I got to check out the first hotel we stopped at, so we went with that one and saved us an hour of driving around town comparing hotels (might be the last time I get to check the hotel though :). Still feeling lousy, I opted to stay in for the evening with Jen; rest of the crew went and saw some traditional dance. Alissa said it was so good she cried, so I guess it was good?? (Chicks!)
Next morning started at the Grand Enclosure which is an immaculate set of European-looking castles built around the 1600’s. Maybe only a dozen other people looking around (far cry from Egypt), you can walk in and around a good 5 or 6 buildings, including cages that they used to keep lions in.
Headed to the other side of town to see the old church that was from the same era; looked somewhat similar to the monastaries on Lake Tana. The inside of the roof stood out as being particularly beautiful.
Then moved onto the bathouse which as I understand isn’t like a public bathouse that the Roman’s built. Instead it was a religious structure with holy water that priests used – apparently it’s still used once a year for a festival.
We then had the honour of driving out around 30km to a small village and meeting Eskinder’s grandmother! Told us he saw her a year ago, and has never brought people out to meet her. She’s 90 years old, and lives in a small 1 room building with her sister – bench/couch in the corner, bed on the other side, dirt floor, corrugated sheet metal door and really funny, random posters all over. Incredibly nice people, I kept thinking she was going to cry! Made us injera, tea then gave us traditional beer which to say the least was difficult to get through (think muddy ditch water with floating chunks of charcoal). Sat and enjoyed the experience with a line up of around 20 children outside trying to see in. Such great people!
Headed back to Gondar to a hotel up on the hill to watch the sunset. Gondar sits around 3000m above sea level; it’s very green in the city but surrounded by drier landscape. Looks like a German city sitting in the middle of Arizona. It’s one of the more visited towns in Ethiopia so the hassling is a little worse (though nothing we haven’t seen). At one point Jen and I went for a walk and had a little girl following us within about 2 minutes. After a while we bumped into her brother and together they were so cute. We try pretty hard not to give money when people ask (unless of course they look like they really need it) but couldn’t resist. It’s tough. We’re talking maybe $0.10 and people can be so happy (sometimes even kissing your feet), but it can cause so many bad habits. You should see a kid’s eyes light up when you offer them your empty water bottle (or a fight break out!).
Grand Enclosure 1
Grand Enclosure 2
Grand Enclosure 3
Church ceiling
Wall at bathouse
Eski with family