7. - 4 JAN: Mek'ele to Adigrat

Another early start from the hotel, with a new structure being built just at its side. Cane scaffolding hides what is probably a new annex, this bustling city, the largest in Northern Ethiopia, is obviously growing fast and attracting international business.

As we head out of town the sun rises over the brand new road that winds up the ambas. La strada degli italiani has already been re-done here, by the Chinese! We stop at a lively roadside market. Plenty of vegetables and live animals are on sale as well as lots of salt. I get the impression of a thriving economic life. I am invited by some young kids to play pool in a brick building. They are playing the 5-pin "Italian" game and have a jolly good time! As I leave before I have time to finish a game, I buy some tasty roasted peanuts from a kid by the road.

After a while we stop at Abraha Atsbeha church, with its magnificent frescoes. A very serene place. A young priest is rather cooperative and poses for me in different locations, holding various items of religious paraphernalia in his hands. Impressive paintings have been restored, sometimes a bit haphazardly.

As we leave we pass by one of many farms along the road, with two sets of four cows threshing barley in a circle. It's a sunny, dry and pleasant afternoon.

A few kilometers down the road to Adigrat we stop at a roadside elementary school by the town of Wukro. Like much of what We have encountered in this trip, the school is fairly poor but organized in its own way and rather clean. It actually looks smart.  On the outside walls some graffiti explain the human body. Another, rather funny one, shows the various phases of a worm's metamorphosis into a butterfly. Inside, pupils, much like pupils everywhere, take turns at the blackboard as the teacher asks her questions. Copybooks are full of notes and drawings. Some classes are singing and one actually greets me in English, with all students chanting "hello how are you?" in unison.

In the evening, just before sunset, we stop at a roadside cafe for a drink. The low sun disk projects on the sleek road tarmac the long warm long shadows of adolescent students walking home after school. Inside, no Ethiopian coffee ceremony today, but an Italian espresso machine.

6. - 3 JAN: Lalibela to Mek'ele

Yet again up before dawn, this has become a habit in this trip. For one, early morning is the best light for photography and is this group we are all photographers. Also, distances are quite long every day, and this being Africa it is always wise to allow plenty of spare time.

5. - 2 JAN: Lalibela

Get up very early to try and get to the monolithic Lalibela churches and find room to witness the orthodox Christian ceremonies. Our hotel is a bit far from the center, so we had agreed with the guide to tell the driver to be ready at 5. Mistake: should have told the driver directly. As it was, there was miscommunication between the two and by 5:30am we start walking. It takes about half an hour to get to the main churches. The cool morning air makes walking rather pleasant and we join thousands of pilgrims who are also on their way. It is still pitch dark.

By the time we get there the small spaces inside the Churches are already overflowing with the faithful praying and singing. Most of THEM can't make it inside, so I guess it is only fair that we, visitors, should stay out. No sweat, this is not really a problem, for two reasons. Anyway, many of the functions actually take place outside, in the courtyards around the churches, so we are not missing all the action. In fact come noon most of the action is outside, with musicians and drummers attracting the pilgrims attention in the open spaces by the churches.

4. - 1 January 2010: Dessie to Lalibela

Early start up the mountain on our way to Beta Estifanos monastery. On the way we stop at a few stunning view points. Some wrecks of tanks from the recent civil wars litter the side of the road.Some ladies in colorful clothes climb up the slope going somewhere, could not be a starker contrast with the massive rusty hulk pointing its gun barrel to the sky.

3. - 31 DEC: Addis Abeba to Dessie

Early start from Addis and we hit the road with our van. The road out of the city is in pretty good shape, brand new asphalt just built by the Chinese in exchange for concessione to extract raw materials. I can see some Chinese team leaders directing the work of Ethiopian workers at several road contruction sites. Looks like this is the first time since the Italian occupation someone is doing something to the roads.

2. - 30 DEC: Arrival in Addis Ababa

We land on time at the impressive airport of Addis Abeba (the New Flower) and our first worry is to buy a visa. There is a pretty disciplined line at the visa office and we get processed pretty efficiently. Once out of the airport our bus takes us to our hotel. Check-in and off we go to explore the city!

1. - 29 DEC 2009: flight from Rome to Addis Ababa, start of trip to Ethiopia

I meet my travel companions in Rome, at Fiumicino airport. People who come from different parts of the country, different backgrounds, different expectations. We are going to experience Ethiopia together over the next few weeks...The group leader is Stefano, a professional photographer, a colleague tour leader. It is going to be my first "serious" trip with a digital SRL, and this is a "photo tour" I am a bit uneasy at the thought of having no film with me for the first time, let's see if I can learn something!

