Summerland Hotel Bahar Dar

... were on a three person bench and there was an old man on our bench by the aisle who immediately started glaring at me. I had my big backpack and didn't know what to do with it. I began asking but no one seemed to speak English. I put my purse on the seat and the glaring old man yelled, "My seat!" I think it was the only English he knew. With various hand gestures I was able to get the attendants to put my bag on the roof. I squeezed inbetween Zach and the angry man ...

... Russian tanks to differentiate the otherwise dusty continuum. The earth here seems to be under a lot of stress. Finally Lake Tana comes into view, but is no Atitlan; the monasteries dotting its islands and shores are the real attraction. Other than that it's just a thousand traditional straw-thatch tukuls dotting the landscape, and the wooden wattle-and-daub structures that usually accompany them, which serving which purpose I'm not sure. I ...

<br>Oh man, getting to Bahar Dar from Addis<br>was probably one of our hardest bus rides yet. We decided to take a<br>mini-bus which ended up picking us up at 3:30am. The mini bus is<br>more like a big van and we crammed in with 16 other people for the<br>next 10 hours with no windows open&#8230;.luckily we were so tired so we<br>slept for the good chunk of the ride but after that bus ride, we<br>decided we ...

After a morning on Lake Tana and some incredibly delicious spaghetti bolognese, we headed for Tis Isat (Blue Nile Falls, or "Water that Smokes"). It seems that every cafe/restaurant in Ethiopia serves spaghetti - a holdover from the Italian occupation - much of it better than any I've ever had in New York. The ...

We hoped that our string of bad luck would end when we got to our first city in the North - Bahir Dar - the base from which to explore the monasteries of Lake Tana (Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile). Upon arrival in the airport, we were greeted by our first sign of Ethiopia's excitement about President Obama (actually, something I'd encountered absolutely everywhere I'd been on this trip) - a giant sign advertising ...

Seulam! Bahar Dar is north of Addis Ababa, a 12 hour bus trip to be exact. It's on the shore of Lake Tana, Ethiopia's largest lake, which is famous for its lake monasteries and being the source of the Blue Nile, one of the sources of the Nile, which flows over 5200 km north to the Mediterranean Sea. One of the guesthouses in town, and a lot of private boat operators who charge a fortune, offers a boat trip ...

Back in Bahir Dar I awoke early to the sound of prayers and birds. A beautiful sunrise over Lake Tana I couldn't resist taking some photos of fishers in papyrus boats again. Shuffled onto a bus before I could finish my morning coffee (Ethiopian coffee will make ANY day good!). On our way to the airport to try this again. Now there were many, many more people in the waiting room than there were yesterday. Not sure if ...

Awoke this morning to the sound of prayers being broad casted over loud speakers. Very beautiful in our Eden-Like setting. And fitting since today is a tour of monasteries on Lake Tana. There is actually a school right next to our hotel where young men go to study to be priests. This is one of the most sought after professions here! Men go to school (which must be in a different town so they know ...

... were located immediately at the front entrance doors (however, you need to go through them again at your gate). We were all shuffled into a crowded room where they were serving pop and bread while you waited to board. No signs to follow, just a guy walking through shouting destinations every once in awhile. Before I really understood that this was the system, I thought I heard him call 'Bahar Dar' for the 2nd time, so ...

Nein mein lieblings, we have not left you.  Merely we have been travelling in internet-scarce parts of Ethiopia. We ended up spending nearly two weeks in Addis Ababa conducting our essential business: meeting Mr Prickett from his flight and acquiring visas for our next countries. Both of these missions were completed successfully.  We had expected the acquisition of a visa for Sudan to be a touch and go affair.  But the ...