Days 9, 10, 11. 12 - North to Gondar and beyond

We left Bahir Dar in our convoy of Toyotas, and surprisingly stopped just a few km from town. Elias had spotted something in a field..
We all crossed the road and scrambled down the embankment to the edge of a rice field, where several cattle were tied together and being led in tight circles by a farm worker.
Elias explained that they were threshing rice that had just been harvested.
On the road again, we made our wat north around the big lake toward Gondar, stopping at a district maternal health centre in a remote rural village to see the work of two Hamlin midwives. They deliver many babies there in quite primitive conditions, and this is a clinic that has had an upgrade. Apparently the dirt floor of the birthing room was tiled. I gave my hat to an old man at the centre and he couldn't stop grinning!
Travelling again we had lunch in Gondar and then on to Kosoye.
Here an enterprising soul has set up a small mountain retreat on the edge of a wild escarpment, offering local cultural experiences of hospitality and comfort in unique, if somewhat rustic, surrounds. Quite enchanting, from the coffee ceremony on a cut-greenery covered floor to dining and local dancing; with a comfy bed made up of a mattress on a stone/concrete base. Very peaceful after the somewhat frantic pace of the tour so far.
Day 10 dawned and we breakfasted well, then set off on a "4 hour trek". Starting at the lodge (at 3000m altitude, the air was thinner than we are used to) we wound our way down the face of rhe escarpment and out along every spur in this wrinkled landscape. We walked up and down, and for a while along a regular local walking path that went virtually straight up and down the face of the mountain rather rhan zigzag as we were doing. We shared this with some local people and as we turned off it I turned around to see a herd of sheep / goats was being hustled down the mountain behind us.
We all survived this spectacular (but exhausting) walk of some 10km through very steep country, and ended up back at the lodge for lunch before heading back in to Gondar.
We had 2 nights in Gondar, with a good look at the Royal castle complex that dates from the 16th century, and also a major church. We also saw the unique Baptismal Pool where every year on the feast of Epiphany thousands of locals celebrate the baptism of Jesus with a mass swimming event where they all jump into a large concrete lined pool with a small palace built in the middle. Water is diverted in a pipe from a local river and it takes several weeks to fill. The pool is full and available for less than a week before being drained ro another nesrrby river.
After our second night in Gondar we flew back to Addis, and a follow-up visit to the hospital. This was another happy time as the patients flocked around us, looking for a break in the monotony of hospital life. At this point (for the first time in almost two weeks) we were joined by the "other" group from Australia, who had been travelling around Ethiopia in the opposite direction to us, and it was decided to officially present the cheque for the total amount donated from our combined fundraising efforts this year. The amount totalled $280,000 AUD or around 4,000,000 Birr (local currency). The CEO of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia said that this amount would run a complete regional fistula hospital for a year!