(^18) Debra Markos – Finote Selam – 85 km
From Debra Markos, an undulating road ran 85 kilometres to Finote
Selam where a room with a piping hot shower at 30Birr ($1.13)
became home that night. Vegetables were hard to get hold of; maybe
November was the wrong time of year to buy vegetables. But, at
least, the market offered plenty of bananas and oranges.
I found Ethiopia more interesting than ever; not only is it Africa's
oldest independent country but a country that had never been
colonised, apart from a five-year stint by Mussolini. Amharic,
Ethiopia's official language, is equally fascinating and is written using
an abugida, or syllable alphabet, based on the Ge'ez script.
Unfortunately, there’s no formal method of translating Amharic
writing into Roman or Latin characters and thus the reason for the
variety in the spelling of town names.
Finote Salam – Dangla (Dangila) – 99 km
From Finote Salam to Dangla was a pleasant and comfortable 100
kilometres accompanied by the usual, "Where you go?" from kids,
before demanding money, clothing and even the bicycle at times.
We finished the day's ride in Dangla. Though a tiny village with a
mere 25,000 inhabitants, the town had a long history. The city was
said to be the centre of the African slave trade route around 1930
when the British maintained a consulate in town.
Supper was firfir, my favourite food, being injera fried in butter
smothered in a hot sauce. By the time I went to bed, I knew the meal
was a mistake.
leana
(Leana)
#1