A man with a stick

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Sebsibe, Daniel and Bahayilu collected me and we set off for Bahar Dar. There were many pedestrians walking along the highway - impressively, I estimated that around 95% were walking on the left (i.e. facing the oncoming traffic. We stopped to photograph them, and Daniel did some filming. When people in Ethiopia are asked about their road behaviour (e.g. walking on the right or speeding) I have noticed that they always say “thank you for helping me”. I can’t imagine that happening in the UK when a driver is stopped for speeding.

Changes in clothing style became noticeable as we travelled along. Between Debre Markos and Bahar Dar, most people were wearing green and purple - women in green skirts or dresses and young men in green shorts and wearing a blanket. More people had bare feet than I have seen in other areas. It was also noticeable how few people were riding horses, certainly compared to Bale Region.

In Bahar Dar, we had a couple of meetings and set up more for Monday morning. Bahar Dar is described in my guidebook as “one of Ethiopia’s most attractive towns” and it was beautiful with wide avenues of palm trees and bordering Lake Tana. I stayed at the dark Dib Anbessa Hotel. I almost wished that I were not a vegetarian … so that I could try the “Tunisian Modern Fish Soup” listed on the menu.

We drove to Gonder in the late afternoon. The area is lush and apparently the rice growing area - the road was bordered by paddy fields. Closer to Gonder, all men carried a stick of some kind. According to one of my colleagues there is a local saying that “A man without a stick is not a man!”

The guys had difficulty finding me an hotel but eventually took me to the Goha Hotel. I was stunned… it is the poshest hotel I have stayed in in Ethiopia. I was concerned about the price (as always), to which Sebsibe’s answer was “do you like the room?” It turned out that the cost was 345 birr a night! Way too much! In the end, with the help of my VSO card, residents’ card and an official letter (with a purple stamp) I was given the Ethiopian rate of 150 birr. In the restaurant, I did get the giggles - a volunteer, being paid to be in a posh restaurant.

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