After checking out the hotel I caught a motor taxi (tuk-tuk)
for the bus station where I will catch a minibus for Bahir Dar. There were
couple minibuses filling up with people, and I was ushered into the one that
filled up slower. But that is just how things are; sometime you get lucky
sometime you don’t. Since it was still early in the morning, wait wasn’t too
bad. It took about 3 hours on good road to get to Bahir Dar. The landscape is
nice too, elevation dropped to 6,040 feet from 6,998 feet. Our bus made a
strange stop, where everyone got out the minibus and the driver angry talked to
another guy and towel dried back seat and floor. To my best guess is that the
guy peed in his pants/seat. There was no vomit smell so I don’t think he throw
up. Anyway after the cleanup we made to Bahir Dar without any additional
incident.
I have yet to decide as to where to stay in town. The worn
and dilapidated Ghion hotel with nice courtyard by lake Tana or some other
place. Rasmus who came from Bahir Dar told us that the resort Kuriftu next door
to Ghion has half price for month of October, so you can get a room for 2 for
$140 including massage and manicure and pedicure. I first stopped by Ghion to
check out its room but apparently there was another government meeting in town,
and most of the rooms in are filled. So the person told me to wait for an hour
or so to see if anyone will check out. I then went to Kuriftu resort to see if
I can ask for more discounts. The receptionist told me all rooms are booked for
the next few days. Disappointed and relieve at the same time since I going to
miss a little r&r but glad that I didn’t have to make the decision to pay
for $140 a night. Reception did told me that they offer day pass to the resort
which is about $11 and that includes 1 three-course meal plus 1 non-alcoholic
drink, tips included. Also you get to have any spa treatment for 25% off. I
told her that it sounded real enticing and that I will be back.
After the somewhat good news at the resort I went back to
Ghion Hotel to have my lunch there. Afterward I asked again for room availability,
but the manager said there is no room but they can take me to another hotel
nearby to see if there is room. I also asked about Blue Nile Falls and Lake
Tana monasteries tours, and decided to sign up here with Ghion hotel even
though I know it is probably overpriced, but he offered a free ride to the
airport. I have read that this manager at Ghion is a sleek character; with some
people dislike him a lot, while some found him interesting. For me he is just
another sleek character that you can’t trust fully, but probably someone who
can get something done. He did let me use his laptop for Internet.
The other hotel they took me to was new as I was told, which
it did look so, but again poor construction quality of the hotel is on par with
other Ethiopian infrastructures. There was another tourist couple staying there
and they told me they arrived late the day before and Ghion was full and they
were driven around the town looking for room around town. I also heard the same
story from other people I met during my tours in Bahir Dar. So people, it is
always good to arrive in a new city earlier in the day especially if you don’t have
any reservation. Another tour guide at the hotel also tried to sell me tours
but I told him that I already booked it with Ghion for the same price, and he
was not happy and started to say that the hotel is offering a local rate to me
(I don’t know if this is true or not), and I need to book at least one tour
with them. I told him that Ghion will take me to the airport as well; he
finally backed down from his demand.
Now that I am all settled in, I walked back to Kuriftu resort
to purchase a day pass and book a one hour aroma therapy massage at 8PM and
dinner afterward. I have a little bit of time before the 3PM tour of Blue Nile
Falls, so I went to the internet café to contact Mr Martins Cozy Place in Addis
for a room for tomorrow night because I will be arriving in Addis late and needed
a place to crash close to the airport before a early flight out to Harar.
When 3PM came, other tourists started to show up in Ghion
for the minivan ride to the water falls. The road to the falls is unpaved dirt
road will lots small pot holes. Our minivan was very slow because of the road
and small tire size. Soon as we arrived at the ticket office we were approached
by a guide belong to another guide association. He want about $1 each person,
there were 8 of us I believe. You don’t really need a guide as the walk to the falls
is very straightforward and his price was way too high for us. Once we all got
our tickets our driver drove us a very short distance to the entrance, and
there another older guide approached us, and he offered his service for half of
what the first guide asked for. He also told us instead of double back on the
same trail we could take a boat across the river above the falls so the group
decided to go with this guide. The falls itself is pretty big and nice with
good amount of water just after the rainy season. But the afternoon sun was
right in front the us as we were facing the falls, so not a good photo
opportunity, so the advice is to arrive in the morning instead, but not sure if
the tour companies in town do morning tour of the falls as most of them do the
lake Tana and monastery tour in the morning. A few years ago, the government
built a dam nearby to generate electricity, but that substantially reduced the
water flow over the falls, and there was a big outcry from the locals and
tourists alike, that the government changed the diversion amount and season.
The walk around the falls to the boat cross was ok, we saw
some villagers and kids and crossed over on a little suspension bridge. The
boat ride itself is short and costs about 50 cents. I don’t know it is worth or
not, but if you have the time then it is probably worth it. The ride back to
the town seems to take lot longer, maybe it is because the sun went down and
our driver was very slow on the dirt road; a guy on the bicycle passed us and
we couldn’t even catch up with him! You need a SUV get a decent speed on this
road. We finally got back to Ghion just past 7PM, a long journey for short
sightseeing.
