There is always an adventure to be had when you cycle tour especially in such a diverse country and the unknown factor means you rarely have a boring day. Overall you either win or lose despite having elements of both throughout the day. I've managed to win most days in my eyes but when I woke up today I felt a lose was on the cards, thankfully I was wrong.
The day started well with two omelette sandwiches and I took a few photos of the hotel family but I seriously wasn't looking forward to the ride despite being rested, hydrated and with a full belly.
The first thing to mention is the landscape. Ethiopia certainly doesn't disappoint when in comes to Kodak moments and I was pleasantly surprised to see the road meander around the hills instead of attacking them head on. The plateau of fields and villages that is surrounded by hills I like something from Jurassic Park. If I changed the cattle to brontosaurus', goats to stegosaurus' and kids to velociraptors then I would be cycling trough another world because that's exactly how it felt.
There was a slight headwind which made it a little harder cycling but took the edge of the heat so on a whole the day was very good. The kids were as always out in force and around 80% of them begged. I tried to vary my responses to see which one worked best but there is no correct way. I didn't find a stick, I'm pretty sure that will only antagonise them, it just depends on the type of child and its quite interesting to see how the manners differ from village to village.
I also found it quite bizarre as I cycled past students and adults studying Quantity Surveying and only metres past them was begged at by farming infants. The social, educational and economic gap is quite extraordinary and its hard to understand how a country can be in such a situation but I guess it's no different to the ridiculous numbers of homeless people we have in London. This is why I'm pleased to be raising money for not just kick for life but for the Saints foundation as well.
I got chased a few times today, they always get me on the upslope! I was pushing into a headwind at the time and the kind hellos soon changed to begging for money. I outpaced them still due to the fact they were wearing sandals/flip flops and we all know that sandals are the worst to run in (alongside slippers.) When the begging changed from money to water that really struck a chord with me. It was only a few days ago I was begging for water and as I looked down at Nigel who was laden with 3 litres I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. If I can make 4 litres last 3 days in the desert I can do 60miles today.
The next group of lads came just after the first and this time I stopped to give them a litre. It stopped them chasing me but didn't stop them asking for money and the shirt off my back. I don't mind the begging but the chasing is annoying. It normally starts as a hello, then begging, then chasing, then stone throwing. I had a good day today though and all possible stone throws were halted by constant shoulder checks.
I decided to stop fairly early at 11. This turned out to be a quality decision and not only did have another good bath mat-curry combination but I had a great chat with the locals and I found myself in a town only 30km from my initial proposed stop and 60km from my more desired stop. Not only were the locals a good laugh but they were very knowledgeable on distances and terrain which has not been a constant factor with the locals throughout pretty much every African country!
They told me that I only had a few up and downs to get to my first stop Adis Zemen and then after that it was flat until Woreta. If this was true, and I could stop in Woreta, then I would have a nice leisurely 40 miles to get to Bahir Dar tomorrow.
I felt really strong today, its always a good idea to eat food before a big mountain ride and the rest had obviously done me good. There was one climb that was quite tough but I pushed quickly up it and even rejected a kind offer of a lift. When I reached the top I knew it was all downhill from there. I could see lake Tana and the whole world seemed to open in front of me. "This is why you cycle tour" I said and then I let out a huge African-esque "whoooooop." (More specifically it was identical to Rafiki's whoop when he finds out Simba is still alive for all those Lion King fans out there)
I could feel the adrenaline start to bubble through my veins as I started the descent towards the lake. On a big descent in Africa it's surprisingly not potholes you have to be wary of, its livestock. I came very close today to writing off a donkey or more accurately looking like an ass! Luckily donkeys aren't too sporadic and when they are heavily laden as most of them are, the last thing they want to do is change direction quickly so I managed to swerve in between two of them at the last minute.
I still had around 30km of flat land after the descent but my momentum carried me across the farmland through lots of different villages pretty quickly. The villages reminded me of wooden climbing frames that you find in English country parks. They all just seemed like recreation areas and throughout the whole day today I was treated to some fascinating little towns with lots of different types of buildings made from an array of natural materials.
As I got closer to Woreta I thought my day was too good to be true and I started to hear what sounded like the cracking of thrown rocks on the road behind me. I was wrong, it was just the sound of a whip cracking on a cows back so my day (unlike the cow's) continued to be pretty much faultless.
I arrived in Woreta at around 3pm and it took me five minutes to find a hotel and check in. The Paradise hotel stood out on the main street as a place to be seen for anybody who's anybody. I was expecting a high price and a poor room but what I got was a better room than in Gondar for a wallet busting £3 a night! Not only that but the TV in the room was already set on the football and I had lights that worked, a tap that ran, water that was hot and a mosquito net!
Something had to go wrong, things were just too perfect. Well a few miles before I arrived in Woreta I noticed the rear wheel wobbling and thought it must've been a loose spoke as I couldn't hear any noise. It just so happened that I had a broken spoke but I took my time whilst watching the footy to get it changed in my room and it took me a cool 20 minutes to get it changed. Adjusting the wheel took a little longer and it still doesn't rotate perfectly so I hope it will be ok. Nigel has been simply amazing since the last broken spoke which I cannot even remember what country that occurred in. I do pray this is just a one off though and my attempt at adjusting the spokes doesn't cause a knock on effect for more broken spokes tomorrow or in the near future.
I had dinner in the hotel cafe and I have to say that the Ethiopians know how to make a good curry! The only down side is that its vegetarian but my two boiled eggs in my special injera gave me the protein I was lacking. I had extra chips which they must have left in the fryer till the oil ran out but luckily I'm a lover of scraps. In total, I worked out today that I had bought technically 4 main meals with a side of chips, 4 litres of water, 3 fantas and a night in "paradise" all for just over £8. Not bad ay?
A really good day today and I'm set up perfectly for another tomorrow providing my bike handy work doesn't self destruct!
Lake Tana looked beautiful from a distance today, hopefully its just as good close up!
P.S If you're still thinking about the whipped cow then please don't be upset. I'm sure to them, it just felt like a wee tickle or even a massage. It's when it rains when you should be upset, real leather gets destroyed in the rain!
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