More from Addis

The welcome ceremony was very nice...coffee, popcorn, goodies and beverages.   We sat with some of our Zimbabwean staff and gleaned some useful knowledge about where and when to do safaris, tours, etc.  They are such kind guys, so patient and helpful with all of us, and like any tour like this, kind of like parents to us all, constantly cleaning up after us, doing the thinking for us, making sure food is ready when we need it and generally eliminating the need for us to think about anything other than pedalling our bikes.

As I was doing our laundry this morning, and bear in mind this was in the rather grubby bathtub in our room, with some Zahra soap powder in a box that looks like a Tide box, under a trickle of water, I did remind myself that at least I was not like the woman I saw the other day, getting off a super-crowded bus with 2 big yellow plastic containers of what was probably water.  Then she would have to heat it, then get started on the laundry.  Our clothes were absolutely filthy!  I am so thankful I have a washer and dryer at home to do all that dirty work for me.  It took all morning with that minimal water pressure but I got it done.  Then I spread it all out on the hedges in front of our room, just like we see the locals doing in the villages.  That Ethiopian sun dries things in no time flat!

Somehow, as luck would have it, there is a wedding going on here at the golf course tonight, so it may be a short night of sleep.  Good thing we slept a solid 12 hours last night!  We'll just have to rock out to the African beat we can hear now to fall asleep....

First photo:  at the Blue Nile Falls near Bahir Dar ( only a one hour drive away on a verrrrry bumpy road)

Second photo:  one of Wayne's soccer balls being put to good use

Third photo:  the toughest climb of the tour...the Blue Nile Gorge, 1500 metres of uphill climbing

Fourth photo:  Trish and Sandy with the sprawl of Addis Ababa in the background, about to start the bike convoy down.

Where are you go?

This is one of the phrases we hear over and over on the people-filled roads of Ethiopia.  Less popular are the three year olds shouting "money" or "pen" in a whiny, demanding voice with an outstretched hand.  Least popular of all are the kids, young and old who throw stones at us.  Yes, Ethiopia is a trying, beautiful, vast and perplexing place to be.  It is the country we spend the longest amount of time in and everyone is feeling quite tested by the experience.  One of the riders told us that in the 1500s, the Portuguese were greeted by stone throwing Ethiopians when they travelled into this country.  Mind you, they may have been trying to invade or something, and we are not, but nevertheless, who are we to argue with centuries of Ethiopian tradition?  Wayne and I have been lucky so far with stone throwers but I have lost it a couple of times, getting off my bike and screeching at the little darlings.  They just laugh and run away but some days I just need to vent.  

Despite having to be constantly vigilant about what is coming next on the very busy roads - people everywhere, walking on the roads, along with donkeys, horses, donkey carts, crossing herds of cows and goats - there is always lots of action - there is still time to look around at this stunningly gorgeous country.  The rolling hills go on and on forever, like endless foothills.  We reached the highest point on the TDA a couple of days ago, at somewhere around 2500 metres, so surely that means it will all be downhill now?  That night and the next one were unbelievable cold!  We were a pathetic, shivering bunch huddled around the coffee urn at 630 in the morning at about plus 4, and none of us were prepared for the temperature having been lulled into thinking it was HOT there because of the afternoon temperature of plus 34 or so.  The other milestone we have reached is completing the second of the six sections.  

This last section was called The Gorge, the main feature of it being the descent, then climb out of the Blue Nile Gorge.  This was so beautiful to ride up to in the days leading up to Gorge day, it looked very much like the Grand Canyon, just a bit more spread out.  The descent into the Gorge took me about half an hour, riding the brakes all the way ( My brakes sound like a donkey braying when I brake, left right left right hee haw hee haw....hmm, do you think I have been out in the sun too much?).  Then it was over the massive concrete bridge, then the up started.  Oh yes, so did the time trial.  Yes, not only was there 20 kilometres of constant uphill, we were being timed!  Of course, the time trial was optional, but I was curious about how long it would take me.  I finished eighth of the women and Wayne finished tenth of the men, so that almost sounds like I beat him, right?  However, it took him just over 2 hours and me just a hair over 3.  It was a brutal test, but we got it done.

