Bahir Dar

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There is a lot top be said about expectations especially if they are not met. I read about the famous monasteries, which are dotted around the shoreline and islands of Ethiopia’s largest lake, Lake Tana. I imagined extensive compounds and large impressive decorated churches. Well there is non of that. The compounds are small and so are the churches. From outside they are unimpressive as there is virtually no decoration and they are mainly made out of wood, straw and mud. The decoration inside is slightly better and there are lots of paintings on the wall. Some of the paintings and churches date back to the 16th century, that’s at least one plus point.
Compared to anything that was done back home during that time it all fails to compare. The only thing that made my smirk was that the priests and monks are sometimes picky and women are not allowed in all monasteries. I assume that is to not tempt the priests to a more worldly life…

We also managed to visit the source of the Blue Nile. Why its called Blue Nile is a yet another mystery to me. At least when we were there it’s should have been called Brown Nile. Luckily there were some spectacular falls to be seen and hiked around.

One thing that needs to be said about Bahir Dar is that it has great fruit juice and food. Both can be had at Café Obama. Yes the American presidential election has also an impact on Ethiopian restaurants, at least name wise. There was even an Obama Burger.
The fruit juices were also delicious and you can have the normal stuff like Mango but also something a bit more exotic. Avocado juice. Tastes better than it sounds. The Avocados are different to what we know and the whole thing looks like guacamole but has a sweeter banana taste and is damn delicious.

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Photos

How to achieve rest and peace ;)
Some of the monasteries were closed to women

This is one of the oldest and most important churches
Did I say the churches here are quite unimpressive?

Bible
Often heavily decorated and hand written. This one is a couple of hundred years old and made of goats skin

The church bell
Doesn’t look it but sounds like a bell

Yummy fruit juice in café Obama
Mango, Avocado and Guava