The mini bus ride between Bahir Dar and Gondar is like taking a step back in time, or several steps rather. As the bus zoomed down the narrow highway, swerving in and out of horse drawn carriages, the fertile farmland unfolded as far as the eye could see, with primitive plows behind strained oxen traversing the fields. With no mechanized equipment or advanced irrigation systems in sight, it was astonishing how rich and high yielding the land appeared. Probably cared for and cultivated in this same manner for centuries, these fields along with the local people's way of life hasn't needed much outside influence. Further adding to this general sense of old, the bus passed by a couple peculiar villages hanging on to traditional ways; one where the male-female roles were reversed, men cooked and women toiled in the fields, and another consisting only of non-believers.
And then there is Gondar. Even the name itself has a certain mystique, reminiscent of something medieval. With a castled skyline, ancient buildings and churches, and cloaked men with long staffs, Gondar is just that, medieval. Gondar is so far beyond what I know as being African, but, this is what Africa used to be at its height. It's an intriguing glimpse into civilized "old", a sharp contrast to the tribal "old".
The town itself, though not necessarily anything to write home about, is agreeable with more auto-rickshaws than you can shake a stick at while holding onto an aura that in a way still feels ancient. Not really sure how this happens, but in Gondar, it does. The main attraction in Gondar is its UNESCO world heritage Royal Enclosure which houses numerous castles from where a number of emperors reigned as far back as the 17th century. In addition, there are numerous old churches dating back to who knows when. And of course, there is lots of good food, nice coffee, and mildly decent beer. So, from that, it should be obvious how we spent our couple of days in Gondar. Not a bad place.
These curious lads were along the road between Bahir Dar and Gondar; we kind of chatted about mangoes and the weather.
Mark and I hopped into this little shack along the road for some coffee and received the whole "buna" ceremony from a nice lady and her fun children. The buna ceremony consists of elaborately prepared coffee served from a clay pot with rich incense burning nearby.
The piazza of Gondar. Note the sign for Dashen Beer, the locally brewed beer which Gondarians are quite proud of...tastes like, well, any other African beer (aka Bud Light).
Misty morning in Gondar.
One of the handful of castles in the Royal Enclosure. Not sure the emperor who reigned from this one, but no one has probably heard of him anyways.
From inside or out, you can tell that the Debre Berhan Selassie church is ancient but the paintings adorning the inside still retain most of their former glory.
The near entire spread of the Royal Enclosure. It is an awesome place to get lost in for a couple hours and imagine that you are wandering around in ancient times.
No comments:
Post a Comment