Yesterday we rolled into Addis Ababa, convoy-style and are enjoying a rest day at the very nice Addis Ababa Golf Course, complete with hotel rooms, a bar, dining room and green grass for those who are camping ( we are not).  In addition to still being EFI, I believe we are also EFH, as in Every Fabulous Hotel!  It is such a pleasure to be able to spread our filthy gear out, wash our clothes and selves, sort through things and kind of get reset for the next several days.  

More later, the hotel is hosting a welcome reception for us so I am off to check it out!

The photo is of a bus at the top of the hill above Addis, where we began the convoy down into the city.  The bus was packed with people, the goat was tied "safely" atop the bus and must have had a hair raising ride - those buses really move!

Ethiopia photos

First photo - 2 happy cyclists!

Second photo - our Ethiopian fan club watching as we set up our tent, they are well- behaved and staying behind the " magic red rope"

In case any of you are wondering and have been checking the race results, I am no longer "racing" so no longer timing in and out.  Just not my thing and I figured I did not need one more thing to do in the mornings when every moment is focused on getting on the bikes right after breakfast.  However, I AM still EFI!  Yes, Every Fabulous Inch ( substitute appropriate word beginning with f depending on the day) of the route so far has been covered by me under my own power.  We are over 3000 km in and one quarter done, we shall see how long I can keep it up.  Wayne is EFI as well!

Just another Ethiopian rest day!

Well here we are chilling out in the elegant lobby bar of our hotel in Bahir Dar, on Lake Tana enjoying a nice cold beer.  The last 2 days of riding have been absolutely stellar!  Some fun climbing, speedy descents, incredible scenery and moderate temperatures - finally.  Yesterday was my favorite day so far; rolling hills, a few higher passes to go over, some amazing rock formations, roundish African mountains covered with lush green vegetation and our first MONKEYS!  The only thing missing was our pal Sandy, who was miserably sick with some nasty stomach bug.  She is much better today, but still opted to ride the truck which was a wise decision.  Today's ride was a short, fun 60 km cruise into Bahir Dar, tomorrow is our rest day here, so it is smart to take it easy in preparation for the next 5 days riding into Addis Ababa.  There are things to do here, but we may just relax (again!) tomorrow.  The beautiful waterfall is just a trickle right now ( wrong time of year, which makes sense, as it is the dry season) and the lake cruises to the monasteries sound like a long time in the sun in an open boat.  Hanging out by the lake, which is right across the street sounds appealing to me!

We went for coffee (Ethiopia is where coffee first came from!) after we arrived here, then for a market visit.  Wayne was on a quest for a hammer for pounding in our tent pegs.  Lots of our fellow campers have rubber hammers but we need a metal one for our tent pegs.  For some reason, all the plumbing stores on the road to the market were open but none of the tool shops were, but would be later in the day.  Then, we picked up a fixer kind of guy who led us to the tool section of the actual market where we found the best hammer - handmade from reclaimed metal of some kind.  Wayne also had a brilliant idea - he bought 2 inexpensive soccer balls so we can make friends with the small army of children at our campsites.  What the staff do is put up the "Magic Rope", a red string and short stakes which magically becomes the impenetrable perimeter wall between camp and the rest of the world.  So as we set up our tents, we have a huge audience of children watching our every move. They are very good, although we are cautioned not to leave stuff lying around which would be a temptation.  One soccer ball will be left at each campsite if we can get this idea to catch on with the other riders.  The African guys who are part of the staff though this was a very good plan and suggested whistles would be good as well, as they will stop and listen if someone blows a whistle to get their attention.  So now we can stretch our legs with a bit of soccer after our rides!  On the way home from the market, we stopped for a delicious juice - I had avocado, pineapple and mango, served in 3 colourful layers - delicious!

More from Gondar, Ethiopia

I think we are as ready as possible to tackle the next part of the ride.  It has been wonderful having 2 rest days, time to do the usual chores of laundry, bike maintainance, blogging, etc.  Today we had 2 delicious meals at a great place just an eventful tuktuk ride down the hill!  At lunch, by chance and then we returned for dinner after deciding our hotel was far too busy hosting a big wedding to take care of us for dinner.  We sampled an Ethiopian specialty, lamb tibes on injera bread at lunch - delicious although challenging to eat with only hands, no utensils, just injera bread.  Very tasty!

