Bahir Dar was a welcome change to Addis! After dealing with the taxi mafia at the airport, we were welcomed by streets lined with palm trees and lots of nice little cafes. It was still very busy on the street of course, but it had a more relaxed vibe.

On our first afternoon, we just walked around town a bit and discovered the colourful local market which was really really nice. After a while, Mathijs didn’t feel too shy about taking photos anymore, and there were just so many great subjects and scenes to photograph!

Later, we took a minivan to the Nile Bridge to see if we could spot some hippos. We did see two, but they were mainly under water and far away.

Next morning, we woke up very early to take the public ferry to the Zeghe peninsular. You can go on lots of tours to see the colourful monasteries of Laka Tana, but we always prefer to do things on our own. Ferry might be a bit of an exaggeration for the small boat, but it departed on time and the ride was beautiful and peaceful in the morning light.

At Zege, we were welcomed by some chanting coming from the monastery Ura Kidane Meret. So we quickly walked up, past the still empty souvenir stalls to the ticket office which had to be opened up for us. Tours usually arrive here 1-2 h later only, so no one had expected tourists yet and we arrived to this amazing atmosphere. A group of men who were dressed as if they had climbed out of a history book were playing old musical instruments and chanting. It felt mystical and as if we were experiencing this very old culture.

It was special because there were no other tourists yet and it seemed like something they just did every morning, but that we were able to be part of that day. The paintings in the monastery were beautiful and nicer than expected, so we spent quite some time here – listening to the men and walking around taking pictures.

Later, we walked on to another monastery – Azwa Maryam – which was nice too and had some elaborate cruel paintings. Overall, it was quite similar to the first monastery though, and we imagine most other monasteries around the lake to look alike (unless you have a special interest in this area), hence concluded that seeing two of them would be enough for us! We were lucky to catch the same ferry on its way back to Bahir Dar and see some locals in their photogenic boats.

We still had some time left, so went back to our favourite market once again for another walk around and lots of pictures. This is more the kind of markets we like, compared to Addis‘ Merkato.

From Bahir Dar, we took a minivan to Gondar – a drive full of hassles and attempted tourist rip-offs…