Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
)
on the way to Jinka are acceptably clean, except for the toe-curling common toilets at
the former, which will make you want to upgrade. Both serve local food.
Getting There & Away
The frequent buses and minibuses between Jinka (Birr20, 45 minutes) and Konso (Birr50,
two hours) can drop you here, but there are rarely empty seats when you want to get on.
Buses go to Turmi (Birr45, two hours) via Dimeka on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday af-
ternoons.
Turmi & Around
While Jinka and most of the rest of the northern half of the region sit at elevation and are
relatively cool, these towns in the south serve up the burning hot days you were expecting.
TURMI
Despite being an important transit and tourist hub, Turmi is just a speck of a town. It's
surrounded by Hamer villages and on Monday the villagers, along with nearly every tour-
ist in the valley, descend on the large
market
. The smaller Thursday market is almost
tourist-free.
No guide is required for the market (this may change), but you do need one to visit vil-
lages, several of which are in walking distance. Try the
Evangadi Local Guide Associ-
ation
( 0916-825037; guide per group Birr200)
, which can also do multiday trekking
trips and sometimes arrange 4WD hire. They can also take you to see a Jumping of the
Bulls ceremony (
Click here
)
or an
evangadi
. While the bull jumping is never done spe-
cially for tourists, the
evangadi
(minimum Birr1000 for a group) usually is. It's still fun,
though.
MARKET DAY IN THE OMO VALLEY
Since most people have long journeys to and from the towns, markets are best visited between 10.30am and 3pm.
Notable markets include the following:
