A sprawling mushroom city with a population of four million, Addis Ababa has no aesthetic appeal, growing at high speed in a veritable urban chaos. The huge avenues are lined with new buildings under construction, many of them unfinished, forming great ghostly concrete skeletons in the landscape.<\/p>\n
In the Mercato and Piazza, in the centre of the city, an ancestral African market is held every day in a clutter of colours, smells of spices and incense, Chinese bric-a-brac, but also traditional crafts and fabrics. It's an authentic immersion in Addis, but an exhausting one, in the midst of extreme poverty.<\/p>\n
But you don't come to the Ethiopian capital to contemplate its architecture or its modest museums, but above all to discover its fascinating new face. Kazanchi, the traditional business district, boasts an increasing number of luxury hotels amidst cars that play at the touch of a button. Even though the new Chinese-built tramway is attracting the middle class who come to work in the offices, relieving the overcrowded minibus network.<\/p>\n
However, the real revolution is to be found in Bol\u00e9, a district that has sprung up in the middle of fields in just five years and is located between the city and the airport. Home to Addis Ababa's wealthy families, the area is very popular with business travellers, but also with the Ethiopian diaspora, with Bol\u00e9 teeming with good places to dine and go out. New four-star hotels open every year, the streets are lined with ATMs, which are very rare in the city centre, and luxury boutiques display their gleaming windows. In Bol\u00e9, elegant ethio-jazz clubs dim their lights to welcome the best Ethiopian classical singers and the most experienced jazz musicians. It's a mix of modernity and tradition, just right for the city.<\/p>\n