Another great day of cycling. This was a short day into Bahir Dar the third largest city of Ethiopia. It is situated on a large lake. This area is a fairly holy area for the Ethiopian Christians. Oh yes, Ethiopia is predominantly a Christian country. The added benefit of this is.... there have been no predawn call to prayer, and the dawn call to prayer from a multitude of mosques each morning to interrupt a peaceful night sleep! :)
Another benefit of being in Ethiopia and in the higher altitudes is the temperature. Since the huge climbs we have not experienced the 100+ degree days. We are in the 80's with cooler nights. So much better than the inferno we experienced for that stretch of days in Sudan.
The countryside that we cycled through was gorgeous as usual. This is a beautiful country. But on the ride this morning a kid hit me quite hard on the arm with a stick. I was riding along and without warning or provocation a kid walking to school wound up and let me have it. I am confounded by what could possibly be going through these kids minds to think it is ok.
To give you an idea of what third world I am in. Remember I had gotten a SIM card from Ethio Tel, the only cell company in the country and it did not work. Well since I am in the third largest city I figured I would give it a go to get it operational. I asked directions to the place, Ethio Tel, and was told it was only 150 meters from camp/hotel. No problem, I can walk that. So.... 2 to 3 kilometers later I finally find the office. I try to walk in but am stopped by a guard, armed of course. He tells me the office is closed. Closed for how long (in these countries they close for tea and breaks etc.)? For the day says he. He said the network went down so everyone went home. Can you imagine AT&T network would go down and all the employees just go home??? The network went down? No cell service? The ATMs were down and everyone was... But of course!
Different world than what we know. So I will just have to put that down for tomorrow's agenda. No sense giving up so soon, right?! Try, try again is the secret to success...
The road less traveled.
Very unique rock pillar naturally occurring.
You make me want to visit Ethiopia- ok not quite but almost! Good luck managing the third world infrastructure. Debra
ReplyDeleteMike, unfortunately haven't been able to follow ur blog as regularly as hoped: internet problems. Wife and I are renting condo in Tucson this month and next, and they're somewhat lackadaisical about keeping ISP going. Reading your comments about getting hit with rocks, sticks, etc. reminds me of a book I'm reading, "Miles from Nowhere," by Barb Savage, about her and her husband's ride around the world. She talks about the same issues going from Cairo to Luxor, and it makes me wonder why any American would want to visit such places, let alone cycle there.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to spending 3 days with the 2015 Coasters, going from Catalina SP to Douglas, where they are overnighting in lieu of Bisbee this year.
Hope you keep enjoying, and stay safe.
Ken
The road looks good. I like the pillar rock. The kid that hit you must have been convinced by someone that you (or we are) were evil and not really dangerous. There is some kind of hate all around the world these days.
ReplyDeleteRay Van Ostran