Gondar

Wednesday, 19 December

We slept soundly again last night, waking at about 7 for breakfast and preparations for our 8:30 departure to Gondar by road. I had wanted to send my first postings by internet this morning, and last night Laolao had verified with the internet person that he would be there at 8:00 this morning, but he wasn't. (The sign by the internet desk said 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but he had left early last night after laolao had said I'd rather do my posting in the morning.) We hung around the lobby near the internet desk for half an hour, but at 8:30 moved out into in front of the hotel to await our driver, who was supposed to arrive at 8:30. He didn't show up on time, either, so we played a bit more Tilley Hat frisbee while we waited in the drive.

The driver finally showed up at around 8:45 (but the internet man still wasn't there) so we piled in and began our 3-hour drive to Gondar. The road was in very good condition, smooth asphalt that looked fairly new or else well-maintained, and it didn't change all the way to Gondar.

I must say that I have been impressed by the quality of the roads here in Ethioppia – but that assessment does come with two major caveats. Firstly, I am given to understand that the 3-hour drive from Bahir Dar to Gondar represents about 20% of the entire paved highway system in the entire country. So while the paved roads may be good, they are definitely NOT extensive. Secondly, this impression is based entirely on the roads we have traveled, and we have not traveled many, nor gone off the beaten (tourist) path. For all that, the gravel road that led from Bahir Dar to the Blue Nile falls was also in very good condition. It had a good, hard-packed gravel surface, level and smooth (in terms of gravel roads), i.e. not pitted or pot-holed or with a loose surface that makes it hard to control a vehicle. (This assessment comes from a prairie girl who has traveled numerous Canadian prairie gravel roads in my younger years!) I contrast these to the roads I travelled in Kenya 11 years ago, which were in such poor condition that one was constantly swerving, zigging and zagging in order to avoid potholes and washed out sections. One occasionally even left the road entirely and drove in the ditch alongside, or half in the ditch, as the road surface itself was so horrendous. This held even for roads that were supposedly new.

On the route to Gondar, the only thing that slowed us down or made us swerve was the occasional need to avoid colliding with heavily-laden donkwys and their drivers, though for the most part they stayed on the verge and didn't stray onto the road surfact per se. We passed countless beasts of burden, and even more people walking along the road, from one town to the next or perhaps from home to field. There were signs of haying – mene wielding scythes cutting the grasses; others bundling the cut hay, others forking it into haystacks. In a few places we also saw what looked like threshing grounds – a circular patch of ground surrounded by a waist-high wall, where the famrers would harness one or several animals to a central pole and drive them around and around, trampling the cut stalks of grain and relasing the kernels from the hulls. None of these was currently in operation. Cows dotted the fields in every directions, with the requisite herder standing guard or sitting in the shade of a tree. Ocassionally we saw sheep or goats as well. We passed several small villages – collections of huts alongside the road or set back a short distance. These looked like quite rough dwellings, likely lacking in any kind of sanitation or running water, and I would guess also without electricity. People would likely fetch water at a nearby well or river.

We passed through three larger towns, and in each of these there were Eid festivites going on, with crowds in the street that slowed the van to a crawl, and music and changing. As we inched our way forward through the crowd they banged on the sides of the van – I think just making merry. The people were dressed in their finery; I saw a little boy wearing a three-piece suit, and many in the traditional white gowns and hats.

Four or five rusted, worn-out tank bodies along the way were grim reminders of the wars that racked the country from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. They now lay uselessly along the road, nothing but empty shells, giving evidence to past turmoil and reminding us of one of the reasons this beautiful country, so rich in resources, remains so desperately poor.

The land to the north of Bahir Dar, bordering Lake Tana, is flat table-land. The occasional rise and well breaks the flat expanse, and trees dot the landscape, but it appears to be good agricultural land, easy to cultivate and likely yielding good harvests if the rains do not fail.

Past Lake Tana, about two hours into the journey, we started to climb into mountainous terrain. The pass over the first chain was stepp and winding, and we watched the plains fall away below us and rugged hills interspersed with deep valleys now lay all around. Beyond that first chain came more and more mountains, ridge after ridge, all the rest of the way to Gondar. We had entered Ethiopia's northern highlands.

Gondar is another major centre, with some 200,000 inhabitants. The city proper lies nestled in a valley, with branches snaking up into several ravines between the mountains. There is a university and hospital in Gondar, and it is known in particular as a centre of religious teaching in the Ethiopian Orthodox church. To advance in the church to the rank of bishop or archbishop, it is almost a necessity to study at Gondar, or so we were told.

