Leo Lyons Photography

Refurbishment under way - please forgive the mess and broken links

Occasional musings

On music, politics, travel....
View of under canopy of a dragon tree in La Gomera (El Drago)
sacks of grain and pulses at a street market in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Ghion Hotel, Lake Tana and Bahir Dar

24th August 2011

This was sold to me as a lake side retreat with lovely gardens and great food. That is not inaccurate but does not tell the whole story. Bahir Da is on the shores of Lake Tana – which is the size of a small sea really. The hotel is on the outskirts of the town with a main road roaring by and the usual collection of shoe shine boys, souvenir sellers etc outside the gate. If you gave this hotel one star you would be extremely generous. It is on the shores of the lake but is surrounded by

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Back in Addis

10th August 2011

We are back in Addis after a fairly punishing two day drive from Lalibela. This is the last time I can blog from Ethiopia but I will put the other stuff up when I get home anyway. Thousands of photos to sort out and lots of scribbling to transcribe. It is hard to put in perspective what we have seen in the last two weeks but I suppose the biggest impression is the contrast between the lives of the average rural Ethiopian and that of us in the west – or even those here in the Addis Hilton. Some

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Camels, camels and more camels

10th August 2011

Last leg of the journey now and we are staying outside Dese before beginning the final 400Km to Addis. There is an internet connection here but no way of getting photos uploaded. I will do that tonight from Addis. Since leaving Gondor we have been to Lalibela to see the rock hewn churches which are pretty amazing. We have done lots of shoulder dancing to traditional Ethiopian music but with contemporary lyrics mainly about funny ferenji dancing badly – I believe. Great food and again fantastic people everywhere. The begging does get a bit wearing but I will write

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