Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Thurs 23 Jan 2014 (15 Tir 2006) Bahir Dar Merkato
Thurs 23 Jan 2014 (15 Tir 2006) Bahir Dar Merkato
We were in no particular rush to get going. The electricity did not fail us this morning.
In the middle of the night, Mike had awakened choking, and decided that he had some kind of allergic reaction to the chemicals in the bed net. He spent the rest of the night sleeping outside the bed net.
This time at breakfast there is a grain dish to go along with the eggs. There is also a green juice, which turned out to be avocado. Very thick, very tasty.
A little after 9:45 AM, we wander off toward the market. We pass concrete houses sided with mud and wattle. We also pass a substantial chair making business right on the sidewalk. We pass shoppers selecting flat, mostly metal plates used in cooking injera over a fire. We enter into the market proper. We pass large bags of spices and grains.
About this time, we started talking with a young man named Zeleke (late teens?) who said he wanted to practice his English. We said we didn't need a guide. He said he didn't want money. He turned out to be a wealth of information. He told us the names and uses of all kinds of food items.
With Zeleke's help, we got to sniff lots of spices. One of the spices was "temer" in Amharic. Spread on a tarp were the barley and hops used in making beer. We got to try the fresh chunky raw? honey used at breakfast. Yellow split peas for sale came from the US. We photograph a bag with "USAID" on it.
We turn a corner, and see a large, enclosed, outdoor area where woven plastic mattresses were being assembled and stuffed with dried grasses. Zeleke said that these these are the kind of mattresses sold to rural people. A store next door had the more substantial foam mattresses sold to city people.
As we turned the next corner, there was a small restaurant. This place turned out to be a juice cafe. We saw lots of fruit, and patrons enjoying glasses containing layers of three different colors. We both wanted to try this type of juice treat. We wanted to buy one for Zeleke, but he was firm that he wanted nothing more than a Coke.
While we waited for our drinks to be prepared, we talked about the different fruits used in advertising posters. He didn't know peaches, starfruit, kiwis. It was hard to explain even what a peach was. In Ethiopia, peaches, which require a good freeze to blossom, seem to be totally unknown.
Our drinks finally arrived: layers of avocado and mango for Carol, just avocado for Mike. You get lime slices to squeeze into the juice, which you then stir (or not). The mixed juice drink is called "spress." It takes many fruit to prepare a single glass. Thus the going price is 13-14 birr (75 - 80 cents).
We then passed a vendor selling clay utensils for coffee making. Zeleke insists that we go to an aisle where old truck tires and auto tires were being converted into useful items: an ingenious double sided water canteen to drape over your donkey's back, serving pots, shoes, etc. These tires would be a real recycling problem in the US.
An area with jewelry. Mike buys a tiny, abstract silver Gonder cross pendant for 30 birr. No Jewish stuff here at all. (Should the jewelry we purchased in Addis fall more into this price range?)
Also for sale are bags of salt mined from the Danakil Depression, with small flaky crystals.
As we go by the clothing making area with men and women working old sewing machines, Carol wonders aloud whether she could get her umbrella repaired. Zeleke directs us to a further part in the market. Lo and behold, two guys are busy disassembling and re-assembling umbrellas. The main umbrella "surgeon" scrutinizes the problem, and says it can be fixed for 50 birr ($2.60). Carol wonders if he would take this umbrella as a partial trade-in for another. By this time several jocular boys have come around, including one wearing an Israeli IDF shirt. Carol asks him if he knows what that shirt means. He responds, if we want it, we can take his photo for 1000 birr.
In the meantime, the various spokes of the umbrella are being sewn together, good as new. Zeleke begins to open up about himself. He comes from the village of Tis Abay, which we passed on the way to the Blue Nile Falls. He had wanted to study agricultural science, but it hadn't worked out, and here he was in Bahir Dar. We began to think that this was an introduction to a sob story, but it wasn't.
We had seen enough of the Merkato, and mentioned that we wanted to see a nearby mosque and Bahir Dar University. We had been together for about an hour and three quarters. We exchanged contact info and departed. We wished Zeleke luck. We would have loved to given him something.
At the mosque, men were sent in one direction and women in another. Carol was sent for ablutions, which gave her access to two toilet facilities. They allowed Mike to walk in and take pictures, and disappointed when we didn't stay for the noon prayer in about 45 minutes. The mosque was a very modern structure, and rather plain.
Down the street was a nice looking cafe that had a lot of patrons. We ordered spaghetti with vegetables and spaghetti with tomato sauce. The spaghetti with vegetables was colorful with carrots, cabbage, onions, and lots of garlic. The spaghetti with tomato sauce was a bit spicy. There was a nice juice bar next door, but we had eaten enough for now.
After lunch, we talked to a TopTop (also known as a bajaj or Tuktuk) driver, and determined that most of these vehicles were battery powered by car-size batteries (no gas). They have 3 wheels, one in front, and two in back. The driver is in front, with room for 2 to 3 in back, and space for a little baggage. The driver has a single seat. AT any rate, there did not seem to be much air pollution in Bahir Dar. We were told several days later that these small electric vehicles cost $5000 US each.
We spent the rest of a frustrating afternoon trying to post our blog.
At 4 PM we gave up. As we walked back to the hotel, we stopped at the church at the main traffic circle. The church itself was locked, but there were still many people at the gate, praying and genuflecting. Some were prostrating themselves at the doorways. We peeked in through the windows to try to view the murals.
We still need to inquire at the bus station about buses to Gonder the next day. Walking toward the bus station, we saw numerous pharmacies. The pharmacy symbol is the caduceus. However, the pharmacy symbol here includes a single snake entwined around the stem of a cup, instead of a staff. Each symbol is a little different, but they all follow a pattern.
We get to the bus terminal, and were told that the only bus to Gonder leaves at 6 AM, but that minibuses left throughout the day. The price was 70 birr.
We decided to try the internet again, with the same disappointing results.
Walking back, we passed a Starbacks Coffee and Restaurant (no relation, of course).
We had thought of going to a wine bar, but found out that the locally produced varieties were not as varied as we wanted. So to dinner at Wawi Pizzeria, recommended by the people at the hotel and mentioned in Bradt. We each had a peanut tuna, sort of bland, about the thickness of hot coffee. Add sugar, and what you get tastes rather like peanuts, and is a change from caffeinated beverages.
The pizza was just plain different from what we expected. It was called Al Tuna. It contained small chunks of tuna in addition to cheese, chopped tomato, and other usual vegetables. It was less oily than a typical US pizza, but the crust was not baked as crisp as we expect in the States. Verdict: OK, but not quite right.
Here we also saw the waiters delivering HUGE sandwiches to other tables.
Though we were stuffed, there a juice bar acress the street, and it was time for our next two avocado juices. We feared that we would never see juices like these once we left Bahir Dar. These kind of juices are a great substitute for conventional desserts. It was great to do a little people watching and see couples of different ages and friends having a good time.
We have really enjoyed the easy vibe of Behir Dar. Lee Samuel, you are correct.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
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