Flight to Gondor
Arrived in Gondor in Ethiopia where we were out and look at the city.
Up at 3:45 AM to catch our flight to Gondor at 6:30. The flight takes about two hours. At the airport, there were very few tourists—only about 12 in total. Five of us were on the same flight. Each year, around 250,000 tourists visit Ethiopia, but most are volunteers for organizations, business travelers, or diplomats. The headquarters of the African Union is located in Addis. On the plane, we sat next to an Orthodox Christian priest who blessed every bite of food before eating. The two major religions in the country are Islam and Orthodox Christianity. Gondor was the former capital in the 16th and 17th centuries. The city is famous for its castles and access to the Simien Mountains. Compared to Gondor, Addis is a super modern city. If you were to compare Addis to a Danish city, it would feel like a developing country. Horse-drawn carts are everywhere in Gondor. People walk in long lines along the roads since no one has cars. There are goats, sheep, and cows all around. We're staying at a small local hotel, Misrak, for 130 birr. We started by taking a stroll around the city. It was really different. We even passed by a wedding and chatted with the groom's father. We think he felt honored that we showed interest in the wedding. They had invited 300 guests to the celebration, but we weren’t invited—what a bummer! Instead, we continued our walk through the city, closely followed by children. We’ll need to get used to the attention we’re attracting. The internet here is unbelievably slow, so we can’t really use it at all. On our way back to the hotel, the power went out. It makes it even harder to see the dark-skinned people and not bump into them. The restaurant we chose for dinner had a very limited menu—but it was cheap. We quickly realized this was the case everywhere. We’re eating a lot of pasta here with tomato sauce or vegetables. It feels like the safest option for our stomachs. After dinner, we headed down to the local bar/disco. It’s safe to walk around after dark, which isn’t usually the case in African countries. Ethiopia is quite unique in that regard. At the local bar, the guests were dancing this fun bird-like dance.