Gondar & the Simien Mountains

Fasilides Castle

After leaving Bahir Dar, we headed to Gondar via contract minivan. We spent three days in Gondar perched at the top of the hill at the Goha Hotel. The hotel is nice, but totally overpriced. We had to get two adjoining rooms for the four of us and we didn't have a drop of hot water during our entire stay. The shower wasn't cool; it was downright freezing and miserable. On a positive note, the food at the restaurant was decent, as was the free Wi-Fi and the view of the city from the back terrace. Plus we ended up meeting a really neat family from Australia with two kids adopted from Ethiopia. So we had good conversations and my kids had some playmates for a couple of days.

While in Gondar, we visited the Gondar Castle complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Gondar used to be the capital of Ethiopia and in the 1600's Emperor Fasilides built the original castle in the complex. Over the next hundred years, subsequent emperors built additional castles nearby creating this complex. As far as Ethiopian history goes, the relics in Gondar are fairly new (although old by U.S. standards). We also visited the Debre Birhan Selassie Church which was also built in the 17th century. The art work inside was outstanding especially the ceiling paintings. Both the castles and the church are really quite spectacular. It's quite enlightening to see these sites and to realize how rich Ethiopian culture has been for such a long period of time.

Perhaps the highlight for me was our day trip to the Simien Mountains. It was a long day bouncing around inside a Toyota Hiace. But the trip was worth it. I got to stand in a field of gelada baboons! Simien National Park is home to thousands of geladas. They move around the park in troops of hundreds (400-600 per troop is not uncommon). After seeing the baboons, we hiked for a few hours on a ridge trail enjoying the scenery. Hiking in the park requires a scout. People wanting to enter the park need to stop at the park offices in a town called Debark to make arrangements with a scout and obtain the necessary paperwork to enter the park. We had both a guide and scout. The scout is basically a guy in camouflage with a gun who happens to know all the trails inside out. We asked about the purpose of having said scout with us especially for a day hike (as opposed to a several night trek). The answer: security. To us, it was overkill. But the regulations kept plenty of the locals employed: our little family of four had a driver, a guide, and scout.

On our way back to Gondar, we stopped at the Falasha village outside of the city. Gondar and the surrounding areas to the north were home to the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) for centuries. It is estimated that as many as 120,000 Jews lived in Ethiopia. There is a long history of the Beta Israel that you can read about here if you are interested. Most Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s during or right after the Derg regime, which was openly hostile to Jews. Today, there are only a few Jews left in the Gondar region. I heard estimates from 2,000 to maybe 6,000. If the Falasha village was any indication, it is not many. Basically, the village is now a tourist stop with Star of David signs marking the spot. The locals do sell souvenirs with Judiac pictures and symbols on them. But they are not Jews. The are Christians. To be honest, it was a little sad. But on a positive note though, many of the locals in Gondar speak warmly of Jews, often remarking that they are their decendents.

The back of the Goha Hotel

Gondar as seen at the Goha Hotel

Dancing and singing at the Four Sisters Restaurant

Fascilides Castle (the Gondar Castle Complex)

Debre Birhan Selassie Church

The ceiling of the church...angels watching over you

Fasilides Bath. It is being refurbished. Once finished, it will be filled with water and used by thousands for religious ceremonies.

Amazing tree roots surrounding Fasilides Bath.

The Debark market

Simien National Park

Our scout keeping us safe. Steve is keeping the scout safe.

Gelada heaven!

 

 

More souvenir negotiations

Wolleka or Falasha Village

Falasha Village - Upfront about things.

Flying back to Addis

Bahir Dar

Traditional boats on Lake Tana

As part of our travels, we spent three days in Bahir Dar. It is a medium sized city on the southern shore of Lake Tana in north western Ethiopia. By bus, it is at least a 10 hour trip from Addis. While Steve braved the bus ride this summer when he was in Ethiopia with two students doing research, the rest of us were not game. I just didn't see the point of dealing with the kids all day on a long, hot, crowded bus with no bathrooms...especially being there only three weeks. So like many other tourists from abroad, we flew on Ethiopian Airlines to Bahir Dar. We then took a four hour bus ride to Gondar and flew back to Addis from there.

