108 – Wait, War and Weariness at Wereta, All in a day’s journey!

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. 

But things don’t work that way, at least in Ethiopia. Mullugeta our guide got off the van and disappeared. Half an hour later he appeared, unflustered and looking fresh. Maybe he must have had a Shai and a cigarette! Who knows?

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

107 – A day in God’s own playground, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia.

 

 

Picture Credit: httpspixabay.comphotosethiopia-simien-mountain-gelada-4371441

Simien mountains are known for Gelada baboons or weeping heart monkeys. These territorial baboons have a red heart-shaped patch of hair on their chests. Even though they appear to be cute they can cause deadly damage with their razor-sharp teeth.

Luckily for us, they were quite shy and escaped scrambling up small hillocks the minute they saw us. Alex, the Russian teacher proved to be a worthy chaser. He took off after them and clicked some worthwhile keepsake snaps.   

 

Tasleem was quite disappointed that she could not snap the Gelada Baboons. Someone remarked, “Those are monkeys, and they are our distinct cousins. They need to show respect by waiting to be clicked by their Jaat Bhais (Cousins in Hindi)”.

 

Not to be outdone Kuldeep replied, “Arrey bhai log, they are Ethiopian monkeys and not Indian. So they are not aware of our Reethi and Riwaaz (our culture and customs)”. The entire group roared in laughter and our real Bhai (Ethiopian guard with the AK -47) was nonplussed, but smiled politely!

 

We found huge berry-like fruits, hundreds of them. Jeevan sir cracked one open. It was not pulpy but had many black seeds. We were pondering whether to taste them. “Tewe (STOP) !!!!!” said the guard snatching the fruit from Jeevan sir’s hand.

 

None of us could understand Amharic, but his mime was chilling. He was telling us that the fruit and the seeds were poisonous. That the seeds were ground to make poison used as a dip for the arrows. The final rubbing into the wound.  “The fruit is so poisonous that even the Galada baboons would not touch them. Someone whispered from the back, “Oh my god, he is insinuating that the baboons are better than us. At least common sense wise!”

 

Somebody else said, “At least he is better at mime and acting than most of our film stars”. I could not agree more!

 

Finally, we reached the mountain’s table-top. The air was cold and brisk. Even though taking a breath was slightly difficult due to the rarefied atmosphere, we could still enjoy the vistas, the low that came in quickly and played truant with us all the time. It was as if we were floating in the clouds.

 

We had limited time at hand. Our drivers gave us an ultimatum. “One hour” they said. We were in unison with them. The drive up was scary and we were sure that the climb down would be equally hard and scary.

 

Even If one of our vans broke down, we were done for the night. Simien mountains were not home to dangerous animals like tigers and Lions but the nights can become cold. We were wearing woollens but they would not be adequate for spending a night in one of the coldest places in Ethiopia! Night temperatures could fall to as much as -10 degrees centigrade.

 

The guide informed us that we were very near a hot spring source. We were all excited as hot springs are supposed to be elixirs for health. We tried approaching the hot springs but were stopped dead by the stench! The approach to the hot springs had an obnoxious smell.

 

Undeterred Kuldeep and I approached the hot springs. The hot springs were a huge disappointment. It was a shallow place and the government had fitted some taps for people to use the hot water. But the locals and the tourists were using it as a free toilet and the stench was unbearable. We bet a quick retreat!

 

Away from the hot springs we sat down and had our humble lunch. We invited the drivers and our guard but they declined. They were not very keen on our chapattis, curry and rice menu. They had meagre lunch, Injera, some chilli powder and onion. Once their lunch was done, some quick chewing of the Khat leaves and they were ready to move again!

Surrounding us and greedily looking on were a group of blackbirds. Menacing and quite big. So big that forget Pranav and Sahithi, even the elderly were scared!

Listening to the whispering the Zoologist in me woke up (after all, my basic degree was in B.Z.C! Botany Zoology and Chemistry). “not to worry, not to worry” I Cooed like a smug Pigeon, “That is not an eagle or a vulture, it is a Raven”.

 

This scared the group even further as most did not know what a raven was, “Raven is a sort of a crow, big crow”. The showman in me could not take it any longer, “raven is the bird that was featured in Damien (Omen 2). In the movie the raven plucks a lady’s eyes out of their sockets” I glibly explained.

 

Now the entire group was dead scared. Head down they munched on the food, never for a second looking at the innocent Ravens. The magnificent ravens were not bothered. They were harmless and were quite happy with the bits of the chapattis and the tiger rice (Pulihora) flung in their direction. They were majestic birds, totally black and completely harmless!

 

Lunch done we climbed down and reached Gondar back without any hitch or accident. I told the group, “maybe we were blessed by the Ravens” Giving me scornful looks they all disappeared into the rooms. Wanting to rest their aching bones!

 

Padma, Aunty, Pranav, Sahithi and me went around the beautiful Gondar city. We bought ten Kgs of precious Sona Masoori rice. At 10 birr/Kilo (around 50 rupees) it was a steal. We bought Semiya too! Gondar is a bigger city than Bahirdar and has many ice-cream centres, unlike Bahirdar.

 

Wonder of wonders we found and bought Cadbury chocolates much to Pranav and Sahithi’s delight. They also had avocado juice. Avocado juice in Ethiopia is the 8^th wonder of the world. Juices in Ethiopia at least at that time had to be eaten and not drunk.

https://pixabay.com/photos/coffee-beans-ethiopia-549647/

Served with a spoon, even an eight-year-old Pranav could not finish a full glass, He had to share it with Sahithi! Aunty, Padma and me had sissy drinks, Macatho (Coffee with milk)! Something that the Ethiopians simply abhorred (hated). For a blue-blooded Ethiopian coffee had to be black and strong, and many cups of it in a day! (1040)