Tana Hotel Bahar Dar

Zach and I left for Bahir Dar early Monday morning. We were at the bus station at 5:30. It was really nice of that Canadian Ethiopian to help us out with the bus ticket but as soon as we entered the station we realized this was not at all what we wanted. We had been told there were minibuses and a Sky bus that tourists use to get to Bahir Dar in 8 hours. We were on a huge, old bus that carried 60 people and it was full. Our assigned seats were right behind the driver ...

Le nil bleu sort du lac tana donc on place la source du nil bleu a la sortie du lac tana. On a crut longtemps que c etait la source la plus septentrionale du nil, mais les sources du nil blanc sont bien plus au sud.<br><br>Sinon pas de photo du nil bleu etant donne qu il est d un brun tres boueux je ne vous ferai pas l affront de vous montrer ce nil brun pas tres bleu.<br>

... br>Saktophe&#8217;s Highlights<br><ul><li>Realizing that some dude took off<br> with our deposit money for the boat ride to the monasteries. <br> Luckily his colleague honoured the deposit.<br> </li><li>Trying to figure out what time<br> things leave &#8211; Ethiopian time or Europe time?? (Ethopian time is a<br> 6 hours difference)<br> </li><li>Fish Dulet, Injera and<br> Ambo&#8230;..mmmmmm.<br></li></ul><br>

What a great experience we've had in Ethiopia. We got our Egyptian and Sudanese visas sans problemes in Addis, got Foxy fixed again (AC is definitely busted, no parts available whatsoever), saw Lalibela's impressive rowk-hewn sites, visited the monastries on Lake Tana, travelling by "speed" boat to each island, had a surreal dinner experience last night in one of Gondar's poshest ...

After my arrival in Addis Ababa I spent a few days relaxing and saving up strength for the arduous journey north on what is sometimes referred to as the monument circuit. Even though many of the country's top attractions lie in this region the road is often little more than a dirt track and can get pretty rough, especially if you are in the back of the bus! My first stop on this trek was the town of Bahir Dar, perched in the southern bank of Lake Tana. Here ...

The Royal Enclosure was tranquil and impressive, a series of 17th- and 18th-century palaces. Six successive kings each built their palace next to the previous one. Now semi-ruined, the most recent damage being the result of British bombing during World War II (when the Italians were here). Down the road to Fasilidas' Bath. Apparently people used to go to the palace and say "Fasilades, where are the facilities?" and he would go "Yeah, funny," until he ...

The second day on the ferry to Gorgora was uneventful. Up at 5:15 for the "6 o'clock bus". As dawn boke we waited in the garden-like parking area of the hotel amid a remarkable variety of birdlife but no sign of a bus. At 7 a truck started up and we agreed to 30 birr each for the 65 km trip to the ancient capital of Gonder. The first 15 km took a couple of hours on a very muddy road, at which point we could have ...

After a very scenic drive up along the banks of Lake Tana, we arrived in Gonder. Gonder was an ancient capital of Ethiopia and is famous for its Royal Enclosure, which resembles a Medieval Castle now located in a dusty little town. Out of place would be an understatement. The enclosure was built between 1667 and 1706 by Emperor Fasiladas and his son Iyasu. Constructing the castle was definitely an International affair ...