Ethiopia 2011 Lalibela Gondar Bahir Dar Travel Enchanting Ethiopia was my last trip of 2011, well… that is of course not including Christmas with my folks in Abu Dhabi. With a week off work for the fall semester break in November, I had originally planned to take myself and my family back to the country of my upbringing, Oman. However, after realizing that the break also fell on the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday, and given the travelling rush within the country and subsequent erratic business hours coinciding with the holidays, we decided to put that trip on hold until the spring 2012 break. With only two weeks before the vacation, I took a quick look at Expedia and realized that a flight from Doha to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - the next country on my must-go-there list was only $300 via Bahrain on Gulf Air, I was soon on my way! I had my reservations about going to such a large country for such a short time. Distances are long, transportation slow and unreliable, and several of my most desirable destinations were simply out of reach given the timeframe. Amongst these miss-outs were the historic city of Aksum, home Sheba's mysteries and the Ark of the Covenant, and the rock-monasteries of Tigray to the north. To the south, the exotically lip-plated Mursi tribe of the Lower Omo Valley was another intrigue of mine which I simply did not have time for. Therefore, I decided to concentrate on the classic historic north-west route. The plan was to fly into Addis Ababa for the night, but immediately head up north the next morning to the historic town of Lalibela, wander through the rock-hewn churches and mountain monasteries for a couple of days, before heading west to Gondar. Not a fictional kingdom from a J.R.R. Tolkein novel, but the former capital of the Solomonic Dynasty under Emperor Fasilides, my original plan was to see the Fasil Ghebbi Castle in Gondar, before doing some trekking in the mesmerizing nearby Simien Mountains National Park. It turned out that there wasn't really ample time for the latter although I did manage to catch a glimpse of the mountain range from the Kosoye lookout point. The final stop of the trip was the lakeside getaway of Bahir Dar. Located on the southern coast of Lake Tana, Bahir Dar is the best place to arrange a boat trip to the lake's numerous monasteries. Another nearby attraction is the once-glorious Blue Nile Falls, or Tis Isat, as the locals like to call it. I wound up having to take 3 domestic flights on Ethiopian Airline, costing me almost the same amount of money getting around in Ethiopia as it did to get to Ethiopia. However, there really wasn't much choice given the conditions of the roads. I've divided the photos of the trip into three sets. The first page contains shots of Lalibela and some of the nearby monastery walks I did. The next set represents Gondar and the Simien Mountains, while the final page is devoted to Bahir Dar, the Lake Tana Monasteries, the Blue Nile Falls, and my final day in Addis Ababa. Lalibela Gondar Bahir Dar Travel Email: glennaldo_sf@hotmail.com Sign Guestbook View Guestbook