![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.mjsilver.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Addis-from-Entoto.jpg\")
<\/a>View from Entoto<\/p><\/div>\n
The bus journey to Bahir Dar, the new first stop of my circuit, was not for the faint hearted.\u00a0 At places the road dropped away with no barrier to stop an out of control bus and indeed we passed at least one bus that had taken a short cut down the side of the Nile Gorge.\u00a0 Sadly this type of accident is all too common here.\u00a0\u00a0 If you can look beyond the terror, however, the scenery is spectacular, if difficult to capture by photograph; the path the Blue Nile has cut through the mountains creating magnificent vistas that remain on view for over an hour thanks to the roads winding nature as it makes its way first down to the bridge crossing the river and then snakes its way back up the other side.<\/p>\n
Naturally my arrival in Bahir Dar couldn\u2019t run totally smoothly.\u00a0 The bus did not pull in where expected and the fellow volunteer with whom I would be staying was at one place while I was at another.\u00a0 After a number of text messages and phone calls he managed to pull on his more local knowledge and came and found me.<\/p>\n With Dr Matthew at Lake Tana<\/p><\/div>\n Bahir Dar is a pretty lakeside town, similar in many ways to Hawassa, but seemingly taking greater advantage of its lakeside nature with a much more built up lakefront.\u00a0 There is perhaps more on offer for the tourist than Hawassa, with, in addition to Hippos and birds to see, a number of monasteries on various islands and peninsula on or around the lake.\u00a0 Being in tourist mode I thought that I should venture out to explore some of these with the best manner to do so going by boat.\u00a0 Given how much I enjoy being out on the water the boat option was a clear bonus.\u00a0 Setting out with two other travellers \u2013 a German lady and an Ethiopian working in South Sudan we left from the hotel where the trip had been booked and walked down to get the boat at a landing area a short distance away.\u00a0 When we arrived the boat had turned into a minibus and we were driven half-way across the town to a different landing area.\u00a0 Not the most auspicious of beginnings perhaps but things improved from there.<\/p>\n Typical Church Painting.<\/p><\/div>\n One of the challenges of being a foreigner here is the assumption that you sweat money.\u00a0 When we got off at our first stopping place we were approached by someone who wanted to be our guide.\u00a0 When we asked if it was required that we use this guide\u2019s service there was a lot of twisted words, behind which the answer was basically, \u201cno\u201d.\u00a0 So we head off on our own, with the person from the boat leading us in the right direction.\u00a0 Had a come on holiday direct from England I may have been more inclined, but was reluctant to pay more than a day\u2019s allowance for someone to not really tell me an awful lot \u2013 my fellow travellers seemed to be of a like mind.\u00a0 In any case, entry to the monastery itself was a day\u2019s allowance, as long as you are not Ethiopian \u2013 then it is a fraction of the price.\u00a0 Being a volunteer means nothing to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.\u00a0 I tried to negotiate, but to no avail.<\/p>\n Antique books; handle with care!<\/p><\/div>\n In the end I choose to go into only two monasteries and don\u2019t regret the decision. Both were interesting enough with the main feature being the paintings as well as some old religious books, clothing and other items, but I didn\u2019t feel another place would have anything more to offer.\u00a0 In any case the third monastery we visited was fairly modern and didn\u2019t have much going for it according to the guidebook.\u00a0 The Ethiopian in our party went in for 10Birr (10% of the foreigner price) and the German lady and myself went to have a coffee in a small shack.\u00a0 We had barely sat down by the time our companion re-joined us.\u00a0 I think we made the right choice.<\/p>\n A long way from home. What was this doing in Ethiopia?<\/p><\/div>\n Bahir Dar was most enjoyable, mainly thanks to the company of fellow volunteer Dr. Matthew, but more of Ethiopia awaited and I was soon on a bus heading further north to the town of Gondar \u2013 one of the early capitals of the country and famous for its castles.<\/p>\n Italian influence can still be seen in Gondar<\/p><\/div>\n The journey was fairly sedate and a mere 4 hours by minibus.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t feature the spectacular scenery of previous journeys and unfortunately the road does not go close enough to the lake to be able to enjoy views of that.<\/p>\n In Gondar I was on my own, the local VSO volunteer helped me to find a hotel and landed me with a local, who 24 hours later he sent a text to be wary of!\u00a0 A bit late, but actually the local was very helpful and arranged an excellent guide for the following day.\u00a0 By chance the German I\u2019d met on the boat trip was in Gondar at the same time and so we shared the cost of the guide.<\/p>\n Outside of church…<\/p><\/div>\n We started in the morning and having had some help getting my bus ticket for the following day to Axum we headed up to the oldest church in Gondar.\u00a0 This had survived the onslaught of raiding dervishes some centuries before thanks to bees attacking the assailants \u2013 or so the story goes.\u00a0 Most churches in Ethiopia seem to have a circular shape, but this was more basilica style.\u00a0 Again the features were some amazing artwork with an extremely tranquil compound surrounding the church.<\/p>\n and inside<\/p><\/div>\n On our way back to the town, the church being on the outskirts (and probably someway outside of Gondar when the marauders came) our guide stopped us where a woman was making Injera, the local staple.\u00a0 My German companion, being a woman, was offered the chance to make some injera \u2013 a picture can show the results better than any description.\u00a0\u00a0 Just in case you were wondering, it doesn\u2019t normally look like that.<\/p>\n Injera- German style<\/p><\/div>\n There are two other significant sites in Gondar.\u00a0 The next we visited was in another part of town and features a large pool, empty at this time, where at Timkat several people will jump in as part of the baptism process.\u00a0 It is linked to one of the former monarchs as a bathing place.<\/p>\n Bath – but no water (typical!)<\/p><\/div>\n The last place is the main draw of Gondar \u2013 the royal compound.\u00a0 Contained within this area are several castles in varying condition.\u00a0 Some remain quite intact, one was taken over by the Italians during their occupation and consequently fixed up with concrete and one had a big hole where the roof used to be courtesy of British bombing when trying to get the Italians out.\u00a0 \u00a0Having the guide was a definite bonus and he was able to offer a fairly frank and honest perspective.\u00a0 He told the legends, but made clear that they were legends and explained what the historical facts really suggested.<\/p>\n All in all an enjoyable day with the bonus being that I was able to get in at a local rate as a volunteer.\u00a0 Historical Sites of Ethiopia 1 \u2013 Ethiopian Orthodox Church 0<\/p>\n Next time \u2013 The Heart of the Axumite Empire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No doubt several of you are wondering if the lure of a place called Mojo led to the end of my journey.\u00a0 Sadly the place does not live up to its name and I was happy enough to continue on … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n