Jima Bus Station

Outside the gate and in the light, Jima’s bus station doesn't look so bad.  But you're likely to only interact with this place in the morning hours where you’d rather be anywhere else, fighting your way through a crowd for something greater than a bus seat.   

There are few places that I have dreaded going to within Ethiopia but bus stations make up the majority of them.  Jima’s bus station in particular is a difficult bus station to like because – for me- it represents the approaching, groggy hour of having to wake up before sunrise, haul baggage down a dusty or muddy road, a long wait in a crowded and poorly lit area until the station’s gate opens, and, when that gate opens, preparing for the rush of flying elbows and baggage of people aiming to get through inflexible gate posts.  

If you're traveling by bus and taking public transport to/from Central Ethiopia and Ethiopia's Southwest, you'll likely be passing through here.   

Justin Bieber's painted portrait seems to like the avocado juice served in Jima’s bus station cafe.