Oct 26th -29th
Upon our arrival back in Addis, I had decided that I was ready and willing to take another 10-hour bus ride to Bahir Dar the following morning. I would rather get it over with than spend an extra day in Addis. Chris, on the other hand, chose to stay an extra night at Tobi's and meet up with Muluneh, who had unfortunately been away on my second stopover in Addis.
For the second day in a row, I woke up at 4:30am, took a taxi to the bus station and settled into my comfortable seat on the bus. The scenery on this journey was spectacular. The few road-side bathroom breaks allowed me to take some pictures and take it all in. It also gave me an opportunity to chat with Didi, who was on a different bus going to Gonder, but made all the same stops as mine.
Like most bus rides, I was greeted by a young man intent on selling me something as I stepped off the bus. He was offering a boat cruise to Lake Tana's mystical island monasteries, where the Holy Ark of the Covenant is supposedly hidden. He was offering a 4-hour boat trip to four different monasteries for only 100 Birr (6$). I took down his number and would get back to him once Chris arrived.
Since I had no cell phone, Chris had made arrangements with a couchsurfer named Kyle who would be our host while we were in Bahir Dar. Kyle is a Peace Corps worker from Buffalo, New York, who planned on cycling from the lowest point in Africa in Djibouti to Moshi, Tanzania to then climb Kilimanjaro, reaching Africa's highest point. Pretty amazing concept. I will definitely be following his progress on his blog: www.low2highafrica.blogspot.com.
Michelle, another couchsurfer from Seattle, was also crashing at Kyle's. That evening the three of us discussed each other's journeys, smoked shisha and listened to some great music.
The next morning I would be making my way to the Blue Nile falls, said to be the source of the Blue Nile. It is quite incredible to be able to say that I have been to both the source of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, the latter being in Jinja, Uganda.
The following day, I made my way to the bus station and managed to get a "seat"; actually an empty jerrycan turned on it's side. I was the only forenji on the bus and the bus stopped frequently to accommodate all the sheperds getting on and off the bus. Among the inhabitants of central Ethiopia, an overwhelming majority of the men are shepherds or at least thats how they appear: each one wearing short shorts (don't ask me why), with a blanket draped around their shoulders and a scarf wrapping their heads. These men and even young boys carry around a staff or stick in case an errant animal strays from its group or just happens to be around. These short-shorts wearing shepherds gladly hit these animals, regardless of species, ownership or obedience. I guess if I ever carried around a staff on a regular basis, I would surely be compelled to hit random animals to appease my sadistic, animal-hating dominance over all of God's furry creatures.
While Ethiopia's men carry sticks, Ethiopia's women carry everything but. It is common to see even little old ladies slumped over, carrying 20-30 kg or more on their back. If the family is slightly more wealthy, however, a mule takes over the woman's shlepping duties and gets repeatedly smacked by his master's stick. Ah, rural life in Ethiopia!
The bus finally stopped at Tis Abay, which acts as home to these impressive falls. A short walk with incessant shepherd-boys asking for money, offering directions or playing flutes led to this marvelous natural wonder.
I chatted with some Americans who were also admiring the falls and fiddled with the settings on my camera to get the nicest effect. I then followed the path leading to the base of the falls and was helped across the Nile by a 6-year-old boy who took my hand with a confidence far beyond his years. I gladly tipped him and was happy that he helped me avoid slipping on the rocks, preventing my camera from a watery death in the Nile's rapid flowing waters
By 11:30 am, I was ready to head back to Bahir Dar. The buses only leave when they are full and the time this takes is not even an issue. Two hours pass and we finally had enough shepherds on board to leave. Upon entering this particular bus, I was certain it would not make the 30 km trek back to Bahir Dar. My prediction was unfortunately correct: one hour into the ride (it is only 30 km remember), the bus gets a flat tire. By this point we are still 6-7 km away and myself, a dutch traveler and the only Ethiopian on board who is not a shepherd, start walking towards Bahir Dar. Within a few minutes, we hitch a ride in a flatbed truck and finally arrive back in the city. Almost 5 hours to travel only 30 km: patience is definitely a virtue that all Africans possess!
By the time I got back, Chris' bus would be arriving in only a few minutes. I greeted him and we split a cab with Michelle and Grace, one of Kyle's neighbors and her friend, who just happened to be on the same bus as Chris. We were also greeted by the same guy who had offered me the boat trip the day before. We arranged a meeting time and would do the tour the following day.
That evening, Chris, Kyle, Grace, the Michelles and myself went to SubAfrica, makers of Ethiopia's, if not Africa's best burgers. Don't get me wrong, Ethiopian food is delicious, but eating injera with every single meal becomes monotonous. A succulent burger with cheese and pineapple was absolutely orgasmic.
The following morning we made our way to the dock. Our guy met us and told us not to reveal how much we actually paid to do the trip with him. A middle-aged Italian man joined us on the boat. It turns out that he had paid three-and-a-half times more than us. We kept our mouths shut to avoid starting a fight between our guide and the man.
Lake Tana is Ethiopia's largest lake and is shrouded in legends regarding the location of the Ark of the Covenant, said to be hidden on one of the lake's many islands and guarded by the inhabitants of the island's monasteries: Ethiopian Orthodox monks. These monks are sworn to secrecy and would never reveal where it is supposedly hidden, nor would they answer any questions regarding its whereabouts. The monasteries themselves are rather nondescript, but the artwork adorning their interiors is quite impressive.
Out of the four we were supposed to visit, we only went to two due to the fact that each had it's own admission fee and were actually all quite similar. We visited the oldest, Ura Kidane Mehret, whose paintings date back to 16th century. This monastery also had a "museum", which consisted of one rather nice sheep-skin bible and 2 or 3 other random artifacts. Regardless, I still thought that the highlight of the trip was actually just being on lake Tana.
We returned to the dock and said goodbye to the gypped Italian man and made our arrangements for an early morning pick-up for Lalibela, our next destination. Kyle had left that morning for the city of Gonder, so Michelle was nice enough to let us stay at her place for the night.
Michelle is in Bahir Dar doing her Masters Degree and is researching women's' rights and the challenges they face in a university setting. It is appalling to hear how these women are treated and what many of them are forced to do or resort to doing in order to get passing grades or to stay enrolled. The most disturbing thing is that some of the perpetrators of these "extra-credit" demands are tenured professors from the United States. Little can be done because the instant someone would speak up, the professor would have the girl fail, expelled or simply say she is lying.
For us, education is a right. For these women, it is a privilege, which few in Ethiopia or in Africa in general get to experience. They are forced to choose between their futures and sexual favors.
Which would you choose?
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