Our driver deposited us at the Goha Hotel, another in the Ghion hotel chain. (The Ghion is the main top-class Ethiopian-owned hotel in Addis.) As with the hotel in Bahir Dar, it was rather isolated, away from the teeming crowds. It did, howver, have a marvelous view of the city, perched as it was on a cliff-side on one of the surrounding mountains. It was now lunchtime, so we went to our rooms to freshen up and had a bite of lunch in the hotel dining room. With almost an hour to kill after lunch and before our guide arrived for the afternoon's excursions, Giggles and I wandered the hotel grounds. We found the spot where the hotel cats hang out, beneath the kitchen window. Giggles attempted to get close enough to pet them, but they were a wary bunch and kept darting off. The hotel maids that walked past tried to help out, calling to the cats, but they didn't respond. When we found a string, tied a fuzzy-leafed branch to it and used it as a cat toy two of the cats showed some interest, but not enough to bring them within petting distance. Then one of the kitchen staff opened a window and tossed out a scrap, and the cats all dived on it. No wonder they hang out there!

Our guide in Gondar was named Abebe – the masculine form of Ababa, as in Addis Ababa, meaning flower. We also had a new car and driver, the first presumably having begun the return journey to Bahir Dar. First stop in the afternoon: the castles of King Fasilidous. I don't recall everything Abebe told us, and I haven't reviewed the guide book enough to know more, but this is what I recall. King Fasilidous reigned in the early part of the seventeenth century. He was important for something like consolidating the kingdom, banishing (if I recall correctly) the Jesuit priests and restoring the influence of the Orthodox clergy, and suchlike. During his reign he constructed six or seven castles in the is walled enclosure. One was his own, one or two were apparently for his wife, and the others for various other purposes. Some of the castles were partially destroyed during the Second World War by Allied bombing against the Italians who were using them as headquarters for local operations. Others have simply suffered the effects of time, but many are in quite good condition

Abebe showed us how they would collect rainwater from the roofs to fill a large cistern, since the castles were set rather high on a hillside. He taught us to see the shape of the lion in the structure of the King's main castle, for the lion is the symbol of the kings of Ethiopia.

And he showed us the pepper trees growing in the gardens – black pepper trees! We asked if Ethiopia exported any pepper and he said no. Perhaps the quality of the seeds is not high enough- we sampled a few from the tree and, while peppery, they did not have the heat of the black peppercorns we are accustomed to purchasing in Canada. Perahps it is a different variety of peppercorn that is needed for "export quality" pepper. But if it could grow in Ethiopia, that might be another possible export crop! In any case, Abebe told us the locals would take the leaves of the peppercorn tree, cursh them, and spread the oils on their skin as a mosquito repellant. One would not want too fiery oils for that prupose, or one would burn one's skin!

The second stop of the afternoon was King Fasilidous bath, or swimming pool – at 70 by 30 metres, larger than an Olympic swimming pool..It is said that he would come here for quiet reflection to ponder the matters of state. Today, however, it was a hive of industry, as restoration work was in progress.

This project is being funded by the Government of Norway, so the workers here are apparently earning 50 birr a day, rather than the meagre 20 at the hotel construction site in Bahir Dar. Here, too, all the work was being done by hand – women in pairs carried loads of sand and gravel from the pile to where it was being mixed into mortar or used for fill; others were cleaning, men were cutting stones, and on and on. The paving around the pool itself was obviously newly restored – the mortar around the stones was still curing, it was so fresh. The work is to be complete within a month, in time for the celebration of Timkat (Epiphany) on 19 January, as many festivities are held here.

After the Bath, at our request we stopped briefly in the city centre to take a short walk amongst the people and buildings. Abebe accompanied us on a circular tour of one of the blocks. We went from the main road down a side street where people live. The first stretch of the road was cluttered with building debris where some buildings were being demolished in order, Abebe said, to widen the road and pave it. For the time being, however, it is definitely NOT what one would call a good road, even of the gravel variety. The surface was rough, pitted, and uneven. To either side the buildings stood, dusty grey shacks. Abebe pointed out a communal water tap where people would come to fetch their daily supply of water. It is, of course, just cold water. If anyone wanted hot water, Abebe said, they might go to a bakery and purchase some there We didn't ask about sanitation, but I'm sure a toilet might just be a hole in the ground somewhere, or even an open sewer.

As we walked, many people smiled at us and said "Hello." To Giggles they would say "Hello, baby." She asked why they call her a baby; I said they likely don't know enough English to say "little girl," and "baby" is the only word they know for a child. It's still more than we know of Amharic! At one point several children crowded around her and she was getting a bit upset so Abebe shooed them away. She said she wasn't scared; just nervous. I said yes, it can be a bit unsettling to have so many people come too close. They didn't both me as I was much bigger than them; but they were about her size so it could be more upsetting to have them come close.

I commented to Giggles that Poppet may well have been born to a family living in conditions like this – a simple shack, no running water, no yard to play in, just the street out his front door. But his birthmommy couldn't look after him, likely she was too poor, so she took him to the orphanage and now we have come to take him home with us to Canada. She seemed to look around at things with new eyes.

After about 10 minutes we headed back to the car down a stretch of the main road and drove back to the hotel. As the internet service was operational, I sent off my first three posts to my friend for uploading to the blog and read a few e-mails, while Giggles showed Laolao and Laoye where the cats hang out. Then we all had supper and headed to bed fairly early, as tomorrow will be an early day.

(Continue to 20 December: Lalibela - Churches galore)