... unaware of the difficulties I would face to leave that forlorn town.
It was a Catholic priest with his driver and two co-workers who had set up a mission in the far South. They were not only going to ...
... me to the weaving cooperative and then the potters' workshop. In both places I was offered items at a preposterous price and when I left without making a purchase, the potter lady cursed the boy so vehemently ...
... no buses to Arba Minch, unless I wanted to change at Sodo, I headed to Awasa on the lake shore for a laid-back afternoon. The young man next to me in the bus was heading for Dillo where he worked as a ...
... sugared. As a result of this, when I laid down in my sleeping bag I could get only light sleep: the chat, the altitude, and the caffeine all worked hand in hand.
We got up late, there was not a long ...
... huddling around the fire. Ahmed, one of the muleteers, had returned from Kuwait where he had been working as a herdsman, breeding goats and camels. He had a smattering of Arabic.
Bale, like other Muslim ...
... be a perilous one.
From the junction I walked up to a point where the dirt road forked, and asked two women who were intent on agricultural work. With a smile they pointed to the right, and I started ...
... letting town life flow at an undisturbed pace. Just outside, a bridge over the Awash river spans the gorge. Built by the Italians, who in the late 1930's had the vast country criss-crossed by a network ...
... see people returning home after a day's work. Some were driving their cattle back to the pen, others still fanning the wheat. Big clouds were gathering in the sky, and the rumble of thunder announced drops ...
... vast airport hall had already subsided by the time I emerged from arrivals. Sleeping bodies were lying on the floor or on rows of flimsily padded chairs. They were airport workers off their shift, local ...
... by a deep sea change. There was extensive work of renovation in progress, the place was going to be turned into another Xijiang-style park. Streets were being paved all over, the stream dredged and embanked ...
... my notion to walk all that distance and tried to talk me out of it. I reassured her with the promise I’d come back by the evening if it didn’t work out, but secretly I was determined to do my best to carry ...
... and they’d have to get up at 6 to go to work the next day. In spite of all, it was indeed a great pleasure to see my friends where I just expected to find an unknown city by night.
I moved on to Kaili ...
... for me. In her offhand style the landlady popped a few fast-spoken questions to enquire about my movements.
I spent some time on the pavement in front of the hotel chatting online on a free wi-fi network ...
... amazing place, I knew my day-long search had at long last yielded fruit. I walked on the paved causeway to the village and came across a man leading two buffalos from field work. The scene reminded me ...
... lake, or paid a visit to the temple. Some people tried to walk blindfolded towards the fortune character painted on a wall with a hand stretched out to touch it.
I met my friends after they got off work. ...
... and when I reached the top I wished I could have gone both ways. I was only too tired to inflict myself such hard work.
The trail then crossed a marvellous bamboo forest where I felt dwarfed by the towering ...
... through me and pervade me of a contemplative mood.
It was a work of nature of the sort that the Chinese particularly cherish. They appreciate, exhibit and collect strangely shaped pieces of rocks, ...
... the waterfall and the surrounding vegetation seemed a perfectly designed landscape, but it was only the work of nature. Human intervention was limited to preservation and maintenance, for the rest it was ...
... work. In the middle flow the blue waters of the river, where only locals are allowed to bathe, so a sign read. On the opposite bank, where the main road runs, a modern settlement of uniform houses has ...
... to destination, I was taken up to the fort which also works as guesthouse. Being able to stay in a historic building was exciting in itself, but there was also an incredibly beautiful view over the palm-tree ...