http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Ethiopia en-us Wed, 22 May 2013 01:26:53 +0000 Wed, 22 May 2013 01:26:53 +0000 After the nice times in Metu we made our way by a long but exciting bus ride lots of singing and clapping to Tepi a small town in the middle of a jungle.The highlights of Tepi where we spent one night were the realization that we were in the jungle it rained lots but people still called it 39the dry season39 and that meant there were some big bugs. I woke up in the morning and flipp http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-774918.html Leaving Ambo ended up being an extra special ordeal.After a few hours of negotiations lots of coffee and some insults we managed to secure some spots in a car heading to Nekemte. From Nekemte we were suppose to be able to catch a car to Bedele. There was no car that day which meant a day wandering around a city of about 80000 people who had no real access to tourist attractions. This meant a ni http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/Jimma/blog-773769.html I took a 10 hour bus from Dire Dawa to Addis Ababa. It was fairly uneventful as it was on time and brought me to a place I had been before.I spent 2 nights in Addis Ababa meeting back up with Simon. We decided to go together to the West of Ethiopia.After the two days in Addis where I readjusted to drinking lots of coffee the high altitude and met a number of Simon39s friends we left in the a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Oromia-Region/blog-772787.html After failing to get to Tradjoura Djibouti by boat I arrived too late and the idea of spending another few days in Djibouti wasn39t nearly as exciting as meeting up with an old friend in Ethiopia I decided I would head straight back to Ethiopia.That meant back to 5am buses. I arrived at the chaotic bus station and got a pretty good seat before debating about the cost of my luggage I won a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Dire-Dawa-Region/Dire-Dawa/blog-771984.html Waking up and taking another 5am bus to leave Addis Ababa is a struggle that seems to be part of any form of bus travel in Ethiopia. I still haven39t figured out what their obsession is with 5 and 6 am bus travel but it is something I will have to get use to.The night before I ended up meeting some nice guys at a Turkish restaurant still trying to get my fill of nonInjera food. They ended u http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Harari-Region/Harar/blog-768387.html Making it back to Addis meant a few interesting things had to happen first.Of course I had to have one last annoying adventure in Bahir Dar before leaving. This one included a prostitute who decided to follow me for a few hundred meters after I said goodbye to all my friends from National Grocery. Of course what made it worse this time was that some guy I believe he didn39t know her he just http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-768011.html The last mini adventure I was suppose to have in Gonder didn39t pan out as planned. Simon and I visited the DaShen Brewery in the north end of the city but we just happened to arrive during their two week blackout period for tours So we had to spend our time in the beautiful beer garden sipping fresh beer and talking with the manager about it being a shame we couldn39t get inside. The beer http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-767640.html After even more Timkat craziness I found my way to what is traditionally Gondar39s most famous site the massive Royal Enclosure which includes a number of castles in various condition dating back into the 17th Century. They were occupied well into the 19th Century by royalty from Amhara Region. The first most remarkable impression I had was noticing just how much they looked like European cast http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Gondar/blog-767133.html I woke up early to catch a minibus to Gashena which was fairly uneventful. Had to get out of that expensive town There were some goats strapped to the roof of the car and that made me think of all the goat piss that could be mixing into my bag of clothing. Fortunately for me that did not occur.When I arrived in Gashena my luck increased greatly. I ate lunch with a bunch of truck drivers Shiro a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Gondar/blog-766891.html The big tourist attraction in Ethiopia is Lalibela39s Stone Churches.I arrived via a town called Woldia where we caught a tourist angency van which was going to pick up some tourists in Lalibela and drive them to Gonder. That meant it was empty going to Lalibela Pretty first class after a bunch of the economic travel I have been getting use to. We paid the driver directly as it is the way th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Lalibela/blog-766598.html So I wrapped things up in Axum with a visit to the Bath and Palace of the Queen of Sheba. They were most likely not the Bath and Palace of the Queen of Sheba the archeaological record dates them far too late. The Bath was most likely what it is today a water reservoir and the Palace just a nobleman39s mansion.My shoes and boots were fixed to incredible quality and almost look brand new. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Tigray-Region/Mek-ele/blog-766118.html Having time to relax in a city with immenities has been really pleasant.Not included in those immenities is running water. It runs for about 2 hours a day and if you miss it you miss it. I am going to aim for a shower sometime today or tomorrow.I spent sometime yesterday walking around the Axum just one of the spellings Stelae Fields and through the local museum. The museum was actually q http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Axum/blog-765726.html So it has been awhile. After my day in Gonder Will and I made our way to Debark.We ended up meeting a few other travellers who had the same idea as us trekking in the Simien Mountains. After considerable negotiations we settled on 6 days and 5 nights in the mountains. We hired two scouts with guns mandatory by park regulations two mulemen and three mules to help with our luggage. The total co http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/blog-765463.html Three full days away from computers cellphones and other tourists minus one who will be described later was really fufilling.After saying goodbye to my new friends at the National Grocery in Bahir Dar I woke up at 5am to catch the public ferry that crosses lake Tana over a two day period. The most frustrating part of the trip was right at the beginning when I lost my ticket I really though http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Gondar/blog-763826.html Went for a long walk on my last day in Bahir Dar I leave tomorrow at 7am for a little bit of an off the beaten track adventure you won39t hear from me for two days or so. When I was inquiring about my idea most people said Oh wow that is a nice idea. Good place. Even to the point that all the unofficial guides that normally hassle me said it was a better idea than what they could suggest http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-763504.html I woke up this morning and decided I was done with my hotel and the employment there. I realized that all I was doing was something that I hate when people do it to me Overcharge mildly deceive and then promote packaged tours that fail to get people out into the community.I was convinced by the my friends the night before did I mention I have become friends with a number of the Bahir Dar Univer http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-763379.html Yesterday I spent sometime on Lake Tana visiting some of the Ethiopian Orthodox Churches most of which date to the 13th15th Centuries. It was fascinating and it allowed me to spend my first time in Ethiopia outside of a city for more than a pee break that is.Most of the monastaries were not worth the 5 entrance but with some good suggestions I was able to see a few gems. There ended up bein http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-763184.html Getting to the bus for 5am wasn39t as challenging as I had expected because the night out on Saturday made me tired enough to fall asleep at 8pm.What was interesting was seeing the drunk people stumble home at 430am on Monday morning...Apparently they do not follow the traditional weekend party schedule. I have never really thought of Sunday as a time to go out dancing.The bus was far more org http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Bahir-Dar/blog-762946.html So here it is merry Christmas everybody39s having fun......except that isn39t quite true as due to the Ethiopian calendar it39s 16042005 and Christmas isn39t for another 13 days. As a result we are volunteering in school for the whole of this week which in fairness it out of choice and better than festering in hotel lamenting the loss of turkey and associated trimmings with absolut http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/blog-762943.html I had an Ethiopian dance party last night. I went out and enjoyed lots of different local bars and clubs. I was quite the attraction I only kind of ran into one other white guy but he had his entourage of prostitutes keeping him busy at what was more of a brothel than bar I just kind of turned around and left.I met up with a friend I use to work with and had some coffee. She works at the UN n http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa-Region/Addis-Ababa/blog-762712.html