Marizanne: 13 June 2009

 

This morning we left the Tana Hotel in Bahir Dar. It took me twenty five minutes to upload yesterday's blog. When we finished at the internet café Anja wanted to buy some wet wipes for the day ahead. The packaging was a bit misleading and she ended up buying some lady products…oh well, if the toilets are in a really bad state the next week we will surely be able to use them.

We passed a part of the Blue Nile today. It is very enlightening to see a water mass in such a dry country where the red earth seems to be screaming out for some moisture. Today the odometer in the car also switched over to 7000km!!!

We stopped once to have a quick Coke. Further on we reached the biggest happening for the week: market day.  Imagine a mixture of donkeys, cripples, small children and women selling eggs, maize and beans – in other words everything the local farmers could force out of the barren earth. The people were like millions of ants moving in all directions and at the same time moving in no direction.  I still have a stain on my trousers and I don't know if it is spit or mud. I prefer to not think of all the possibilities.

I heard on the news that Madonna will be allowed to adopt another child from Malawi. I cannot begin to think what goes on in an African child's head when they are adopted and taken to a Western country. The two worlds are so far apart the brain most certainly suffers to some extent.

For the sixth time already I saw an Obama café today. I do not think we grasp exactly what Obama's presidency means for black people. He is the ultimate symbol of hope. The Africans see him as some god of possibilities. I think he came at the right time.

After a relatively short drive with a lot of curves  in the road we reached Gondar. We are staying in the Forgera Hotel. One of the staff member looks exactly like the character on the Bill Cosby Show – the long one with the glasses and the squeaky voice. The character in the show was definitely base on the original here in Gondar.

This afternoon we visited the Fasilidas castles in Gondar. They were built in the 1600's and it is a World Heritage Site. The Fasilidas (the king and his successors) each built a castle as they came to power. The castles are really impressive and already about 300 years ago they had a functioning sauna. It is incredible how their previous achievements overshadow their current reality. What went wrong that you had castles that were a threat to the British and booty for the Italians and now you barely have electricity?

After this we moved on to the Debre Birhan Selassie church where a duplicate of the Arc of Covenant is held. The church is also decorated with paintings like those we saw on the island in Bahir Dar. This time the colours were deep and rich, and royal.

Our last stop was the Fasilidas swimming pool that was also built by King Fasilidas. Every January a huge festival is held there were people can swim in holy water.

We wanted to fill the Toyota with diesel before we leave for Lalibela tomorrow. The price of gas and petrol rose this week and therefore the sellers reduced the amount available to sell the rest at the higher price. We went on a treasure hunt to find some diesel. Supply and demand definitely creates an artificial shortage as Marx rightly noted.

It is hard work being a tourist. We need to drive to the airport at half past six tomorrow, but when the adventure calls one can only pick up and say: "Yello!"