I decided to go back to my hotel to drop some of my stuff
before heading over to the spa for my massage. The masseuse asked if I want a
hard or soft massage, I said hard as it is god for tired muscles after 3 days
of hiking. She was really strong, as it was painful when she pushed/pressed
hard on my calf. I paid about $12 including tips for the 1 hour session, a
great deal if you asked me; only Bali was cheaper. By the time I finished my
massage I was ready for my dinner, I ordered a meat dish, but there was so much
meat and chewy, I weren’t able to finish my dish. With such a late dinner, I
walked back to my hotel to sleep with full stomach. It will be my last meat
dish (other than fish) and of this trip. The walk back to my hotel late in
night wasn’t too bad, there were still few people walking around.
The sleep at hotel turned out to be no so pleasant. There
were dogs barking loud during the night that kept me awake then around 4 to 5AM
the call to pray blasted loudly from the nearby mosque’s speakers.
After checking out the hotel I waited in the lobby for
pickup from Ghion. The driver came late and there was just me, so I asked if he
can take me to an ATM so I can withdraw some money. After got some cash we
arrived in Ghion where I dropped off my backpack at the storage and joined the
rest of the group for half day boat ride to some of the monasteries dot the
lake. The hotel’s boat has small engine so the ride is slow. Our first stop was
Bet Maryam on the shore of the lake not too far from Bahir Dar, it cost each us
100 birrs and most of the churches around the lakes cost about the same, so it
is not cheap. The path to the church are lined with souvenir vendors selling
crosses, painting, etc; not too bad of selections but nothing stands out as
great item for good price. The circular church’s exterior wasn’t very
interesting, but inside it has very nice painting like others I saw so far.
After that we visited a small nearby museum as well a reconstruction of a
burned down church.
In our group there is a older French Canadian guy who
traveled around the world quite a bit and he told me that Ethiopia is the first
country where he had serious trouble with local food and he has been to India.
He had been to some of the churches on Lake Tana and the manager from Ghion had
promised him some churches that he hasn’t seen before. So when our boat went
back toward Bahir Dar and stopped at Ura Kidane Mihret, which he also saw, the
local guides whom approached us for service just ticked the French Canadian
off. He got into shouting match with them. Other people in group and local
guides wonder why he is so unfriendly and rude. The funny thing is that I felt
the same way about the Ethiopians sometime as him, so much hassle, and sometime
we tourists just want to be treated with respect and honesty and not as cash
cow or ATM. But to the clueless Ethiopians, they just think they are just
making a living by overcharging “rich” tourists and make false statements; they
want tourists to treat them with respect, yet they can’t do the same thing for
the tourists. Anyway at this second church I decided again paying another 100
birr to go in, at this time I have seen enough the Ethiopian churches.
Afterward, as we make our way back to the boat, I decided to may be look for
something to buy from the vendors, one cross caught my eyes, but after quick
negotiation, the price didn’t came down as far as I wanted, so empty handed I
got on the boat for our last stop to a church on an island in the lake.
We asked the French Canadian guy if it is worth stopping at
the island church, he told us it is not worth it, so we decided to ask the boat
captain to take us to the lake’s outlet for Blue Nile. We saw some pelicans
there that was about the only interesting part of this side trip. We got back
to Ghion hotel around 2:30. I decided to go for another day pass at Kuriftu
since it is well pass lunch time and get a pedicure for my now well-worn feet.
I ordered fish dish this time and added a glass wine and sat by the lake and
enjoyed the few. Not sure if it was the meat dish I had the night before or
something else, my stomach started to acting up again, not good for my flight
in the evening. As for the pedicure itself it was not too bad, I would not have
done it if it is not this cheap and that I have been in sandals for a while.
I went to an internet café for quick check to see that Mr
Martins Cozy Place has confirmed my reservation for tonight. As I was at the
café, I made the mistake of sitting next to an open window. An old lady beggar
saw me and just stand there asking for money (in I assume amharic language) for
almost a minute. Most of the beggars would have been gone in 15 seconds or so
when I made no eye contacts. I would have given her credit for persistence.
Anyway I went back to Ghion to wait for my ride to the airport. The manager of
the hotel keep on telling my ride would be coming even though the time for my
flight was getting close. I guess there is word urgency does not exist in
Ethiopia, another impediment to the country’s progress I believe. Eventually I
hassled them enough (I can play the game too); they find get a driver to take
me to the airport.
The Bahir Dar airport was under construction so it was kind
of crappy looking inside and outside. As I was approaching the security line,
my stomach was in needed immediate relieve so I rush for the first of the two
toilets in the airport. It definitely not fun to have stomach issue while in
transit. Anyway the flight was none
eventful and when I got to Addis I tried to call the taxi driver I met during
my first visit here couple weeks ago. But there was cell reception problem and
I can’t get a hold of him so I ended negotiated a ok price from the taxi nazi
outside the airport. The guy agreed to take me to the nearby Mr Martins Cozy
Place and back for 350 birrs (about $20).
We arrived at Mr Martins Cozy Place very quickly as the
traffic was light. There was no sign at the locked door, so I called the phone
number provided to me in the email and soon someone was there to open the door.
I was showed a decent sized room! It cost about $12 a night for a share
bathroom. No other people were around when I got there. As I went to pay for my
stay, some of the guests returned. I chatted with a Taiwanese for a little bit
as he has just arrived to Ethiopia and have some questions. Eventually I made
my way back to my room and get myself ready for a short sleep.
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