Picture Courtesy, https://pixabay.com/photos/ethiopia-road-loneliness-3503834/
The next day morning we got ready and started our journey by 5:45 a.m. As discussed in my previous blog posts we were travelling in two vans. Even though we were promised a 22 seater bus, due to a misunderstanding it resulted in a double booking and we had to travel in two vans.
Luckily for us the bus was available and we had to make a transfer to Wereta. The entire tour plan was like a rough triangle. Bahirdar was one corner, Gondar and Simien mountains were the second corner and Labella was the third corner. Gondar to Woreta was 117 kilometres and from Gondar to Lalibela was 362 kilometres.
There is no direct route from Gondar to Lalibela and inevitably we had to pass through Wereta on our way to Lalibela. From Wereta we had to travel 245 kilometres to reach Lalibela. So we did not lose in terms of time. By 10:00 am we reached Wereta and expected that our bus would be ready.
To our query, he gave a vague answer, “Yes the bus is expected”. “Exactly when” no one knows. “God only knows”, I muttered to myself in an extremely low voice. Did not want to displease any English knowing Ethiopian Gods!
Wereta is a small dusty town, and foreigners are a rare sighting. Our vans drew crowds just as honey draws bees. The heat was oppressive and most of our tour members got off the vans and started exploring the small town. Some had Shai.
Shai in Ethiopia is an extreme adventure for the tongue. The tea is served without milk and FULL of Sugar. When I say full, I mean FUUUUUUUULLL. The Indian equivalent would be having to drink Gulab Jamun syrup and that too extremely hot. Just like Kadak Chai in Hyderabad where the spoon had to stand in the sugar!
For a long time, I didn’t understand why Ethiopians drink their tea with so much sugar. Later a book revealed the mystery. Most Ethiopian peasants are desperately poor and can’t afford breakfast. So a 15 Centimes Shai (around 75 paise) full of sugar gives them enough calories to sustain themselves till lunchtime.
Picture Courtesy, https://pixabay.com/photos/ethiopia-children-poverty-700601/
But our family was stuck in the van. Pranav and Sahithi were being mercilessly ribbed and teased. The van was surrounded by small urchins. They would laugh, hoot, scream, whistle, open the curtain of the window, make faces, try to pinch. They would say things like hind, YOU, YOU, YOU, Rani (for Rani Mukherjee), Sha Ruk Ka (for Shah Rukh Khan). One youngster put his face inside, leered and said “Ati ka, ati ka, Ati ka”. Initially, we thought that was his name. later we understood what he was trying to say. He was imitating Aamir Khan and saying “AATI KYA” from the song “AATI KYA KHANDALA!” Talk about Bollywood’s influence on Ethiopian kids!
Meanwhile, I forced Mullugeta to make a phone call. Grudgingly he took me to a payphone booth and made a call to Ghion hotel. The hotel receptionist (maybe Mullgeta’s blood brother) too appeared unflustered. He coolly informed us that the bus had just started and is expected at any time.
Picture Courtesy, https://pixabay.com/photos/children-ethiopia-slum-702219/
Things at the van were spiralling out of control and Anasuya aunty could not bear it any longer. She decided to take things into her hands, literally! Armed with an empty two-litre mineral water bottle, she took off after the irritating/infuriating mob. She was muttering her teeth, just like a whirling dentist’s gun! She was a woman scorned and was fighting for her grandchildren’s dignity. Padma watched her mother go with a wide-open mouth. “Never saw Amma becoming so angry. She looks like Rani Jhansi Lakshmi Bai”
The mob (average age around 8-10 years) was delighted. They danced just in front of aunty and scooted away. Aunty was no match for the agile Ethiopian kids. She gave the chase up after a distance of around 100 metres.
The minute she turned her back the howling pack was at her heels, “give money, give pen, Aund Birr (One birr)”. The baying was unrelenting and can be quite unnerving! We were used to it but Anasuya aunty found it very irritating. One enterprising youngster thrusts something in her hand. She recoiled!
The smooth youngster gave her an oily smile, “Chigri Yelem, Chigri Yelam (No problem), Visiting card, visiting card!!”. Anasuya aunty looked down and saw a torn grubby cigarette packet. Torn unevenly and scribbled in a pencil were the child’s name and a payphone number! The enterprising kid has seen foreigners use visiting cards and created his own version!
Finally the bus arrived at 12:30 p.m. and thanking all the gods (Indian and Ethiopian) we piled in! The bus was spacious and it was a 22 seater. Mullugeta took our leave and we were quite sorry to see him go. He was a nice guy. Replacing him was Daniel.
The bus was big and spacious but the driver was driving cautiously. When I say cautiously, I mean cautiously. He would drive at 25 KM/hour. The bus would purr along like a contented cat. The minute the speedometer shot up to 26 KM/hour our driver would recoil in horror and slow down to 25 KM/hour.
To lighten the mood, I cracked a joke, “You know this driver is the cousin of a goods train driver in India. The goods train was travelling slowly and the driver took pity of an old lady walking beside the train. He halted the train, hailed the lady and said, “Madam, hop in, I will give you a lift”. The Old lady looked up, sighed, visibly brightened and said, “thank you Beta for the offer, but I need to go HOME QUICKLY”!
https://pixabay.com/photos/trees-forest-woods-landscape-561575/
Such was our fate. But the only silver lining was that the bus was moving so slowly that we could take in the magnificent scenery, rather we could saviour it to the full, just like the Darjeeling express in India where one can get off the train, take some snaps and hop in. The journey was slow, measured and methodical. Later we came to know that the bus had mechanical problems and the driver was coaxing and cajoling the bus to behave itself! - 1066
No comments:
Post a Comment