It's been an up-and-down few weeks, during which we have had many experiences and met many people. Most important of all these was Giorgio, an enthusiastic, talkative, friendly guy, invariably dressed in baggy gangsta jeans. He worked as a drummer in a local nightclub, which he invited us to one evening and where some of our group made fools of themselves in wonderful (and photographed) style.
Giorgio (right). Giorgio's friend (left).Who let the Qat out of the bag?
One of the days that we bumped into Giorgio was a Sunday, his only day off work. This could mean only one thing - it's qat day! Qat is some kind of stimulant grown in the hills of Ethiopia and Kenya and exported to Somalia and Djibouti where it is responsible for enormous economic damage as men sit and chew the leaf all afternoon instead of working. Ethiopia seems less badly affected but people still like to have a good munch of the stuff. We partook in this activity just when we were starting to feel slightly ill ("It will make you better, I am sure of it!") and decided that it was a make-or-break day. Either we'd get better or we'd go downhill. As I crawled back to the Belegez feeling rough and my mouth covered in ulcers, it became clear that, at least for me, it was break rather than make.
Qat itself tastes slightly bitter and doesn't really have much of an effect at the beginning. It comes in bags (of 50 grams, in our case) and you rip the leaves off the stalks and mash them up with your teeth. Eventually the leaf disintegrates to become small pieces of leaf and juice - the juice is swallowed and the small pieces of leaf remain stuck between your teeth where they become irritating enough that you take another leaf or 3. Eventually, you end up in a state of slight euphoria and total concentration with enormous pupils and a total inability to sleep. This concentration led M to read about Ethiopia's endemic birds throughout the night (a subject she had no previous interest in) and me to repeatedly play a game of golf on my mobile (which I normally have very little patience for). For the next 4 days, ulcers in my mouth made it painful to eat anything at all, and M's flu symptoms got worse.
Would I do it again? Probably. Would I have 3 bags of the stuff next time? Probably not.
The Debark Adventure
Day 70 saw a sense of renewed optimism and energy. We had bumped into Canadian Cole, an uncanny George Michael lookalike and Swedish Amanda, an uncannily typical-looking Swede. They had met in Nairobi and bickered at each other ever since. They seemed to enjoy each other's company though, and we enjoyed theirs as we went around Gonder's "Royal Enclosure" from its days as Ethiopia's capital, and the Debre Berhan Selassie church which was impressively decorated, but full of European tourists toting zoom lenses the size of small rocket launchers. Finally, beers were taken at the Goha Hotel terrace, on a hill above Gonder. Thus was formed the Simien Mountains 4-day-trek team!
The "Commanding View of the City" from Goha Hotel
We stocked up on supplies, got each other out of bed at 7am and trekked off to Gonder bus station and hit the road for the 100km (6 hours) ride to Debark along a road/path which was made largely of dust and potholes. That same evening, the trek was arranged - park fees were paid, tents were rented, we met our scout (who is compulsory in the park and wanders around holding a large gun in case something untoward were to happen) and went to eat. Cole and I had some beers later in the evening and we arranged to wake up again at 6am, ready to get going early.
M's bugs, however, were having none of this and she wasn't up for any trekking. Rather than stay in Debark where the altitude makes it pretty cold, I dragged her into a truck and we returned Gonder and to the Belegez. This little adventure cost us 800 birr, a phone (which disappeared somewhere) and a pashmina (which was left in the hotel). Pretty good going, even by our high standards!
What next?
Gonder is nice enough - an old-looking town with an attractive setting - but we've seen a lot of it and we're just waiting for an improvement in the health situation before we head off. For a reason that, again, I haven't managed to work out, M got a 2 month visa for Ethiopia while I only got one month and this means that we have to be in Addis Ababa this weekend for me to get it extended. After that we've rehashed our plans to go to Djibouti and Somaliland, hopefully in a more active state.
Fancy some Egg Bread Craps in your Meat Louf?
Ah, Special Roosted Decide Meat!! My favourite!
They really ARE everywhere...
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