112 - Tour of Gondar, Simien and Lalibela ends - Settling of Accounts!

 

Picture Courtesy: https://pixabay.com/photos/charminar-monument-india-travel-896162/

We were at the end of the tour to 4 out of 9 World UNESCO sites of Ethiopia. It was a rollicking journey full of surprises and yes, learnings. As we sat in the bus and remembered the good times, I was struck with the thought, why do Indians want to save so much? They happily sacrifice their today for a hopefully better tomorrow. 

I know many of my friends who stay in Hyderabad who have never climbed Charminar. Till the early 1980’s it was possible to climb right up to the top of any of the four minarets of Charminar and enjoy the spectacular view. After the horrible Qutub Minar stampede, the government of India banned climbing up Qutub Minar, and promptly, the Andhra Pradesh state government too banned climbing at Charminar. Luckily for me, Abhay Kumar and I climbed the Charminar minarets in the early 1980s when we were doing our intermediate. 

Similarly, we met many Indians who stayed in Gondar for years at a stretch and never visited the Gondar Forts. The reason, the entrance fee was 50 Birr (Rs 250) and that was supposed to be exorbitant (by Indian standards). 

Picture Courtesy: https://pixabay.com/photos/caravan-desert-safari-dune-camels-3341872/

I have no statistics of Indian teachers who visited The Simien and the Lalibela Churches. Only elders like Dr. Naidu sir and Dr. Azaz Ahmed Sir who have stayed in Ethiopia for many years can clear this query. 

I am sure that present-day Indian teachers have it easy. Nowadays Ethiopia has wonderful cemented roads. The road journeys have been cut by half and Bahirdar to Addis Ababa road journey takes 6- 8 hours. In 2003 it took almost 12 – 14 hours on rocky and dusty surfaces! 

The bus journey was slow and tedious. To keep the boredom away we played games, quizzes and the quintessential Indian pass-time, Antakshari (a sort of pass-long musical medley). 

Our bus was not liking it at all. It was getting annoyed. How could this Indian troupe have it so easy? With an almighty shudder and nerve-wrenching groan, it gave up and the engine died. We were still miles and miles away from Bahirdar. The only saving grace was that the bus broke down in a town. Daniel and the driver got busy. There was nothing we could do. 

We wiled away the time. The small town didn’t have anything to offer. We had Shai and bought some Guavas and bananas. Finally, after a titanic struggle of more than five hours, the bus started and we were on our way. Ghion hotel tried its best but the bus was a damp squib. It broke down twice in three days! Not road-worthy at all.   

We got down to a post-mortem. I asked about the things that the tour party's likes and dislikes. There was unanimity that all the three places Gondar, Simien mountains and Lalibela were wonderful, the arrangements were good, hotels decent and food excellent. The only anomaly, the slowpoke, a tortoise pretending to be our bus. 

Dr.Kuldeep Singh Gehlot 

I gave a conspiratory wink and told Kuldeep, “Dr. Kuldeep don’t let the bus hear you compare it with a tortoise. Just to prove you correct it might travel even more slowly or break down again, just to spite us!”.  We reached Bahirdar by 09:00 p.m.!

The tour party thanked me for arranging such a lovely tour. I thanked each one of them for maintaining strict punctuality and for overlooking any minor irritants during the tour. 

A funny incident that happened at Gondar hotel needs to be told. Padma forgot a small bag containing some medicines and omnigel (a cream to cure aching muscles). Taking the help of Daniel, I called the hotel receptionist and asked whether it was possible to get back our medicine bag. 

After a long wait, the hotel receptionist came back with a response. The hotel wanted Birr 250 (Rs 1,250) as a fine and asked me to pay the postal charges too. On top of it, the hotel wanted me to give them back the hotel key. Indeed, we had by mistake carried the hotel room key with us. A quick calculation showed us that we need to shell out almost 350 birrs (Rs 1,750) to return the hotel key and get back the medicine bag. 

Padma told me that the cost of the medicines and the bag would not be more than 100-150 Indian rupees (20-25 birr). We dropped the entire idea of getting back the small bag as quickly as dropping a bag of hot potatoes. 

