Addis Ababa

The capital of Ethiopia, around six million people, and where Harry starts a journey north. Much of the population has arrived from the regions looking for work; a great many of the people he meets are portering goods through the market because they didn’t find any.

The country has over 80 tribes and over 80 languages, and Addis is where they meet.

Mercato

The market, and by Harry’s description the lifeline of the city and therefore of the country — everything sold in Ethiopia passes through it. Secondhand clothes at the edges, then porters, then depth.

Expect hostility to the camera. Harry is told to stop filming repeatedly, within thirty seconds of arriving and several times after. Nobody threatens him; people shout and walk on. His method, which works every time:

• Don’t delete anything and don’t argue.
• Turn the camera on yourself and say so.
• Smile, greet them, wish them a good day, keep moving.

His own summary is to kill them with kindness, and he notes that one man drew attention to himself by objecting when he wasn’t being filmed in the first place.

Why the city looks like this

Two things Harry keeps returning to:

• Ethiopia was never colonised. The Italians tried and were defeated, making it the first African nation to beat the colonisers, which he thinks is part of why the culture and the look of the people are so distinct — you can usually tell an Ethiopian, or an Eritrean, since the two were one country.
• The streets are unusually well planned. Wide two- and three-lane roads, very little traffic on a weekday, and a metro. He contrasts it with African capitals that grew faster than their streets could take.

Christianity reached Ethiopia before it reached Europe, and Christian and Muslim populations live alongside each other here in a way he says works better than in some places. Ethiopian Airlines, which he rates the best airline in Africa, is why he has passed through so many times.

Khat

Legal in Ethiopia and grown locally. A stimulant leaf, chewed and held in the cheek — you can see the bulge on regular users — with an effect after twenty or thirty minutes that Harry compares to drinking ten coffees. He has chewed it before in Yemen and Somalia.

Sellers may switch to dollars and push the price when they see a foreigner. Harry pays and declines to make a thing of it.

The khat market

A separate place from Mercato and the hardest place in the city to film. A seller explains the etiquette rather than just refusing: ask before you photograph, and don’t photograph what you haven’t bought. See when people don’t want to be filmed.

Harry’s read on the market as a whole: people match whatever energy you bring into it.

Coffee

Ethiopian coffee is what he rates best in the world, and the street version — served from a stall by the roadside, around 30 birr — is what he means. He drank it at four in the afternoon on top of khat and no food, and reported the consequences.

The coffee ceremony is the version to seek out: incense lit, beans roasted and brewed in a jebena — the traditional clay pot — and served slowly. Harry paid 25 birr including the ceremony, in a shack, and his conclusion is that the best coffee in the world is not in a trendy café.

Raw beef

A delicacy, and worth understanding before refusing it. The tradition dates back centuries: fires gave away a position in wartime, so meat was eaten raw. It is now associated with courage and strength rather than necessity, which is why it is offered to visitors as a test.

Half a kilo runs 1,500 birr, cut to order — the chest is the cut Harry was given. Eaten plain it is chewy and completely unseasoned; the way to eat it is torn into bread with berbere, chilli and mustard, at which point he says it works. His honest verdict is that he’s glad he tried it and prefers his steak cooked; the cooked version of the same meat he rates nine out of ten.

Shopping for a gift

Religious items are widely sold; a cross necklace for a priest ran 2,500 birr. Goats are an acceptable gift, though not available in the city — Harry had to go to Dessie for the livestock market, which runs on specific days only, and paid 5,000 birr after being asked 10,000.

Harry’s tips

• Turn the camera on yourself in Mercato and be pleasant. Deleting or arguing makes it worse.
• Drink the street coffee, not the café coffee.
• Ask what a thing costs before you’re seen wanting it. Prices move to dollars quickly.
• Do the coffee ceremony, not just the cup. 25 birr, and it’s the best coffee he has had anywhere.
• Eat the raw beef with the bread and the sauces, not on its own.
• Look behind the football stadium. The tea stalls ringing it aren’t on Google Maps and are where the locals drink.

Source

• I Entered Ethiopia’s War-Torn Rebel Zone 🇪🇹 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2C5dBQhHTk
• Surviving Ethiopia’s RAW Meat Sidequest 🇪🇹 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsSqvrJ5i0o