Travel to and arrival in Bahir Dar made for a beer-fueled day.

While my wait at the Axum airport passed pleasantly upon finding Raj and Anshal and playing gin with Anshal's parents, the wait in Lalibela was interminable. Reading Paul Theroux's excellent Dark Star Safari at the bar, I leisurely downed three beers. A friendly Ethiopian Airlines clerk at the bar was pleased that I had done the TESFA trek. Many people in Lalibela unconnected with TESFA were proud of its efforts to bring a different kind of tourism to the region.

On arrival in the Ghion Hotel in Bahir Dar, I was immediately told that the room I'd reserved weeks ago via email was not available due to overbooking. The hotel's breezy outdoor restaurant and reception area swarmed with other travelers in the same predicament. After grouping me with a couple of young Lebanese girls, the smarmy manager Bisrat invited me for a beer, introducing me to an elderly gentleman named Anthony.

View from Ghion Hotel's porch

This isn't...too MUCH beer, is it? Is that even possible?

Anthony was a poet and artist from Ireland, living in France and claiming to have spawned illegitimate children in Ecuador. We proceeded to get buzzy on St. George's beer while talking about my recent adventures in Ethiopia and his multiple visits to the country. A fat ruddy middle-aged Englishman soon joined us, chainsmoking and slurping through beers like water. Peter lived in Tanzania and was visiting Ethiopia for the first time.

Periodically Bisrat joined us, simpering that my room was still not ready, then dropping all pretense of caring and turning to his text messages. He threatened to disrupt the pleasant mood around the table with his diatribes of why Americans were better than Spaniards.

Eventually the Lebanese girls Miriam and Myrie—who bothered Bisrat more than I did because they were not easily distracted by beer—obtained a key to our room. The whole afternoon I'd felt unrooted, leaning on my backpack while downing my 6th beer; it was such a relief to finally have a room, even if it wasn't the single I was originally promised.

I returned outside where Anthony and Peter still guzzled away and decided to join them for dinner. It was surprisingly good, and a nice change of pace; in Bahir Dar fish is widely available so I enjoyed a very spicy tilapia curry with baguettes.

Buzzing back to my room, I found Miriam and Myrie gushing about the wonderful shower. I wasn't really seeing it, as the water never got quite warm enough and the showerhead was awkwardly hand-held. As I spread the mosquito net I'd brought from home around my body, the Lebanese girls snuggled under the hotel's net, whispering and giggling so much my drunken mind couldn't help wondering if they were talking about me.

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