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'''One of the hardest parts about traveling Ethiopia''' is listed as one finding a place to sleep. Much of the world poorest countries, country is densely populated. In Amhara and very few Tigray people have cars thereare extremely suspicious of people walking on to their land or forests toward night time and may call the village to intervene. Nevertheless, hitchhiking there is possible and completely doable, although it might require some patience of yoursHotels are about 50-60 birr (2. Ethiopians probably see a hitcher as having a robbery or banditry motive since hitchhiking is an unknown concept there, however, white guys might have a bonus50$-3. Taxis might stop 00) for you if you use a wrong hitchhiking techniquesingle person and 70-80 for two people. In rural areas, ''faranji'' might do hitchhiking when public transport is absent although payment can be expected The prices are higher in a matter of contribution to Addis Ababa and the high cost eastern cities. Maybe fifty percent of fuel'' (according to the Lonely Planet)hotel rooms have bedbugs so I''. Nevertheless, it is possible to catch some free rides but it may require patience. Just tell d learn the driver clearly you won't pay when boarding signs and check before buying a vehicleroom. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church traditionally keeps forested space near their churches and these can sometimes be slept in.
Ethiopia is The police don't have much of a fairly safe country, however corruption problem and only seem to intrude heavily on the traveler''faranji'' frenzy will definitely quickly become an annoyance as s life in much of Benishangul-Gumuz. Ethiopian culture in many of the regions can be quite abrasive. People yell often and catcall at women. In the Amhara region litigation is the "national sport" and people love to argue. Make sure you know a price firmly before handing someone money. House-ups are relatively uncommon but it is less uncommon for a rich person to buy you travel throughout the countrya hotel. Along some rural main roads, Food is cheap and most people who like it really like it has been commonly heard that white foreigner (cyclist or 4WD) were thrown rock at them as part of an attention seeking game. Eating vegan is really easy. Water quality is low.
no edit summary
|pop = 78,254,090
|currency = Birr (ETB)
|hitch = {{average}}<rating country='et' />
| avp = Ethiopia
}}
[[File:Ethopia alex.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Waiting for the right lift, South of [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia.]]
'''Ethiopia''' is listed as one of the world poorest countries, and very few people have cars there. Hitchhiking is really easy in Ethiopia. Any type of arm motion are use of the thumb will get you a ride. Make sure you know that the ride is free. In Amharic, the most widespread language used by most people to some degree "Birr nuhtzuh" means free, in Afan Oromo the word is something like "Gahtee-malee". English use is pretty uncommon outside of the cities, and the truckers who provide so many of the rides or not often English speakers. The roads are pretty good in Ethiopia and combined with the ease of hitching almost everywhere in the country is accessible. Hitching within the city of Addis Ababa is very easy and a great way to meet people. The train around Addis is also very cheap.
Ethiopia is a fairly safe country, however the ''faranji'' frenzy will definitely quickly become an annoyance as you travel throughout the country. Theft is pretty unheard of even in the cities. The children in much of Ethiopia are totally insane and will just start screaming upon seeing a foreigner. Children in the rural areas on West Amhara being the worst and will often just start throwing rocks at people and/or following in a large crowd.
[[File:Ethopia2 alex.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Having a free lift (in this case with people from an NGO).]]
The country's car license plate system is very specific: the colour states the status of the ownership (''Blue'' for Private Ownership/ ''Black'' for Government / ''Orange'' for Businesses or NGOs / ''Red'' for Taxis). The NGOs plate always starts with a number ''(generally 35, other numbers simply specify the origins of the local organisation)'' while ''' ''CD ''' (in White/Yellow/Black)'' represents embassies and diplomatic cars with the first number specifying the country of origin. The 2 letters of the region of registration also appears on the license plate, both in Latin alphabet and local Amharic; As example, ''AA'' stands for Addis Ababa.
Update 2018: The license plate has changed a bit. First off, it is the letters and numbers that are colored and not the plates themselves. Secondly, a new green color has been introduced and it wasn’t clear what it meant. A number of types of vehicles seemed to have it from private cars to buses. And taxis didn’t seem to be exclusively red.
== Experiences ==
In the summer of 2010, [[User:gerbennap|Gerben]] hitchhiked through [[Ethiopia]], from the [[Sudan|Sudanese]] border crossing near [[Gonder]] to the [[Kenya|Kenyan]] border at [[Moyale]]. His experience was very positive, and even though little children and also adults were very curious whenever he passed through a village, he experienced none of the rock throwing mentioned in other reports. Waiting time was generally short.
In February 2012, KiwiAoraki hitchhiked in some areas of Ethiopia. Locals, especially away from tourist areas can either be very curious or a real annoyance. It can be difficult to get a lift if you have a mob of 8 children following you. When he hitched from Harar to Addis Ababa he was picked up by an NGO vehicle and given a lift for 70 km without charge. A ute then picked him up going all the way to Addis, but the driver got angry upon dropping him off due to not having any birr. Drivers usually expect payment from hitchhikers, especially foreigners.
in October 2018, [[User:TheLoneBaker|TheLoneBaker]] hitchhiked from the Sudan border to the Kenya border. He only encounter a single child who threw rocks and it wasn't directed at him as a foreigner. He was on a minibus that had offered him a free lift and the child threw the rock at the bus. SO perhaps this supposed rock throwing is not actually directed at foreigners so much as just bored children throwing rocks at moving targets. Hitchhiking itself was quite easy especially inside the city limits of Addis Ababa. He was also offered a hotel room almost every single night as opposed to being invited inside peoples homes. Again though, none of the drivers expected payment when asked beforehand.
== Borders ==
* [[Kenya]]: via [[Moyale]]
* [[Sudan]]: via [[Metemat]], note that visa is required in advance which takes up to one month to obtain.
* [[South Sudan]]
== Cities ==
* Beware of Landmines at the border regions to Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Kenya!
* Some Regions are simply closed for Foreigner, either due to the risk of attack, local tension or banditry. These usually includes the Ethiopian Somali Region ''(Werder)'' and the border with [[Eritrea]]. Other region such as the southwestern border with Sudan and Kenya as well as the Afar region can be volatile, so enquire inquire before you go.
* Refrain from giving to beggars or children, be it small changes, pencils or any goods whatsoever as these raises their dependency and expectation on tourist.
== Links ==
* [[:digi:article763.html|My time in Ethiopia]], August 19, 2005 by Hologram
* [http://wikitravelen.wikivoyage.org/enwiki/Ethiopia''Ethiopia'' at WikitravelWikivoyage]
* [http://www.digihitch.com/world/Africa/Ethiopia|''Ethiopia'' on digihitch]
* [http://abgefahren.hitchbase.com/DE/categorie/bloginhalt/aethiopien Articles on abgefahren-ev.de/blogs about Ethiopia (de)]
