Blue nile falls, Bahir Dar
Salaam noh? Dehna neh? Ante ahoen yetale neh? (/ How are you? Good? Where are you now? /)
I'm in Bahir Dar about 400 km from the border with Sudan. It took me 9 days to do 500 km in order to get here, which is very slow, but it was very difficult mountainous terrain.
Bahir Dar is situated besides a huge lake, and here (about 15 km from Bahir Dar) the Blue Nile originates and runs through this lake Tana to Sudan where it meets the White Nile (which originates in Jinja, Uganda) and together they form the great Nile through Sudan, Egypt terminating into the Mediterranean.
In the lake are islands containing monasteries, but I do not really have the desire to go and visit them. There also seem to be hippo`s in the lake (I didn`t see`em yet :=(). Currently the weather is fresh, gray and it rains quite a lot.
Piassa, Bahir Dar
Yesterday I arrived in Bahir Dar, I did 122 km that day, unprecedented when you consider that every day I did around 60 km due to the difficult hilly terrain. Slowly the forested hilly area changed into savanna, rocky plains, which made the cycling easier but where I had to stay sharp as little hobbits herded their cattle almost on the middle of the road. As they saw me they occupied the little space that was left in order to scream `MONEY! MONEY !' or ' YOU YOU YOU FARANZJI!!` at me.
AH! The Nile, the river of all rivers! Did you cross it on your way from Addis to Bahir Dar?.
Yes, and long will remain that remembrance with me!.
Why? Tell-tell-tell-tell me!!.
Well, imagine that from Addis on it was climbing all the time, as I had to do the moment I entered this ##country ##.
But arriving at the Nile gorge I had to follow the road steep down into the Nile gorge and after ascend again. From the `bottom` to the top it was impossible to cycle as steep as the road was (I had to push the bike plus equipment right to the top). It took me 2 days to pass through that Nile canyon. During the brutal descent I suddenly had twice (!) a flat tire in a row. I had to replace that tyre on this narrow ## road ##, aarrcchh.
I just didn`t understand how this was possible, but now I do. The invention (= tire) of that infamous Hangzhou started to show cracks, and because of that the inner tube expanded thus exploding in a controlled way/ cracking. Awesome if such a thing happens just when you are right in the middle of a cruel descend surrounded by baboons (really!), children and overtaking camions...
... But eventually you reached on your way down in one piece that Italian- fascists-built bridge oder?
Jawohl!. And right next to it a brand new bridge built in 2008 by Nippon which I used to cross the river. And then the beginning of part II: pushing the bicycle all the way up, accompanied by the jolly YOU! ... FARANZJI YOU! .... or: ... MONEY! ... MONEY! ... MONEY!.
It was all the time the following rythm: pushing about 10 meters- rest- pushing 10 meters- rest etc. So heavy it was!. Eventually towards the end of the day - and just before a huge downpour- I pitched my tent right next to an Orthodox church with an amazing view over the canyon.
On the road to Bahir Dar did you camp all the time or did you go to primary schools for shelter?
Camping is currently out of the question due to the rainy season. During the day it is very hot and every evening the warmth culminates in a huge downpur. I have three times camped on the way here, once in a house under construction, once under a canopy at the site of the Orthodox Church, where three armed guards (!) looked after the place (at the upper Nile gorge) and once in a primary school.
The rest of the time I was actually in Megabits (a kind of hotel `like joints often quite rancid with an attached cafe where you could have a cup of coffee and could eat Inqoelal besiga (= scrambled eggs with meat) or Injera (= sponge` like pancake what is their bread).
Imagine such a Megabit as chicken pens attached to each other and built in a horseshoe-shaped form. In the middle of it a muddy courtyard. A shower can be forgotten because there was often not even water, let alone water from a faucet. Very typical when you consider that water is every evening pouring from heaven, that there are constantly customers who would love to wash themselves one might think... Plus the fact that you're in a green environment, with rivers .. insane.
Two days ago in such a Megabit I wondered where all these vultures came from (the place, the roof was loaded with these animals, it was like being in a comic of Lucky Luke or in a movie by Alfred Hitchcock.
