After parting (for now) with our new Belgian friends, we got up at 6am after a great night sleep in a roach infested room. At least the bathrooms were clean! The first thing I saw waking up was a giant roach next to Dani's head, on the inside of the mossie net. Some good that thing did! We are breakfast at the "cloud 9 cafe," 2 egg omlette sandwiches and more tea. Called the hustler who set us up with the minibus and he showed up at 8. Really uneventful ride. I saw my first farmer with an Obama shirt on! Apparently, as I would later find out, this is quite common in this part of Africa. After being here almost 2 weeks I cant go a day without seeing Obama shirts, posters, eating at an Obama cafe, or playing at the Obama pool house. I can only imagine what it will be like in Kenya! On the way we also saw 2 rural funeral processions, a very different affair from what I am used to in America or Israel. Just a body carried on a wooden stretcher. There wasnt any crying or anything, it was very different from what I have seen previously. Hard to explain I guess.
Our fellow passengers in the car included but were in no way limited to: about 50 chickens, a guy with a kalatchnikov rifle, and several randoms who stared at us for the entire trip like aliens. :) At least they didnt take pictures!
We got off at Gonder, where the minibus was supposed to take an hour break for lunch and to reload to head further north to debark. SCAM! The minibus never came back to get us, and we lost the money we paid him in advance. It was only a loss of about 10 dollars, and probably a cheap way to learn an important lesson. We should have given him 40 birr, the price to get to Gondar, and only once continuing to Debark the remaining 60 birr. Of course he would have not gone for this, as there is no minibus service to Debark. We didnt know this until 2 local boys laughed at us when we told him our plans, and they informed us we had been scammed. So we had to spend a night in Gondar. We started out very upset, and it changes how you act towards the people. We felt we could not trust anyone anymore, and the feeling has lasted quite a bit. We saw around waiting and calling the guy who ripped us off, and of course he pleaded innocent. We found a really nice hotel (albeit expensive) and crashed for a few hours seeping in our naitivity. Spelling? Oh well. I met a nice guy traveling alone from New Zealand, showered, did some laundry, and decided to walk around the city with my didge. It always cheers me up and makes for a great conversation starter. Works every time! Everyone in the town loved the sounds they had never heard before. We went to a local joint and ate some injera while Dani called the minibus guy one last time. She scared him pretty good (telling him we had the bus number and will go to the police) but there is no way we will get the money back. Walking around the market for a bit and drinking mango juice picked up our spirits and we met two nice lady volunteers for the Kindu Trust Organization. They are looking for volunteers to make home visits, something we will check out later. Dani and I each bought an ethiopian colorful blanket for 125 birr, usefull for everything from a pillow to a blanket to a seat cusion on those long rides. Everyone laughs at us when we wear them, because we look like Ethiopian farmers. That and the didge make for a great little getup!
We checked out the internet situation but every place was expensive and painfully slow, so we soon gave up on that. We sent letters to Brit Olam that we will most likely not be volunteering with them, a decision we each made independantly in light of ever changing travel plans. Currently the plan is to leave the town at 5am to Debark and wait there one day to arrange the trek in the national park, then meet our Belgian friends and travel with them.
Back at the hotel Dani tries on the dresses she bought today and realizes they are way too small. We will try to get them tailored, but she was pretty upset.
How can any of this be interesting to people? I am almost getting bored writing about what I have been doing! Oh well. I guess it will be nice to read when I finish my trip eh? Ok well I am going to get some food before calling the Kenyan Embassy and updating more on this journal later. PEACE