I still feel that it is the hotel's responsibility to check the room at checkout time and also ensure that the guest doesn’t walk away with the room key. But to expect 350 Birr for returning a small bag was a little too much to digest! 

On returning back to Bahirdar, I sat down and prepared the tour expenditure. The result was startling. I had collected 1000 birr as advance but the total expenditure per person came to 787 birrs! 

The tour party assembled at our house (except Alex who stayed at PEDA Campus, and Jeevan Sir and Geeta Madam who stayed at the POLY campus). The expenditure sheet was closely examined by all and everyone was thrilled at the low tour cost. 

I explained that I divided the entire expenditure by 12. I considered Pranav as a full tour member and that brought down the cost considerably. Dr. Kuldeep who did not like it, one bit. He said, “Anil Bhai, divide the entire amount by eleven and do not consider Pranav as an adult”. 

Even though I like what he said, I stuck to my guns. I told him that our family would have undertaken the tour by ourselves.  The group members made the trip more enjoyable by their presence. 

Most tours exceed the expected budget and getting back nearly Birr 250 was like manna from heaven. For the bachelor Indian teachers, it was their one-month expenditure. 

Alex, The gentle Russian teacher from PEDA Campus 

Alex the quiet Russian was taken aback when I presented the tour expenditure sheet. His English was not very good, but his communication was crystal clear. He enjoyed the trip and thought It was a sacrilege to check the correctness of the tour accounts. It was a refreshing viewpoint. It took all my persuasion skills to make him accept the 213 birr due to him! – 1059 words.

111 - Galloping in the Tunnels, Culmination of Lalibela tour!

Me Trying to play the church drums, Pranav, Padma, Sahithi, and Anasuya Aunty

111 – “Nelson, The English cricket commentators would scream and Davis Shepard the umpire would keep hopping from one foot to the other, like hop-scotch the minute the cricket score reached 111, 222, 333, 444 and on). 

As we are Indians we don’t have any qualms and we need not hop. Sit back, have a nice cup of coffee, and enjoy! 

I saw T. N. Murthy, oops Dr. T. N. Murthy sir munching on his lunch with a thoughtful expression. Dr.T.N.Murthy was known for his quirky comments, stentorian voice, and funny live commentary. He was the “Charlie Chaplin” of the group. 

I sided up to him and enquired “Doctor Saab, emaindi? (what happened?). Still sporting a worrying expression, he replied, “Anil garu, right from yesterday, I could not even spot one mosquito.  Everyone in Bahirdar was scared that Lalibela was full of mosquitoes. I thought I would take some back as souvenirs. Believing in our Indian community, I even went and bought expensive mosquito repellent cream from New York super market”. 

I almost choked on an inedible piece of potato curry. Seeing my incredulous expression, Padma rushed to my aid with a glass of water. The next two minutes, I was hapless with laughter. It was Dr. Murthy’s expression that was priceless. “Was he happy that he did not encounter any mosquitoes or unhappy that he could not use his expensive mosquito repellent cream?”. Even after eighteen years, his expression is vividly imprinted!

Bridge

Lunch done, we moved on to the five churches that are away from the main cluster. The first church in our post-lunch tour was Beit Gabriel Rafael built on a hillock. And the church was cut off and we had to use a recently constructed wooden bridge to reach it. 

How were the faithful visiting the church before the bridge was built?  No one knows! Knowing the dexterity and the athletic prowess of Ethiopians, I am sure that they would have clambered up and down the hillock slopes with solemn nonchalant, matter-of-fact expressions!  

Padma and Pranav

The Ethiopian calmness of looking at adversity in the eyes and prodding on and on staidly without complaining was a remarkable trait. I was always reminded of John Milton's poem, “On his Blindness “ where he says, “They also serve, who only stand and wait”. 

The church had a shallow pit and inside the pit was a wooden log. Daniel took us to the wooden pit and solemnly explained, “You see the pit, right! You need to lie next to it and with your left hand, you have to lift the heavy wooden log out of the pit without bending the elbow.  And you need to put it back again”.

Understanding our bored expressions, Daniel paused, dramatically, “I am not finished. You need to lift the wooden log without touching any surface and you need to put it back again. IF YOU CAN DO IT, YOU WILL BE GRANTED PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN HEAVEN! YOU WILL NOT HAVE A REBIRTH”. 

