Day 16 and 17 Bahir Da and back past Gonder and to the Simian Mountains...
We had a day of sight seeing in Bahir Da which involved going out on a boat to see the monasteries, which date back to1320, and include some amazing illustrated manuscripts, the Nile where it flows out of the lake and some Hippos.
We then had to retrace our steps to Gonder, where we refuelled and then pushed on towards the Simian Mountain Park on a gravel road. Close to dark we stopped to discover that Mark had had his wallet nicked at the last fuel stop, including about $300, and all his credit cards. At this stage Justin elected to head off towards the nearest hotel and Mark and I found a camp site next to a kraal. After lots of confused negotiating we bedded down for the night. In the morning we woke to find 4 guys armed with AK 47’s outside our tents. No problem they were just the local watchmen. The whole time we camped we had an audience; the locals just sit and stare. I’m sure they can’t believe what’s going on. When it was time to leave I couldn’t start my bike, it was absolutely dead. I had been having some problems especially when it was cold but it usually settled down and once or twice it cut out on me at speed. After a lot of trying it finally got going and we set off but stopped in the first town to draw some cash. When it was time to go my bike refused to start. Justin had the satellite phone so Mark set off the find him and I started to strip everything. At this stage had an audience of about 25 and one very willing mechanic who had fast fingers and couldn’t resist the urge to help. After many calls to BMW Umhlanga and inter changing parts from Mark’s bike, by the way Justin’s bike had also failed with the same problem, we established that it was either the fuel pump or a blocked filter. Fortunately we were near to a compressor and after blowing everything clear we got things going. 5 Hours later we set off again. We then had to do the same to Justin’s bike but this time it was a whole lot quicker.
We’re now on top of the Simian Mountains in a small park. There’s a hut of sorts here and we might sleep in it or pitch tents. We’re now at about 3750m and it’s getting quite cold. Boy what a change from the Sudan!
Mark was given the job of lifting the compulsory armed guard. It was a really steel road so he did well to get them both here in one piece.
Ethiopia is starting to produce the experiences that we thought this trip would be about. The ride from Cairo to Gonder was mostly on tar roads, quite frankly you could do it in a Citi Golf. In a year it probably will be all tar. We had ridden very big distances and it was all a bit rushed. We’re ahead of schedule on account of some conservative estimates I had made so we’ve now got the time to explore. From here we loop around the top of the country before heading south towards Addis. On the way we’ll stop at Lalibele, the churches hewn out of rock.
We had a day of sight seeing in Bahir Da which involved going out on a boat to see the monasteries, which date back to1320, and include some amazing illustrated manuscripts, the Nile where it flows out of the lake and some Hippos.
We then had to retrace our steps to Gonder, where we refuelled and then pushed on towards the Simian Mountain Park on a gravel road. Close to dark we stopped to discover that Mark had had his wallet nicked at the last fuel stop, including about $300, and all his credit cards. At this stage Justin elected to head off towards the nearest hotel and Mark and I found a camp site next to a kraal. After lots of confused negotiating we bedded down for the night. In the morning we woke to find 4 guys armed with AK 47’s outside our tents. No problem they were just the local watchmen. The whole time we camped we had an audience; the locals just sit and stare. I’m sure they can’t believe what’s going on. When it was time to leave I couldn’t start my bike, it was absolutely dead. I had been having some problems especially when it was cold but it usually settled down and once or twice it cut out on me at speed. After a lot of trying it finally got going and we set off but stopped in the first town to draw some cash. When it was time to go my bike refused to start. Justin had the satellite phone so Mark set off the find him and I started to strip everything. At this stage had an audience of about 25 and one very willing mechanic who had fast fingers and couldn’t resist the urge to help. After many calls to BMW Umhlanga and inter changing parts from Mark’s bike, by the way Justin’s bike had also failed with the same problem, we established that it was either the fuel pump or a blocked filter. Fortunately we were near to a compressor and after blowing everything clear we got things going. 5 Hours later we set off again. We then had to do the same to Justin’s bike but this time it was a whole lot quicker.
We’re now on top of the Simian Mountains in a small park. There’s a hut of sorts here and we might sleep in it or pitch tents. We’re now at about 3750m and it’s getting quite cold. Boy what a change from the Sudan!
Mark was given the job of lifting the compulsory armed guard. It was a really steel road so he did well to get them both here in one piece.
Ethiopia is starting to produce the experiences that we thought this trip would be about. The ride from Cairo to Gonder was mostly on tar roads, quite frankly you could do it in a Citi Golf. In a year it probably will be all tar. We had ridden very big distances and it was all a bit rushed. We’re ahead of schedule on account of some conservative estimates I had made so we’ve now got the time to explore. From here we loop around the top of the country before heading south towards Addis. On the way we’ll stop at Lalibele, the churches hewn out of rock.
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