In my opinion (and as usual against the norm), this place sucks… I took a minibus from Gondar to Bahir Dar which was decent enough – only a 3 hour drive on a fairly well paved road. Non-eventful but interesting – in particular in one of the towns we passed, a couple of the women who were obviously ethiopian, were walking around in bright Shalwar Khamiz outfits. Wierd…
The first thing I noticed when I got to Bahir Dar though, was the noise. Every other shop had Amharic music blasting from their busted speakers making for a jumble of commotion everywhere. I had to actually go into a cafe to get some quiet so I could speak on my phone… The look of the town is nice – palm tree lined streets and overlooking Lake Tana – Ethiopia largest lake a dirty brown, and boa snake infested lake…
The monastaries aren’t that interesting either – I guess since I went to Lalibela and Gondar first, these ones don’t seem that impressive. The one monastary was run by women monks, which I’ve never heard of. But the paintings and architecture have all been redone in the last couple hundred years, so there isn’t that much to see.
To add insult to injury, Ethipian Airlines has cancelled the last 3 flights since yesterday (mechanical problems…) so I’ve been stuck here with the blood sucking maria-infected mosquitios… this is one of the most endemic areas of Ethiopia…
On the other hand I’ve made some new friends…