The cause of all this was the local kitchen that produced all these delicious Injera: the waste- huge bones- were simply dumped into the courtyard thus attracting all these flying predators!.
It is funny that on these occasions sometimes directly opposite such a rancid Megabit a huge fancy marble, gaudy x-star hotel is situated where one has to pay the the grand prize .
If you're in this kind of hostals did you have encounters with other white boys / Faranjis?
Oh no, the white boys dash these kind of places, they are in their 4WD`s (-high speed) on their way to tourist paradises such as Lalibela, Gonder ...
... So Abesja `s (= Ethiopians) just don`t care about water, hygiene!.
E-X-A-C-T-E-L-Y, although everyone here has Mebrat (= electricity) so we all can watch these superinteresting shows the acclaimed national TV channel emits, plus that devices producing that super strong Italian like coffee can be propelled!
How was your contact with the locals these 9 days?. Is there a difference with the south?. Did you finally manage to make new friends?.
There is a difference but a very subtile one. I have given up counting how many times I have been stoned by children. From a distance I saw whole troops running towards the road, waiting for me to yell at me and throwing all kinds of things to me or in the bicycle tyres. Adults rarely intervened, just observed the whole with a stupid sheepish laugh ..
I became very angry, shouted in Dutch to such an adult: `Hallooooooo ..... Ken je der wat van zegge?!` /Hellooooo.... can you say something about it?! /(as were the stones flying around my head).
In the beginning it was quite a comical sight: from a distance I saw whole troops running towards the road, barefooted, with a blanket wrinched around their shoulders and heads, like mini-adults because the adults are dressed the same way. They reminded me about hobbits, african hobbits.
With a cloth draped around their shoulders (a bit like the people from the Western Sahara, Mauritania also do), armed with a stick / gyraf (= a kind of whip with knots in it that is used to herd the cattle/ me) and an umbrella (which gave them a dandy `like appearance), it looked quite funny.
coffee in the street, Bahir Dar
What is striking is that the people living on the highlands are barefooted. I do not think that this is because of poverty because in general those people bump behind a troop of cows, sheep, goats what represents capital for sure.
I think hardly anyone goes to school, the children sit outside all day on the field herding the beasts or do farm labour (with wooden plows and two bulls !) ..
Cycling here is very though but the road is spectacular. There are fantastic views, and it is very green because of the rainy season.
This country is mentally and physically very difficult to travel, I find it the most difficult country in Africa. Now I can finally say `shut up` in Amarinha, and I make frequent use of it. This uber friendliness of the people is working on my nerves, even if I sit in the middle of nowhere, people come to me.
It seems they have no shame, that they do not realize they are rude (Posing right in front of you while you are eating. Even when I say in perfect Amarinha: `I want to be alone now, GO!` they pretend they do not understand me. I have to get up, threaten them, or even stop the traffic to ask if they can help me). I can be very, very angry about that because I know that in every African country people respect you when you eat (even in remote villages).
But as plaster on the wound there was the strong coffee and the delicious rich, versatile Ethiopian cuisine!.
... Yes, say that again!. So I have 9 days lived on Inqoelal fir fir (= scrambled eggs) and Inqoelal besiga + injera (= yess, the same spongy pancake that they love so much here). They even have injera fir fir, which is like putting bread on your bread, something more stupied I have until now not seen ...
Inqoelal fir fir
When I asked for exotic things like pasta, Atikilt (= vegetables), soup or salad (all of which were on the menu!) it was all the time: yelim! (= njet / we haven`t).
We can therefore conclude that you were bullied all the time?.
Nah.., not all the time. There are also very nice people. I find it very difficult for instance to yell nasty things in Amarinha to them, so that really says something. And here in Bahir Dar, they are also very warm, though you also find here those choir boys with their pathological need for attention, a sign of life of the GLWF (= Good Looking White Fella).
... Haha, get the hell to Sudan with your ass!. Vale Pues, hasta la proxima!.
The Camelot of Africa: ጎንድር (Gonder)!
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten