Where is Ron?
Ethiopia, January-March 2006
Ron, windblown in Malta, February 2005
Reports from Kembolcha to Lalibela to Bahar Dar, Ethiopia
17-22 February 2006
23 February 2006
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Ron has arrived in Bahar Dar, a town at the southern tip of Lake Tana, a large lake in the northwest of Ethiopia. Following are two very short messages he sent from Lalibela (short because the Internet cost $14/hour!), plus the longer message he sent today from Bahar Dar. He also sent more great photos (see the photo links below), so presumably the Internet cost there is much more reasonable.
Love to all,
Ellen
Short note #1
18 February 2006
Lalibela, EthiopiaHi My Love,
This is a short note to let you know that I am well, safe, and healthy.
This afternoon I arrived in Lalibela after spending last night in Weldiya.
The internet service here is about $14 an hour so I don't think I will be using it. Today, when I checked into my hotel I met 5 Russians (mountain climbers) and will be having dinner with them this evening. Will probably stay here 3 or 4 days and will let you know my next stop before I leave here. I will check for messages most days but won't write anything until I get to my next stop. Same for pictures.
My sag wagon was not nearly as pleasant as my Bike Friday, but I made better time and went much further with lots less energy, but they wouldn't stop for pictures. Tried from the bus, but they never come out very well.
Tell Simon happy birthday. [Note from Ellen: Our grandson Simon had his 4th birthday party on 18 February]
Love you,
Ron
Short note #2
20 February 2006
Lalibela, EthiopiaSorry to hear about the cold weather. [Note from Ellen: I was complaining about winter!]
The guy I met last night from London said the reason he was here was "February in London". And I don't think the Russians were looking forward to returning to the cold either.
More travelers here than anyplace I have been. Last night there were Irish, Zimbabweans (sp?), English, and Japanese as well some Americans I met yesterday in the churches.
I may stay around a couple more days and then go to Bahar Dar. I don't think I will take the bike north. Maybe in Bahar Dar I could join some others making a trip north to Gondor and Axum or maybe I will just hang out in Bahar Dar for a while.
But looking at the mountains and the conditions of the surface of the unpaved roads, I am not very interested in the challenge.
The price hasn't gone done any but I am going to try to negotiate some computer time not connected to the Internet, and maybe I will write some more and then send... or I may wait for Bahar Dar.
But I am still alive, eating ok, feeling fine and now reading 1968 ["1968: The Year that Rocked the World" by Mark Kurlansky] - and enjoying it very much.
Love and miss you,
Ron
To see photos from Ron's 17-21 February travels, Kembolcha to Lalibela and in Lalibela, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Across the top of Ethiopia
To see photos from Ron's 22 February bus ride from Lalibela to Bahar Dar, click on the thumbnail at the left.
22 February 2006
Bahar Dar, EthiopiaHello My Dear,
At dusk, my first night in Kembolcha, I walked along the side roads to the main church where they were having their evening service, outside of the church in the courtyard. The evening felt like a perfect fall evening in Virginia and I sat in the courtyard for a while and listened to their service and then walked slightly uphill to the mosque, where I could still here the orthodox Christian service over the loud speaker.
On my walk there was only one car, with most of the transportation provided by horse carts and lots of people walking in this mostly residential area, with scattered small shops for supplies. To me it felt like I imagined a small western town to be before the automobile and I remembered the town in Burma without cars. Wide roads, hedges at the edges to shelter the houses behind.
Next morning, up at 5:30 (can you imagine?), biked to the bus station to get my "sag wagon" to Weldiya, where I spent the night before continuing the next morning to Lalibela.
I was reminded of India, as everyone wanted to help put my bicycle on top of the bus (for a fee of course). My bus seat was not as comfortable as my bicycle saddle and they were not willing to stop for me to take pictures, but I did take some through the open window.
Under my feet I could feel the sudden shocks as large rocks were thrown up from the rear tires, and as we stopped in some of the small towns, the population in the middle aisle would surge and ebb.
Looking at the surface of the dirt road, the size of the rocks and gravel and the challenging physical terrain, I felt confident in my choice to use the "sag wagon", as my knees rattled against the seat in front of me with the constant bumps; at one point we were above the clouds and looking down as if from a plane, with mountains sticking up through the clouds.
