CLIMATE
There are two major seasons: the dry season prevails from October through May; the wet seasons from June to September. January and February are hotter and much driver. The landscape is likely to be more aired than November, which can still be quite lush after the rains. In the highlands (most of the historic route) the day time is temperature is moderate not exceeding, 300c even at the hottest time of the year and nights are generally moderate to cold in all months of the year.
LANGUAGE
A variety of language is spoken in the multi-ethnic state of the Ethiopia. The official language of the region is Amharic. English also widely spoken in all tourist destination sites of Amhara Region.
TIME
Ethiopia is the GMT+3 hour’s time zone. The day is calculated in a manner similar to many equatorial countries, where day and nights have the same length. Counting starts when the sun rises, at1:00 o’clock when it is 7: AM for Europeans and stops when the sunsets at 12:00 o’clock when it is 6:00 PM for Europeans.
CALANDER
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, which consists of 12 months of 30 days each and a thirteen month of five or six days (in every four year).
EXCHANGE RATE
In main tourists destination sites there are government & Private Banks.
For current exchange rate see: http://coinmill.com/ETB-GBP.html
Souvenir
Most of the arts and artifacts along the historic route-Lalibela,Gondar,BahirDar and Dessie reflect the Orthodox Christian: Silver crosses ,icons, painting on animal skin, and woven garments-items with a Christian motif.
TRANSPORTAION OPTIONS
Getting to northern Ethiopia:
The easiest and quickest way to get to Northern Ethiopia from Addis Ababa is to fly, Ethiopian air lines currently are the only scheduled air line operating these routes. Their daily service connects Addis Ababa with Bahir Dar, Gonder, Lalibela. That is the order of their flight service that leaves Addis early in the morning &afternoon For Further details check: http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/
Buses:
Those with more time and who want to see more of the surrounding countryside may chose to do all some parts of their journey by road. The roads are improving being asphalted. But this will take time and result in delays. Local buses ply all major roads in amhara region. Reasonably good buses leave Bahirdar, Gondar Weldiya and dessie passing through Gashena.
Water Transport
Boats can be hired from the Marine Transport in Bahirdar to visit Lake tana and monasteries.
| the city of Bahirdar |
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| Gonder Fasil Castel world heritage site (UNESCO) |
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| Lalibela world heritage site (UNESCO) |
Seimen mountain National Park (UNESCO)
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Messages From The Head Of The Bureau 
