they had rooms. He said they hadn't. I wanted to make sure so I asked too, having the same answer. No problem, he said, I'll take you to a nice place I know. Optionless, I let him take me in the taxi to his place. It happened to be a filthy local pension that wanted to charge me 100B (10USD) for a room. I say NO and want to pay the taxi. But then he asks me for 45B, which for a 2 minutes ride in Ethiopia is quite a lot. I say I won't pay more than 15, we have a little argue, but after me mentioning the police, I finally give him 20 and start walking.
Then I take the map (which I should have done from the beginning) and walk to the REAL Ghion Hotel, which happened to be side by side to the first place the driver took me (which was really a restaurant where a friend of the driver made me think I was at the Ghion Hotel).
At last at Ghion Hotel, I could book a room. Leave a Comment
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Bahir Dar is in the Malarial Zone. Most of Ethiopia is highlands and too high for mosquitoes. Unfortunately Bahir Dar is flat and low. The local government has made a lot of efforts to eradicate the mosquitoes and standing water in recent years. A local told me that you used to see people in the streets with malarias, but nit recently. This does not make it 100% safe and you still need to take sensible precautions. If your hotel does not have air conditioning they should provide nets. Leave a Comment Website: http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/
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Because Bahir Dar is so flat, they have a lot of very deep and rough drainage ditches that run throughout the town. These are a real hazard and a few are very wide. You really need to watch where you are walking in town. During the rainy season you need to take care not to be swept into one or fall in. They are a lot deeper in places than you think! Leave a Comment
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If you choose to come here by bus, count on 1 or 2 incidents on the way. The roads, mostly unpaved, are horrible, specially in rainy season, when buses frequently get stucked in the mud. Beisdes, the buses are old and brek every nw and then. Drivers are expert mechanicals and ususlly repair the engines in less than 15 minutes, but if you travel by bus in Ethiopia be prepeared for looooong trips! Leave a Comment
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In some of the monasteries women are not allowed the visit, as it is an exclusive men's world. In some they don't even have cows, female sheeps or any female animal. If you are a woman and go visit the lake monasteries, take a book to kill the time while you wait at the embankment for the rest of the group in those monasteries. Leave a Comment
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on February 3, 2007
on April 19, 2008
on September 5, 2004