Itinerary of trip to Ethiopia, 29 Dec 2009 - 11 January 2010

click on the map to view it full size

 

View a Google map with my itinerary for this trip by clicking here

View Ethiopia 2009-2010 in a larger map

Trip to Ethiopia, 2009-2010 click on an itinerary or a date to go to the related post
Day	Date	Itinerary	Night	Km	hrs
1	29 Dec	Departure from Rome via San’a	Airplane	0	0
2	30 Dec	Addis Ababa	Addis	25	2
3	31 Dec	Addis to Dessiè	Dessiè	390	8
4	1 Jan	Dessiè to Lalibela	Lalibela	300	5
5	2 Jan	Lalibela	Lalibela	0	0
6	3 Jan	Lalibela to Mek’ele	Mek’ele	335	7
7	4 Jan	Mek’ele to Adigrat	Adigrat	120	2
8	5 Jan	Adigrat to Axum	Axum	130	3
9	6 Jan	Axum	Axum	15	1
10	7 Jan	Axum to Gondar	Gondar	355	6
11	8 Jan	Gondar to Bahir Dar	Bahir Dar	180	3
12	9 Jan	Bahir Dar, Lake Tana	Bahir Dar	40	2
13	10 Jan	Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa	Addis Ababa	550	7
14	11 Jan	Addis Ababa and evening transfer to airport	Airplane	20	2
15	12 Jan	Arrival in Europe	Home!	0	0
		total		2,460	48

Recensione: Seta, di Alessandro Baricco, ****

Sinossi

La Francia, i viaggi per mare, il profumo dei gelsi a Lavilledieu, i treni a vapore, la voce di Hélène. Hervé Joncour continuò a raccontare la sua vita, come mai, nella sua vita, aveva fatto. "Questo non è un romanzo. E neppure un racconto. Questa è una storia. Inizia con un uomo che attraversa il mondo, e finisce con un lago che se ne sta lì, in una giornata di vento. L'uomo si chiama Hervé Joncour. Il lago non si sa."

Recensione

Un libro che racconta con una serie infinita di viaggi, intrapresi per affari ma trasformatisi in un disperato inseguimento dell'amore. O forse di un infatuamento. Si può veramente amare una persona che non si conosce?

Il libro fornisce anche un quadro interessante del Giappone che si apre gradualmente al mondo durante la seconda metà del XIX secolo, con la restaurazione violenta dell'impero centralizzato e l'apertura dei commerci internazionali.

Un finale tragico ma, forse, istruttivo per ciascuno di noi. Anche se forse l'insegnamento non sarà uguale per tutti. Ma tutti dovremo riflettere sull'amore, sull'infatuazione, sulla responsabilità, sulle priorità fondamentali della nostra vita insomma.

La prosa di Baricco corre veloce come il protagonista nella steppa, io ho finito il libro in poche ore.

Poi ho visto anche il film che pure consiglio ma di cui al momento non vedo disponibilità di DVD o BD.

Di Alessandro Baricco ho recensito "Novecento" su questo blog.

Recensione: Etiopia, di Massimo Bocale e Piera Barchetti, ***

Sinossi
La guida, scritta con lo stile degli "appunti di viaggio", fornisce tutta una serie di itinerari e percorsi, anche in trekking, che si snodano dal nord al sud del paese. Precise cartine, notizie pratiche e informazioni dettagliate aiutano il viaggiatore nel muoversi liberamente dalla valle dell'Omo alla Dancalia, dalle regioni dei popoli Mursi e Surma a quelle degli Hammer e Afar. Bellissime fotografie accompagnano il testo in modo da rendere la lettura piacevole e maggiormente interessante.

Recensione
La guida è indubbiamente un bel libro, carta di qualità e rilegatura resistente. Molto informativo sugli aspetti culturali, è provvisto anche di ricche schede su argomenti specifici. Buone anche se non proprio entusiasmanti le fotografie, molte in bianco e nero ed alcune a colori. Non so perché ma spesso le foto sono inserite in parti del volume diverse da quelle dei soggetti rappresentati, il che crea un po' di confusione.

La guida è a metà la classica guida con le informazioni che uno si aspetta, e per metà racconto di viaggio dell'autore che ci riferisce esperienze ed aneddoti dei suoi viaggi.

Tutto sommato un bel libro da legger prima di partire piuttosto che da portarsi in viaggio, come spesso per le Polaris.