Me getting my Permanent Residency!

Once the words were uttered, the Indian contingent sprang into action. Talk of permanent residency (anywhere in the world or in heaven), we need to put our hat into the ring. All including me tried and, to our eternal happiness, we all succeeded! 

Padma Getting Hers!

So P.R (Permanent Residency) was granted to all of us. I am sure that many if not all would have touched the pit’s surface at least once, but the sporting priest and Daniel (the umpires) and the third umpires (our group) were vehement in their opinion that none of us had touched the surface. “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours”.  

Me, Pranav, Daniel our Guide and Jeevanandam Sir 

From that church to the next, Bet Mercurios, we had to pass through a 35 metre (105 foot) tunnel. The tunnel was pitch dark. Luckily we had torches. The tunnel had a musty smell. Pranav stumbled caught the tunnel wall and gave a howl of surprise and horror. He yelled, “Something touched me, something touched me”. Illuminated with the torch, the walls told their own story. The tunnel’s walls were covered by a fine wet moss and Pranav must have thought that someone touched his hand! 

Tunnel Entrance 

Looking on, Daniel remarked, “what is this, you should move fast. In earlier times horses were galloping in these tunnels!” Someone, maybe Kuldeep snorted, “running in the tunnel, they must have had tunnel vision!”. His skepticism was well placed. The tunnel was dark, narrow, and curved, how in the world could horses carrying men move, forget galloping in these tunnels? 

Me, Padma, Pranav, Anasuya Aunty, Sahithi, Tasleem, Jeevan Sir, Geeta madam, and Dr.T.N.Murthy

Finally, we visited Bet Abba Libanos, the church built by King Lalibela’s wife, Mesekel Kibre. It is supposed to be built in a day with the help of angels! All in all, it was a wonderful experience visiting the Lalibela churches, and luckily for us, the street urchins were kept away by alert security personnel.  

 Tired physically but, nourished spiritually we returned back to Hotel Helen. Sahithi who did not like the Lalibela church visits at all demanded chocolate compensation. Daniel’s brother went to the market and bought her chocolates and she was contented. Within a day Daniel and his family had become quite friendly. They invited us to their home (a part of the hotel itself) for buna (coffee ceremony). 

I showed the video recording of the churches on their colour television. They were thrilled. If it was now, I could have copied the MPEG and transferred it to them. But alas it was 2003 and the videocassette was analogue! 

Daniel’s family volunteered to cook rice for our journey. We still had Pulihora Pulusu (courtesy Geeta Madam). That would sustain us till we reach Bahirdar. 

Thus ended our trip. The next day we would be off, returning to Bahirdar. “What about our water ration” I enquired. “we are left with 2 litres of mineral water” snapped Padma. Eating humble pie, I went out and bought mineral water, before Lalibela shuts itself for the night. I am sure that the angels of Lalibela would come out and wander among the Lalibela churches. What a wonderful sight, it would be to catch them move about mystically! - 1017

109- Arriving at Lalibela, The Ethiopian Jerusalem

 

The night was approaching rapidly and it looked a long haul from Lalibela. The tour group was relaxed; everyone had double the room. 12 of us in a 22 seater bus. Each one of us enjoyed the view from the window seat (a childhood dream). 

The day quickly turned into night and with an almighty groan the bus broke down. It was around 6:30 p.m. The night was eerie and it was pitch dark. Without the backlight from other vehicles and surrounding towns, visibility was near zero. We all got down. The night air was pleasant.

 

We were surrounded by fireflies and almost pin-drop silence. Above us the night sky was spectacular. If our bus had not broken down and if it was a scheduled stop, we could have enjoyed the clarity and the brightness of the stars and the night sky.

 

We were worried, but Daniel was on the job. He and the driver were wrestling with the obstinate bus, which was refusing to start. After a lot of tinkering and back and forth in Amharic, the bus initially coughed like a TB patient and after kicking, grunting, and protesting, reluctantly sprang back to life.

 

The driver knew better. Praying to the almighty he stepped on the gas and took off at supersonic speed (40 Km/hour, for the driver and for the bus it was definitely supersonic). One hour later we saw the beckoning lights of Lalibela town. Finally, we were in the holiest of the holy lands. Lalibela nestles at a height of 2,430 metres! quite an altitude! 

