Bahir Dar visit 6

Thursday, 17^th April

As I could have expected, after weeks of asking if there was a car going to Bahir Dar, I was told late on Thursday afternoon that there was if I go now. Long story short: I managed to get two hours from them so I could pack, get house into a state ready to leave it for a few days (burning t.p. etc.) We left Gilgel in the college car around 17:30 and I stayed the night in a reasonable hotel in Chagni. (20 birr for en-suite and it had a net – about one pound a night!)

Friday 18^th

Bright and early at 6am I was collected and we drove to Bahir Dar. En route we had an unscheduled one hour hold-up as the recent rain had caused the road to become all muddy in a place where they were renewing it, but hadn’t quite finished. A truck had slid sideways and down a bank and it took the hour to get stones under the tyres so it could move.

We ended up in Bahir Dar at around 1000 and I was dropped off at the university to meet another VSO volunteer (Judith) who I would be staying with, so I could get the key. Once back to her luxury apartment to unload, I had a walk, had a chocolate doughnut at a nearby café and did a bit of shopping. We ate at the Ghion which serves a lovely egg-coated fish and has a great view of the lake.

Saturday 19^th

We had a walk and late brunch then did some shopping. I finally got a decent saucepan. Last time we went to the shop two months ago they started at 350 birr and dropped to 250. This time they started at 240 and I got them down to 200. (Expensive in terms of my 1150 monthly salary, but only £12 in UK terms – at least the handle doesn’t look like it will fall off like my 50 birr cheap one!) We ate with an ex-VSO volunteer who had left a couple of months ago and was already back in Ethiopia, bringing her husband along. In the night I woke up feeling nauseous a couple of times and first thing the next morning I had a minor broadband download!!! That was all though, luckily, nothing else happened!

Sunday 20^th

Checking to see I had recovered, we then went and had Egg-bread with mixed juice brunch then hired bikes (at 5 birr per hour (30p)) and cycled to the outlet from Lake Tana - the source of the Blue Nile which finally hits the sea in Egypt. The guards didn’t like us stopping on the bridge! We ended up cycling around for about three hours before returning the bikes (which incidentally only had functioning rear brakes and the gears were stuck in one position) and having another multi-layered smoothy juice.

Monday 21^st

Basically had a very relaxing day. Had a walk, did some last minute shopping, had another chocolate donut, watched a DVD, then had an very posh (for Ethiopia) buffet meal at the most expensive hotel in Bahir Dar - The Tana - for a staggering 62.50 Birr (£3.70) or round about a days salary for me!

It had been a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. It really is nice to talk to someone using a full vocabulary where you don’t have to think about which words you are going to use before you say anything. Also, Judith has seen a lot of films and TV programmes I have so I could do the “relate everything to films and TV programmes” thing that I do.

Tuesday 22^nd

I decided to try the early morning bus that all the Ethiopians at college recommend. It meant waking at 5am and walking in the dark to the bus station. I arrived just before 6am and the first bus I could take (to Powe) was full, and the alternative (to Manbuk) only had about one seat left, so if I wanted to do it again, I would have to get up even earlier.

As ever it was cramped – there is very little leg room. It really is like a slow torture, like being kept in a stress position. It gets quite painful after a while when you can’t move. The bus was very slow, taking about twice as long as a minibus to go along the asphalt road to Kosober, then, even though it’s a drop from 2600 to 1000m from Kosober to Gilgel Beles, the second part of the trip took 4h30 plus a 30 minute stop at Chagni. I was on the bus for eight hours. It almost single-handedly wiped out any relaxed state I had achieved over the last few days.

I only arrived back about an hour later last time when I started at around 9am and changed twice. The only advantage this time was that once I was on the bus, I didn’t have a go through the hassle of getting my bag moved from one bus to the next at Kosober and Chagni.

I was dehydrated, aching and shattered and it’s only now, about five hours later, after having food, a sleep and rehydrating that I feel a bit more normal.