Distance: 129.2 km
Ride time: 7:00:09
Average: 18.5 km/h
Max speed: 58.7 km/h
Total: 51912 km
After the burning hot days near Lake Turkana it was something different to wake up in the clouds at 2000 meters above sea level. It took an hour before I had descended below the fog again.
The road would now twist its way in and out, up and down, through the hills of central Ethiopia. The villages would turn more rural and a bit poorer than what I had seen the last days.
Unfortunately this also meant that the stone throwing kids were back; the welcome you receive in those villages is not a warm one. Beside the stones, young men guarding their cattle would often crackle their whips in my direction. Not that they really wanted to hit me directly, but more like a game to annoy. Their strategy worked to a certain degree as I only wanted to make it out of their villages as fast as I could…
With over 7 hours of actual cycling, today was a long day in the office. I arrived in Sashamane just before sunset, wondering why the Internet on my phone didn’t seem to work. I then remembered that the German cyclists I met last week had mentioned that social media is blocked in this part of the country. Good thing that I used to be an IT engineer – installing a VPN app solved the problem.
Cycling in Ethiopia is mentally challenging and I’m beginning to feel a drain of energy. In three days I will arrive in the capital Addis Ababa. Looking much forward to a break there.
Who do you use for VPN?