The road leading east from Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa winds through a fairly dry landscape of the Oromia and Afar Region, with scattered farms and small towns and villages like Adama (or Nazareth), Awash and Asbe Teferi towards the mainly Muslim city of Harar. Life is quite tough out here, and you see young boys herding camels and women and children working in the fields. But as everywhere, people are friendly; they belong to various tribal groups, often distinguished by their dress.
Bahir Dar is an attractive town on the southern shores of Lake Tana, about 566 kilometres from Addis Ababa or a long drive of two days. The road enters East Gojjam via a bridge over the Blue Nile Gorge and, via Debre Markos and the village of Bure, leads towards Bahir Dar.
Flying between Bahir Dar, Lalibela, and Aksum reveal the spectacular and forbidding mountain landscapes of the Awash and Tigray regions; but everywhere are small isolated homesteads where people live as they have done for centuries.