Comment on Roach Motel

New post since I can't easily respond to comments on the blog.

The Circle Hotel in Gondar was probably the worst hotel experience I've ever had. That said, my two colleagues said they fell asleep around midnight and slept well (unbelievable!), and barely noticed the cockroaches the cockroaches in Japan are four times the size of those in Ethiopia). In any case, they obviously didn't lift up the mattress to see the party going on down there like I did, unfortunately.
Earlier in the day our driver took us up to the highest hill in Gondar where the Goha Hotel was located and overlooked the town. That hotel was about 3 times the price of the Circle Hotel, but I would have gladly stayed there had I known at that time about the infestation of both roaches and soccer fans. I stayed up most of the night pacing around my room thinking if I should just grab a taxi and go to the Goha Hotel and see if they had a room or sleep in their lobby. Of course I paced around my room carefully because the floor was like a mine field of bug parts from the ones I smashed with a flip-flop I found sticking out from under the bed.
I truly salute my colleagues for feeling at ease in a place like that. Our Ethiopian colleagues went out of their way to suggest places they thought we would stay at while they stayed at less expensive (roachier?) hotels, and them being soccer fans maybe they thought we would join in the revelry.
In any case, for those who shuddered at the thought of staying even five minutes in the Circle Hotel, I am on your side. However, trying to look on the bright side, I guess it was better than, say, an Iraqi prison cell.