Out of Africa (Part 4/7) - Ethiopia - Gondar & The Simien Mountains
Updated: Mar 31, 2019
To Gondar - rare travel comfort
Arriving in Gondar by bus from Bahir Dar is a relatively straightforward task, in comparison to the majority of journeys you need to do by road to get around the historical loop in Ethiopia. Three hours along a straight, and for the most part tarmacked, road by minibus at any time of day you choose. Ideally, this would be the case travelling around the rest of the country too, in which case it would be a travellers' dream instead of the almighty slog and problem-fraught nightmare that it actually is. Gondar is a historical city; founded by King Fasiladas in the 17th century due to its favourable geographical position, laying at a trading crossroads and surrounded by fertile land, it flourished for over a century as Ethiopia's capital before political infighting weakened it severely and the Gondar kingdom fell. Although my trusty Lonely Planet said promisingly, "By the end of the 17th Century, Gondar boasted several magnificent palaces, and was the site of extravagent court pageantry, attracting visitors from around the world.. it's thriving market even drawing Muslim merchants from across the country," when you compare Gondar today with what it undoubtedly used to be, it comes as a bit of a disappointment. The town itself is rather shabby and run-down, and by night its loud bars and clubs are the inevitable home to countless hookers plying their trade. The historical monuments that remain in Gondar are however some of Ethiopia's (and Africa's) best preserved and most impressive, and an afternoon wandering among the shadows of 'Africa's Camelot' is a most enjoyable experience. The lack of tourists at such an important and impressive historical site is a major advantage, as is the lack of touts and guides bothering what few tourists do go there. Highly recommended, and deservedly declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979.
A visit to King Fasilada's bath, 2km south of the town centre and easily accessible by rickshaw, is also well worth doing. The site is also quite deserted, and highly atmospheric; a peaceful spot shaded by ancient trees which envelop the place with their serpentine roots, the huge and now empty bath, several metres deep, serves to remind you of the extravagance of the defunct Ethiopian royalty, and contrasts sharply with the poverty that surrounds you as a traveller today. It's quite difficult to reconcile these two facts at times whilst travelling in Ethiopia; quite how such an important and powerful kingdom could descend into the chaotic shambles that is today's reality is hard to fathom, though not unique. Ethiopia today boasts more historical points of interest than any other sub-Saharan African country as a result of this proud history, and perhaps is behind only Egypt in Africa as whole when it comes to historical tourist potential.
Simien Logistics
One hassle you do have to deal with in Gondar are travel agency workers and touts selling trips to the Simien Mountains, which lie about 100km to the north of the city. They sidle up to you on the street all the time, annoyingly trying to get you involved in one of their (expensive) organised trips, knowing that the vast majority of tourists who make it as far as Gondar will continue up to the mountains. Because of the fact of their inaccessibility and that most visitors don't have the right equipment, clothing, food etc - never mind knowledge of the area or maps, tourists are a bit snookered in Gondar, and are forced to simply choose the best deal offered to them. Most organized tours cost in the region of $50-100 a day per person, including food and accommodation. We bravely (or foolishly) decided to stick to our principles and go down the budget route, and attempted to do it all without being part of an organised trip. By now I had joined up with four other people - three guys and a French girl. After a lot of discussion, one of the guys and the girl decided to drop out and we were down to three. My new friends Harry and James, the former a broke and out of work politics graduate, constantly borrowing money and with a habit of using the word 'trust' to assure you that he will in fact have money at some point; the latter an Aussie guy who looked like a surfer dude but was actually a smart young doctor doing a round-the-world trip, were equally determined to keep costs down, and it took an evening of skillful negotiation to organize a mini-bus driver to take us up to Debark - the gateway to the Simiens and the place where we could organize all the equipment.
It cost us only $12 each. Our bus, which inevitably left our hotel at 5am the following morning, took us through some bumpy but periodically stunning scenery to Debark, arriving about four hours later. We got our stuff sorted out in Debark surprisingly quickly - tents, stove, cooking equipment, sleeping bags, two mules and their drivers, a (gun-wielding) scout to lead us and maps - and we went to the park admin office to pay for the rather steep park entrance fees ($20 each). The gun, I hoped, was more for show than necessity, but bandits and bears are not unknown in the region so we felt safer with it. We managed to do all this for about $100 each for the three days - less than a third of the tour prices, but with admittedly less frills. We were to do a three day trek which took in the best the Simiens has to offer, staying in the little villages of Geech and Chenek, starting at a place called Sankober. Ample food and drink had been procured, including a bottle of whiskey and one of 'Tej' - potent honey wine; the temperatures at night were known to drop to near zero up there, and we knew we'd need something to fortify us against the cold.
Hiking the Simiens
We reached the starting point for our hike, Sankober, about an hour later after a bumpy ride up a steep track, and set off shortly after, the mules having been loaded with difficulty (they objected to the weight initially and stroppily threw all our stuff on the ground), and we were off into the wilds of the mountains in beautiful sunny conditions. The rainy season had finished by this time, and we had enjoyed several days of pleasant sunshine and heat, a stark contrast to the constant gloom and rain in Addis for the previous month or so. Within a few minutes, we had reached the edge of a spectacular cliff with precipitous drops below our feet, and we followed the edge of this for a couple of kilometres, taking in some great views, including a waterfall which cascaded down the sheer rock face for several hundred metres. The walk continued to be stunning for the rest of the afternoon, and although tiring due to the altitiude (we were at something like 2500-3500 metres), it was never exhausting, being more of a cross-country trek than an uphill hike. still it was up and down, and when we arrived at our camp about five hours later, I was thoroughly knackered.
The campsite at Geech was on the top of an exposed hillside, and lacked all but the most basic of amenities, so we just had to make do. Our scout, somewhat taciturn, and not a speaker of English anyway, laid down his knapsack and went into a hut to get sustenance, while we were forced to set up camp and cook our basic food (rice and pasta with tinned tomatoes) in the rather draughty gazebo outside. James and particularly Harry were much more adept at setting up the tent than I was, so I settled down to a drink. Or at least I tried - when I reached into the sack to find the whiskey, I found only a dribble lying in the bottom of the bottle. it had been broken when the mules bucked our load off their backs. B*****s. Still, there was always the Tej. I went to open the bottle, but no sooner had I started uncorking it, the top flew off into the air, champagne-bottle style. It had been shaken up and the gases in it had forced it off. Unfortunately, most of the contents of the bottle also escaped with the top..not a good start to the evening. As the sun set, the wind picked up, and I donned as many layers as I could find, which weren't enough. My thick fleece was only just adequate against the co