 

Only people who worked in Ethiopia, understand the magnetic pull and aura of Lalibela. Often on my visits to Addis Ababa, the local residents would give me envious looks when they came to know that I resided in Bahirdar. Bahirdar, the quaint neatly laid-out city was the envy of all Ethiopians.

 

It had the biggest lake in the country, hosted the starting point of the mighty Nile river was the gateway to the famed Lake Tana Island monasteries (with some of them having the fame of having had the Ark of the Covenant, the ark that had housed the ten commandments).

 

It was also close to Gondar, the royal city, and to the Jerusalem of Ethiopia, Lalibela. It was thus a lucky posting for us and later when I said that I had visited Lalibela, my Ethiopian friends were delighted.

 

Considered to be the 8^th wonder of the world, Lalibela has some of the most spectacular rock-hewn monolithic (carved out of a single rock) churches in the world, dating back to the 13^th century. At a time when mechanization was not prevalent, it is still a puzzle as to how these churches were built.

 

It is not as if the churches are part of a mountain. All the churches stand apart from each other and the most famous of them all, the Church of Saint Georgia is the most intricate and shaped like a cross. Church Bete Medhane Alem is supposed to be the biggest rock-hewn church in the entire world.

 

If the churches were carved out of rocks and mountains, there should be small mountains of rocks and debris. But we don’t find any hillocks full of debris surrounding Lalibela churches. Where is the debris? No one knows. Ethiopians have a simple answer. The churches have been carved by the gods themselves. A religious belief that has to be respected.   

We were staying at Hotel Helen. It was a bungalow-style hotel with stairs and balconies. It was at best utilitarian but served our purpose.

 

I was tired but went out to experience Lalibela town. What struck me immediately was double storey mud buildings, unique to Lalibela. Most Ethiopian houses are humble structures and are single-storeyed. But I was witnessing double-storeyed houses made of mud and straw. They were not flimsy structures and were solidly built with an excellent staircase.

Walking around Lalibela was a surreal experience. All around us were people moving silently. For many of the visitors, it was a once in a life time experience and the double-storeyed building added to the intrigue and to the ambiance, it was as if we were transported back in time to rural Jerusalem (Lalibela is supposed to be the second Jerusalem and the river flowing through it is called Jordan river!).

 

We were in presence of holy men, chanting silent prayers and counting the prayers on small chains, and holding Ethiopian cross. The Ethiopian cross itself is different from the traditional cross that we are familiar with. Bringing me back to my senses were the Ethiopian Micro-Entrepreneurs – the street urchins.

These street salesmen were peddling different wares. They were selling Ethiopian crosses (quite cheap, 10 Birr, exquisitely carved). “Brass, Brass” they would yell. I bought four of them. The street sellers were also selling coins and currency at a very cheap price.

 

The coins were pennies, cents, and the currency was dollars, Euros, and even rupees. Out of curiosity, I enquired the price of a ten-rupee note, a US Dollar and a Euro. The rate was approximately 1.5 times the official exchange rate. For example, the ten-rupee note was for 3/- birr (officially we could get 2 birr for 10 rupees).

 

“Why are the kids selling them at such a cheap price”, I wondered. Then it dawned upon me. The street sellers were pooling in all the money that was given to them as alms by the foreign tourists and exchanging them for birr. They devised a local money exchange system and it was working perfectly well.

 

Back at Hotel Helen the kitchen army (the ladies of the group) had taken over. They prepared an Indian meal, chapattis, rice, Sambhar and Potato curry and we had a nice hot Indian meal. The day had tired all of us and most were nodding off to sleep by the time they finished their dinner. The hotel kitchen staff hopefully would have benefited from watching us prepare an Indian meal. But it was doubtful whether they could prepare it by themselves.

 

They lacked the most basic equipment, the chapatti rolling pin and the magic masalas that the Indians use. Sangam, the famous Indian restaurant in Addis Ababa is run by Indians and not by Ethiopians. At best hotels in Bahirdar could rustle up watery rice and a basic form of tomato curry but would take inordinate time in preparing them.

 

Hotel Helen embraced us in her broad bosom and tired as we were, we simply crashed and slept!  

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