i don't know if you're ready for today's adventure
last week's bike adventure we were feeling like a foreigner but having fun they're coming with me
so let's put on those padded bike shorts grab the ethiopian coffee and preview today's ride
it hurts the most today we're headed into some really cool cultural experiences i never thought
i'd have first hand so stay tuned and let's start on the cliff side we're riding along the edge of
this cliff and the views oh they are so good that is amazing i can't stop taking pictures it's hard
to ride one-handed this is like the most mellow it's been generally when i'm riding it's like
it's like half arm workout half your butt is sore workout legs are totally fine to be honest
here comes see what i mean that's what i'm talking about
that's the sound the villagers make a lot but let's back it up where the heck
are we again we're riding along the edge of a canyon
from lemmy to anowari which is about four hours north of addis ababa
good morning we broke down camp this morning and i wasn't the best at taking my uh my tent apart
but i tried my best and now we are headed to the next campsite but we are actually gonna bike there
uh but first we're gonna ride a bus i have the option to ride my bike into town or
take the bus and given how bumpy the road is and the current state of my tush
i chose to ride the bus so first up ethiopian coffee
ethiopian coffee really is no joke it's strong and you only need a little bit and the most
widely grown coffee type here is arabica which is low in acidity and has a bright floral fruity
flavor and definitely gave my legs a rocket boost for today's bike one thing that was amazing to me
about riding in these towns is the villagers are as fascinated by us as we are by them
it's hard to get used to the staring but it's not a mean staring it's a curiosity staring and
really they were very welcoming so where exactly are we headed first is lunch with a view before
we have some cliffside writing and then a monastery and then our new campsite but first
we've got all kinds of terrain in between hey oh here comes
from open fields to rocky descents we made our way to quite a view lunch is here we biked out to
a good spot here and what's super exciting is that our campsite is way over there on that cliff
this view is insane there's even a waterfall down there check it out
we made our way around the canyon and to our new camp yay for camp number two we were set up near
the local watering hole so it was a regular site to see the villagers coming in to collect water
as the sun went down i was getting really excited for something special christianity is the biggest
religion in ethiopia and 43 of the population is orthodox christian it was an amazing sunset
it's super cold i'm walking into the town where they're gonna celebrate tim cat and i can't wait
to see what this is like tim cat is a celebration of the baptism of jesus christ in the river jordan
and in addis ababa they lay carpets on the streets of the city but in the village they lay leaves
it was cold and windy as we walked for an hour to the middle of a field and we try to stick together
because of the hyenas the villagers celebrate with fires and candles and drums and music
the wind continued strong the next morning as we made our way to our next tim cat celebration
at a monastery i went for the harder ride option because that is beautiful hector the construction
of the houses made it clear that we were in one of the nicer villages that i've seen so far this is
the town of anawari today's ride was somewhere around 35 kilometers and it took us something
like five hours it's hard to keep track got a pretty packed gravel road oh your money say hi
but as we got closer to the monastery we had some more challenging terrain it might
be a lot of breath coming up these hills consistently in this heat is uh not easy
we made it to the top to go into the monastery you have to wear the traditional clothing
so i have to cover my head and my shoulders and i'm wearing long pants on this ride which i'm
really missing my petted bike choice i was in for a couple surprises as we entered the monastery
first i didn't really meet the dress code even though i had on a long sleeve and pant
given they were too fitted i needed to cover myself with a traditional gabby it took a team
to help me into it but it's a handmade cloth made from cotton worn by both men and women
and is not exactly your breathable outfit in 80 degree weather did i do
now that i could not move my arms my second surprise was
getting my feet washed given i just biked for a really long time i was really embarrassed
not only was i not allowed to do it myself but it was required to enter the monastery but it
was interesting to experience this tradition and the men washed the men's feet and the women washed
the women's feet with soap and water and then the priest came out to bless us and bless the special
jira in anticipation of this moment most people on the ride had been fasting no food or water
since last night and i think everyone was thankful for the rice that they served us
and next we got to go in and see how the monks live
their homes were built on the side or inside the cliff and i loved hearing about their simple lives
afterwards we made our way back to camp for one last cultural experience
a traditional ethiopian coffee ceremony can take
hours and the villagers danced for us and served us coffee
and as we made our way back to addis ababa the tim cat celebrations continued and i felt
so thankful for this experience and so thankful to you for watching up until this point
adesa baba was a whole other adventure check out that video and after that
zanzibar i'll see you in the next adventure
ciao