I rode down out of the hills for a day and visited another tourist destination before heading on North. Its another set of water falls... On the Blue Nile (rather than the White Nile which is a different tributary further West). And so I drove to the end of a 25Km dirt road that was the usual combination of rough, dusty, muddy, and festooned with small villages and their human and animal denizens :)
I parked the bike and repeatedly but politely explained to each and every one of the little entrepreneurial 20-something year old young men who came along and wanted me to pay them as a guide or to look after my bike while I was away, that I didn't think I needed their services... I explained that for a start, my bike weighed about 300Kg and I dared any one of them to try to move it even while the steering was unlocked... and that if something unfortunate were to happen to it while I was away that there would be at least twenty witnesses standing around (indicating the young men themselves) who would know exactly who it was that did it and Id have no problem getting the police to find the culprit even if I didn't have a particular name (since the same young men are always the ones hanging out there).
And as for a guide I said well, the path looks pretty clear to me and there seem to be quite a few other people walking to and from the falls along it... I think Ill be OK... Thanks for asking, and good luck with the next tourist but no thanks I don't need your services today :)
And off I walked along the trail for about 15 minutes... And the falls are quite impressive I admit... But compared to the Victoria Falls that I recently visited they are a bit less impressive I admit (though thats a rather harsh comparison). .. And the Blue part of the name seems to be a bit of a misnomer too... but then again it is mid wet-season and the water is full of brown sediment as it thunders over the drop...
The thing about water falls of any dimension though is that they are VERY noisy and very wet... Nobody would sensibly build a house in close proximity to a good sized waterfall... Its just plain uncomfortable to be assaulted by the noise and mist on a constant basis... It makes a nice picture and its a romantic concept but its no place to live in reality...
And then onward to the next destination...