Lalibela is an interesting town in the middle of the Lasta (I wish it was last) mountains at 2630 meters altitude. It seems like it took the bus a couple of hours to drop down to this altitude. Each evening I have found a different fantastic viewpoint to watch the sunset. While there hasn't been a lot of color (until the last night), the vistas are most impressive.
Most of the tourists seem to stay at the Lai Hotel but the travelers seem to prefer Seven Olives Hotel, where I have enjoyed my evening meals, telling traveling stories with English, Japanese, Irish, German, Spanish and a few Americans. My favorite was an Irish journalist, Oonagh Smyth (for www.rte.ie), a mild mannered, late 30s, but gutzy lady with a husband that sounds like a real whiz kid - geek - back home in Dublin working on his inventions.
At $13-$14 per hour for Internet services (depending on exchange rates) I will not be filing this report or sending pictures from Lalibela but will wait until I reach Bahar Dar. (where I am now).
The Lonely Planet says: "Lalibela undoubtedly ranks among the greatest religious-historical sites, not only on the African continent, but in the Christian World. Just as remarkable, however, is its total disregard for this status. Medieval Lalibela just goes about its business."
Of course I had to go see St. George Church and take a picture of the hoof prints in the side of the trench wall left behind by St. George's horse, for North Branch School. [Note from Ellen: North Branch School, where I am on the Board, and where both our grandsons attend school, has done an all-school production of St. George and the Dragon every year since the school's founding in 1983. See the photo page link above for pictures of the church and the hoof prints.] This was the last church built, or should I say carved, from solid rock. First they cut a trench around, exposing a large square block of rock, and then they carve the church from the inside out.
Legend says St. George was built in 48 hours with celestial help. However, I don't remember this site being mentioned in "The Chariots of the Gods."
The local bicycle club has about a dozen members who share the use of 3 government owned bicycles for training and competitions. Last year, a local boy won the regional races in Weldiya, and he was most interested in my bicycle. He took me to his home where I met his family and had coffee and something to eat. His mother was growing flowers along the front of their home with a spectacular view of the valley below and the distant mountains.
On a tour of his preparatory school, I met his Principal who told me that last year 98% of their graduates went on to the university. He also explained that they were short 3 teachers (social science, chemistry and history) because there is a teacher shortage and it is difficult to recruit teachers to rural areas where there is no university for them to continue their training and where it is difficult to find second jobs to supplement their low salaries.
Next Sunday the regional bicycle races will be in Lalibela around the football field. The road between the airport and the center of town is paved (32K I think) and used for training. Quite a climb.
I ended up buying my bicycling friend and his friend a used copy of an Oxford dictionary to share, and they were both very pleased. Last night he found me at the Seven Olives hotel and presented me with a small going away gift. I also received a post card as a gift from another younger bicyclist.
Last night I had dinner with the manager of the Seven Olives Hotel and discovered all kinds of interesting bits of information. Until a few months ago the hotel was government run but now it is private. Business has really increased and he is making lots of changes. I had suggested they remove a wire to a light, and the light, so people could take better pictures of the sunset. He followed through and turned off the light and said the wire would be removed tomorrow. It really is a beautiful setting at sunset.
Last night I also got a bit smarter and paid a guy a couple of dollars to be the first at the bus in the morning to save me the front right hand seat so I could take pictures. Then I got up this morning at 4:30 to be at the bus station at 5 to get a ticket ... and sure enough, the guy had me the front single seat beside the driver. So while he wouldn't stop for picture taking, I could slide the window open and take pictures as we went around curves giving me fantastic views. If any of them come out decently, you will have a chance to see them. [Again, see the photos from the link above.]
The bus left at 6 am and arrived at 3:30 pm, I checked into a hotel on the lake and ordered my first fish dinner. It was really a very bouncy road with my bike on top taking quite a pounding. Fender loose, back wheel out, something pulled on the brakes, and who knows what other nuts and bolts are loose, so I will have to give it a good going over.
Now I am going to talk a walk along the lake with an English traveler from Lalibela who maintains there are pelicans on the lake.
I like it here so far and may stay a while. Missing home, good food, comfortable bed, my own computer, and of course you and our life together. Loving and missing you.
Ron
Back to Ethiopia 2006 index
cfw.com
Questions? Send email to Ellen, ebouton 
operamail.com
While we're traveling, reach us at bikepacker
Last updated: 26 February 2006