Tomorrow we ride toward Lake Tana, source of the delicious tilapia I had for dinner tonight and I would think riding beside a lake should be fairly level, right?  Then there is an magnificent waterfall from the lake and we have time to visit one of the monasteries located on the many islands in the lake.  This country keeps on amazing us and tempting us to return already.

We heard a lot about the stone throwing children in the villages of Ethiopia and I decided to deal with this potential menace with a huge grin on my face and a lot of waving and calling out hello.  So far, this has seemed to work, although some of the riders have not been quite so lucky.  A lot have had big stones thrown at them or their bikes, some have been pushed around while riding uphill and some have been whacked with sticks.  We must be so foreign to these kids in the little villages, flying by with our bright clothing, slick bicycles and weird helmets and sunglasses.  No wonder they throw rocks!  I hope my technique continues to work.

Time to get back on riding day schedule and get to bed!

Photos from Sudan

First photo, a lot of what was loaded, 

by hand, onto the ferry.  Huge loads - bales of wire, washing machines, heavy crates, and it took hours for it all to get packed in somewhere.  No machinery necessary, just human strength!

Second photo, our bikes safely herded together on the top deck of the ferry.  Note the full lifeboats - no there was no emergency, they are just used as extra passenger space.  How practical, eh?  We felt lucky to have a "first class" cabin....

Third photo, our friend Francine models the best outfit for bug infestations.  The bugs were horrendous, but the Sudanese are okay with them as they pollinate the date trees and bug season doe not last long.  Of course it was over as soon as I blew 10 Sudanese pounds on a bug net for my head.

Fourth photo,  the evil thorns that reduced a few riders to bad language tears or both on the second day of off road.  They are vicious and were everywhere.  The best tool was a leatherman to pull the thorn ends out of our tires.  Some riders had 8-10 flats, I had none - yay!  Very trying day between the endless washboard, loose gravel and injured riders.

Fifth photo, me thoroughly enjoying a donkey shower.  Okay, actually this one was a tractor shower but the one the next night was definitely transported to camp via donkey.  That was the night of no sleep...the nearby village had some huge menagerie of animals in residence so all night long there was a cacophony of donkeys braying, dogs barking, roosters crowing and camels saying whatever camels say.  It was incredibly noisy, we don't know how the villagers ever get any rest!

Last photo, Sandy and I close to camp, right by the " welcome to our area" sign the local tourism board had put up.  Yes, Sudan has a Tourism department!

More to come, but first I have to charge my iPad! Thanks for all the comments!

Salaam from Ethiopia

Two countries down, eight to go!  It turns out our special insurance to even travel to Sudan was not needed, and it is not nearly as ominous a place to visit as that requirement might suggest.  We found the people to be gracious, welcoming and kind.  There is a lot of emptiness in Sudan; evidently long ago as the Ethiopians expanded their territory northward, they stopped near where today's Sudan/Ethiopia border is as they didn't really want the country north of there.  Rocks, sand and not much else make up a lot of Sudan, but we were quite amazed at the the large scale agriculture we saw, all thanks to irrigation.  Kind of like southeastern Alberta!

Crossing the border into Ethiopia was not exactly speedy, it was easy to get out of Sudan, and pedal across no-man's land into Ethiopia, but getting the passport stamp allowing us to be there took ages.  The power was out, so instead of the fingerprinting and retina scanning experience last years group had, we sat that there sweating ( as usual) while  2 young ladies looked up names in a ledger that looked like it had been around since Biblical times. Things got worse when the young ladies' shift was over and they we were relieved by 3 young men, who evidently misunderstood the ladies' explicit instructions as to which end of the pile to take the next passport from, and those of our group who had just handed in passports got in and out in record time.  There was nothing to do but sweat a little more and wait.  Wayne got through before me and went to rehydrate with the first beer since Egypt ( no alcohol in Sudan, not a drop) and after about an ice age or two, I was finally free to go and met him coming out of the bar.  I would have loved a frosty beer but he said let's go, this place is a gross...evidently it was a bar but was also a very scuzzy brothel!  Welcome to Ethiopia!