Ethiopia - Lowlands

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Tue 9 Dec
All aboard the Gonder bus, early morning Gorgora, Ethiopia Caught the early bus towards Gonder, an historic town I have visited thrice before. On the outskirts I switched to a shared taxi heading towards the Sudan border. By 1130 I reached a town about midway with the promise of an onward bus ride at noon. In fact we pulled away an hour later but at least I was on the move. I had been so concerned with the route and connections that I was quite taken by surprise at the spectacular scenery as we left the Ethiopian highlands and meandered down the dramatic escarpment to the dusty hot lowlands that would soon be Sudan.

The road to Shehedi, Ethiopia The bus stopped around 1700 at Shehedi and I was led to the "best hotel" in town. It had a central courtyard with chairs and tables where people were enjoying a beer in the late afternoon sun. A helpful chap told me they were full but insisted I sat and joined him and his mates for a drink. We exchanged stories and I gathered that as well as being an afternoon beer drinker he was also a Muslim and a bus driver. After a while a room apparently became available. I quickly moved my bags inside and returned to the beers. Then I caught wind that the room had been promised to someone else so I quickly found my padlock and locked it, much to the amusement and approval of my drinking partners.


Ethiopia - Lowlands

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