After our Peace Corps meeting in Mekelle we travelled by minivan to Bahr Dar. 11.5 hour ride (photo)
because we paid a little extra we didn’t have to stop and transfer which would have taken even longer. As soon as we arrived in Bahr Dar the first thing we noticed was the wedding caravans along the main road! There was at least 10 wedding parties honking and filming along the way. January and February is wedding season in Ethiopia, one reason for this is because it is before the 55ish day no meat fasting period coming up…..and who can have a wedding without serving up some meat!!?
Trip Highlights:
Bahr Dar
-Lake Tana, largest lake in Ethiopia, source of the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile then combines with the White Nile and forms the famous Nile River.
-Monasteries
-Blue Nile Falls, beautiful, used to be larger but now water is being diverted for the hydroelectric dam.
-Hippos!!!
-Fish
-Resort pool
-bicycling a mountain
-sunset on the lake
Thursday morning we travelled to Gondor and saw castles!! Real castles! Like from the movies! They had balconies where the king would address his people from and everything! It was pretty nice because all the castles (seven) are in one area, AND inside the city so we could see a lot in a short period of time. A few highlights:
-there were separate male/female dining rooms so the men wouldn’t be tempted by women (damn women!)
-a small room held the king’s throne and had a window for people to talk to him through
-three room sauna. First room had bull horns for clothes hooks then the water came through a hole in the roof of the second room and the third room had a fire under a large rock between room 2 & 3. Yes, that’s complicated to understand (:
- music room
-9 lion and monkey cages. Lions have been a symbol of power for rulers in Ethiopia. The tour guide said the lions were still there into the 1990s! He said there are lions in Addis on the Prime Minister’s grounds….that information needs further investigation.
Friday we were back on the bus for another eight hours. This time passing through the Simien Mountains which had AMAZING views. Photo Luckily we had a really good driver because we were very close to the edge of cliffs. As soon as we got home I planned out the rest of our vacations while were here. It is so amazing how diverse Ethiopia is: dress, culture, language, food. Things that are one region away (ie: fish dishes or men wearing shorts) are completely unknown or forbidden in our village. So much to see!