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Day 12 Debark to Bahir Dar
Estimated Travel Time: 8 hours, Approximate Distance: 286 km
En route to Bahir Dar, we made a short stop at the Falasha village, this was earlier and Jewish village. There are practically no Jews left because of the "Evacuation"
Here is the fantastic story (with a little help from Wikipedia).
Operation Moses refers to the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews. The operation, was a cooperative effort between the Israelis and the CIA, Beginning November 21, 1984, Thousands had fled Ethiopia on foot for refugee camps in Sudan. It is estimated as many as 4,000 died during the trek. Sudan secretly allowed Israel to evacuate the refugees.
The evacuation continued in 1991 with operation Solomon. In 36 hours, non-stop flights of 34 Israeli aircraft, transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
The operation set a world record for single-flight passenger load on May 24, 1991 when an 747 carried 1,122 passengers to Israel (1,087 passengers were registered, but dozens of children hid in their mothers' robes). "Planners expected to fill the aircraft with 760 passengers. Because the passengers were so light, many more were squeezed in. Two babies were born during the flight
No one knows with any certainty the origins of Ethiopia's Jews, but it is clear that they observe the faith the way it was practiced before the First Temple was destroyed 2,500 years ago. They know nothing of the rabbinical teachings, Talmudic scholarship or other refinements that have been added to Judaism since then.
Because of a christian festival we had long lunch stop in Gondar, The city was smacked by celebrating groups of people.
We crossed the source of the blue Nile just before we entered Bahir Dar, arriving in the late afternoon.
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