Night Flight to Addis

There is a daily night flight from London Heathrow to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines and my school purchases a return ticket for a very reasonable 385GBP. On the e-ticket it tells me i can take two bags and i am prepared to bring along my Ovation acoustic in its case as a luxury third bag. No airline seems to allow guitars as hand-luggage anymore.

Pa drops me off early and I make way to the check-in counter. Being three hours early the queue is empty, but a young Ethiopian Airlines employee jumps out at me and demands to weigh my carry-on bag. It contains 2 laptops, The Beast (my Nikon D200), my Kindle, two soccer mags and assorted chocolate bars Ma has insisted i take with me. Not surprisingly it weighs in at some 11.7kgs and i´m informed i´m only allowed to bring on 7kgs. There is a 10GBP charge for each extra kilo he informs me and suggests moving in some of its contents. An ominous start. 

Things get worse at the check-in counter. My smaller bag containing predominantly my educational work files is fine, but my large bag is weighing in at 38kgs and it can´t travel on board. Luckily I have packed a rucksack and have to repack all over again. I´m then charged some three hundred pounds for the privilege. Ouch! I fear i have overspent on my relocation allowance. Fortunately my overweight hand-luggage is waived.

My request for an exit row has been unceremoniously ignored but even my long long legs have enough room. The plane is packed and i´m sitting next to an elderly Ethiopian woman. The plane leaves 40 minutes late due to late-arriving Ethiopian passengers who are in no hurry to take their seats. The flight is a mere seven and a quarter hours.

Finally, the drinks trolley is wheeled out, only to be swiftly withdrawn for turbulence over the Alps. Seatbelt signs remain in place for the following two and a half hours despite any sensation of turbulence for the previous hour. My neighbour wants the toilet but she is refused to get up from her chair. It´s taken four hours but we finally get a meager drink and a tinsy bag of snacks and my neighbour finally gets to relieve her bladder/bowels. 

A reasonable dinner shows up an hour later which i eat, despite warnings to the contrary and breakfast is a slice of fruit-cake which i devour. Lights remain on for the whole flight and i acquire less than 30 minutes sleep for the entire duration.