our long awaited parcel from DHL, albeit after having to cough up an
extortionate (in our opinion) 50% in import duty!
But before diving into the wheel building, we decided to make a quick
trip out of town to see the Blue Nile Falls, which is about an hour
bus ride from Bahir Dar. Good thing we did as it was fantastic, the
falls have a close resemblance to the Victoria Falls, only on a much
smaller scale of course!
The bus ride back along the bumpy dirt road was interesting enough,
but it really got exciting when the window next to James suddenly
acquired a massive hole and we were covered in glass! It turns out
that Ethiopian children don't just throw stones at cyclists!
When we finally got back to our hotel we opened the parcel and it was
a bit like an early Christmas as Jo had packed in all sorts of extra
treats for us, which was a nice surprise (there was 3kg weight
allowance spare which needed to be used). So now we have some spare
toilet paper and an assortment of sweets and chocolate to keep the
energy levels up on the big climbs!
Then it was down to business and the wheelbuilding101 manual we had
printed out in Khartoum (thanks Malcolm) was fished out of our bags.
Fortunately the whole process went fairly smoothly and we now have
ourselves a new set of back wheels, hopefully a bit stronger then the
originals. The true test will be when we head out of Bahir Dar with
our fully loaded steeds in about 10 minutes - we will be listening for
any worrying noises!
So if everything goes to plan we should be in Addis Ababa in about 4
or 5 days. We have had a good few days rest in Bahir Dar, despite
being fairly busy sorting things out. But at least our legs should
feel a bit stronger again. A special mention to the Bahir Dar Hotel
which was a great sanctuary from the bustling activity outside - they
serve good food and beer and are well priced too!
Mark
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