Bahir Dar.

I’ll continue the chronicles of our travels through the North of Ethiopia which started with yet another early morning departure from Gondar enroute to Bahir Dar. After a restless night of food poisoning and what seemed like an endless call from the mosque beside the hotel we began the next leg of our adventure. Manny and I were lucky enough to have Tamiru organize a vehicle from Gondar University making the trip much easier. Upon arriving in Bahir Dar Manny began some sightseeing of the palm lined boulevards of Bahir Dar while I settled in attempt of a quick recovery.

In the evening we went out to one of the many resorts on the Lake for a drink before we wandered further into town. Sitting near the lake a storm quickly blew in out of nowhere which I would have classified as a tropical storm at home with the intense wind knocking the power out. After the rain died down we moved onto a traditional music house crammed full of people. The small room is lined entirely with chairs and as more people arrived the beer crates came out as extra seating.  The source of the music was from a traditional Ethiopian instrument called a  masengo which is a one stringed instrument, some drumming in the background also accompanied by a azmari which is a singer who improvised verses about the audience. Being the only Farinjis in the room automatically made us a target for the entertaining verses but it moved on to every person in the room whether, short and bald or the business man in the corner. Dancing continued with the traditional shoulder  dancing which is much harder than it appears. The two year old in the corner was a better dancer than me but you have to give Manny and I credit for still giving it an attempt. We moved from the traditional house to a more modern bar where the music ranged from what I’d call Amharic  pop to Bob Marley and even some hardcore rap in the mix. It made for an entertaining evening and what better way to spend a Saturday night.

It proved to be a challenge getting our next bus ticket back to Addis and we ended up in Bahir Dar for a second day so we spent it resort hopping around Lake Tana with Tamiru and his friends. Bahir Dar is located right on the southern shore of Lake Tana which is the largest lake in Ethiopia and proves to be a touristy area. We enjoyed the view from five different resorts taking in the nice and day chatting away about everything and anything.

After a long week of travel we were looking forward to arriving back in our home of Jimma but after two full days of bus travel a some extremely stiff muscles.

Ciao for now.

Suze

Getting stormy on Lake Tana

Hanging with new friends

Dark room of dancing