We enjoyed two days of seeing the sites with an awesome UK family currently living in Uganda. This family has lived abroad for the last 20 years, teaching at various international schools and raising their three teenage children all over the world. They were staying at the same guesthouse and we were able to team up and split some of the tour costs to make it less expensive for everyone. Lily and Semira loved hanging out with their kids and Steve and I very much enjoyed the company of the parents. As I said in a previous post, we tend to meet very interesting people on our travels - you just need to be open to the possibility!

Bahir Dar is definitely a great destination for tourism. There is a lot to see and do. The main attractions are the lake, including 20 some odd monasteries (some dating back to the 14th century) situated on various islands in the lake or around the lakeshore. Ethiopia is a country full of rich religious artifacts and churches. My advice to anyone traveling there is to pace yourself. You can go into church/ monastery overload if you decide to visit them all. In Bahir Dar, this was not a problem as only three of the monasteries are open to women. Even though I respect the monks and their rationale for not allowing women, it still burns me that I was relegated to the shoreline at one of our stops because of my gender.

The Blue Nile Falls are also close by (about 30 kilometers outside of town). The Blue Nile River, originating at Lake Tana, is one of the two tributaries to the Nile River. After the rainy season, the falls are full of water. Even a few months after the rain ended, the falls were pretty impressive. Hiking to the falls was fun! Of course, hiking around a tourist attraction in Ethiopia also means being met by many entrepreneurial children along the way trying to sell you their baskets and scarves. They are persistent kids! They know just enough English to address the potential sale:

Girl: "You buy scarf! 60 birr."
Me: "No thanks."
Girl: "You buy scarf! Only 60 birr."
Me: "No, I already bought scarves."
Girl: "You buy scarf. See Ethiopian colors. You promise."
Me: "I didn't promise."
Girl: "You buy scarf. 50 birr."
Me: "No thanks."
Girl: "You buy scarf. 50 birr. I have change."
Me: "No"
2nd Girl: "You buy two for 100 birr."
Me: "No"
Girl: "I go to school. You buy scarf."

Sue (the woman from Uganda) takes a few pictures of her teenage daughter with some of the local kids in the picture.

Girl: "Give me money or delete!"

This conversation went on with many kids pretty much our entire hike to and from the falls. To me, these are always uncomfortable situations. We did buy plenty of souvenirs from kids selling things along the way. But you can't buy from them all. And where one shows up, many show up. Often times the kids are super aggressive. They have learned from the tourists before us that (a) people give them stuff like candy, gum, and pens, (b) people will give them money for taking their pictures, and (3) you can wear people down with your persistence. We always talk to the kids, but we don't hand things out to them. We will buy tissues, gum, and souvenirs when we want them. And I am very careful about taking pictures of people in Ethiopia. In the end though, the tourist effect is not always positive. Kids quickly learn that there is more immediate payoff with the tourists than going to school. Otherwise why would they be chasing your car as it goes by yelling "Show me the money!" Again, it's complicated.

Overall, Bahir Dar is a lovely place. It's much less crowded than Addis Ababa. The air is clean and the scenery is nice. It is relatively cheap to visit by U.S. standards. It feels safe and the locals were really welcoming.

Our modest, but very nice little guest house in Bahir Dar.

Lake Tana is the largest lake in Ethiopia.

The Bahir Dar market

Peppers: the main ingredient of berbere, the spice mixture in most Ethiopian food

   

One of several huge fig trees in the area. We ate here at the lake several nights.

 

Hiking to one of the monasteries on the Zege Peninsula.

Some of the very old bibles you see in Ethiopia. I am amazed they are left in the open, unprotected.

One of the monasteries. This is very typical of those in the area - round with regional cross at the top.

You usually pay some guy sitting at the church/monastery then take your shoes off to go inside.

One of the paintings inside. Again, this is very typical of the old churches there.

Sugar cane

Our short boat ride across the river to see the Blue Nile Falls.

Hiking to the Blue Nile Falls

The Blue Nile Falls

Semira's boyfriend, Solomon (our local guide). You have to watch that girl!

Hippo spotting on Lake Tana

How many scarves can one buy? Evidently, a lot. I think we have over a dozen.