A Ghost in a Silent World The next morning my eyes snapped open at 4:30. A drunk man was wandering through the Nile Hotel banging on each door in turn, looking, as all Ethiopians seemed to do in the early morning, for a friend. I called out to him when…
Category: Ethiopia Bike Trip 1998-1999
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044 – To Infrance
The Escape of the Joads It was still pitch black when I was woken up by the Joads, their truck, and their rooster. They wanted to get an early start and started warming up their truck at 4:45. Unfortunately it was right outside my door and to my lungs it…
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043 – Bahir Dar to Werota
Leaving Bahir Dar The streets of Bahir Dar were quiet and cold as I cycled through them. A group of men made swishing sounds as they swept up the road with large palm branches. Boys from a school scoccer team chattered and kicked a tattered ball back and forth. The…
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042 – The Blue Nile Falls
Speciation The next day after a morning trip by bike to where the Blue Nile emerges from Lake Tana I returned to the Ghion to find Martin sitting in one of the lawn chairs on the grass. He was waiting for Andale, his right hand man on his project, and…
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041 – The Ghion Hotel Crowd
In Search of the ‘Real’ Ethiopia I woke up in the morning without a very clear idea of what I was going to do that day. I didn’t think I was going to do much. At most I thought I would have a cup of coffee, write in my journal,…
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040 – To Bahir Dar
“Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation” Inside the bus to Bahir Dar there was a big poster of Jesus on his knees looking heavenward and praying. A tiny angel hovered above him holding a glass of some kind. The caption read, “Watch and pray that ye enter…
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039 – A Night in Amanuel
The Toe TAL Hoe Tal The town that Azmo had sent me to was called Amanuel and it was as he said only 5 km away. But it was all uphill and I was soon reduced to pushing the bike almost continuously. I tried from time to time to pedal,…
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038 – Slowing Down and Taking Pictures
Debre Markos was more complicated than most of the towns I’d passed through and it wasn’t entirely clear which road was the one that led out of town and headed north. I stopped to question a group of young boys, but they all pointed in different directions and I left…
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037 – Debre Markos
A Close Look at my Tormenters The next day’s cycling passed in what had become a familiar pattern. There were some enjoyable moments. These tended to be the ones where I could block out the children. And there were the not so enjoyable ones when I turned into the raving…
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036 – Into The Gorge
It was still dark at 5:35 in the morning when I stepped outside my room. There was a hard cold wind blowing but the sky was clear. I could see the stars. Occasionally I heard the sound of one of the big dinosaur trucks roaring down the road. Traffic had…