The major towns of the Hamet are Turmi and Dimeka, both of which host compelling and colorful weekly markets – on Monday and Saturday respectively – and will reward anybody who settles into them for a few days.

Turmi and Dimeka similarly boast a fair selection of (admittedly somewhat unwholesome) hotels and restaurants, and can be reached with relative ease either in a private vehicle or on the back of a truck.

Turmi will form an undoubted highlight of any trip through South Omo, and it is particularly accessible, since all roads lead there ultimately.

Keywords: Hamer, Turmi, Dimeka, South Omo peoples, Ethiopia,

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Konso people are farmers, living in fortified villages bounded by their farming land. They developed a defensive style of building, with villages on hilltops, protected by fortifications around them.

Konso people Gesergios village commonly known as New York village due to its natural landscape with mountain structure that seems precisely a big city with modern buildings.

For the most part rocks of quartz minerals form the mountain and Konso village. Konso village is a graceful composition of rock walls and wood.

They grow their crops on terraces, thus using every bit of land possible. They are also famous bee-keepers. The Konso are an efficient, resourceful, charming, careful, and hard-working people.

Konso people’s societal arrangement is clan-based. The people are comprised of nine clans (gada) with an average size of seven thousand members. The clans’ structure is based on exogamy and patrilinearity.

They are renowned for their wooden anthropomorph statuettes, erected in honor of important – deceased – people. The statuettes are called Waga in the Konso language.

The statuettes are always placed in groups, with the main figure in the center, bounded by people and animals that were vital to him during his lifetime. An additional fashionable art form is the use of the kalasha (large fallus symbols in wood), which are worn on the forehead during special events.

It is only reasonable that one also finds wagas with kalasha. Most widespread sculpting material is gayo wood. The Konso’s neighbors, the Gato tribe, has similar traditions and are often seen as a Konso tribe, which is why they are called the Konso-Gato.

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They were once much feared warriors but now the Dorze men folk have settled down to farming or weavings. Dorze huts are beehive fashioned made from bamboo, but they are usually much taller in size than others of this style.

When their houses begin to decay or are attacked by termites the Dorze just dig them up and after sewing bamboo struts around the base to protect the shape, mobilize all the neighbors to carry the structures to their sites. Each house is said to last for 40 years after which it is neglected and a new one is built.

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Best known for its Monday market, perhaps the most important in Hame country, Turmi is a markedly traditional small town, and well worth a couple of days whether or not they happen to coincide with the market.

Some small traditional Hamer villages lie within a 2km radius of Turmi town; any local kid will take you to one of them for a small fee.

Reaching Turmi is practically straightforward. If you are driving through the region, you could barely avoid the place, since all roads pretty much lead to it. At least one passenger truck will travel to Turmi from Konso via Weita and Arbore on most days, as well one truck from Key Afer via Dimeka.

This is not, though, written in stone – it is completely possible that you’ll have to wait around for a day before finding transport to or from Turmi. Visitors who come to Turmi used to be required to report to the police upon arrival.

Obviously, this is no longer the case, but a visitation fee of birr 50 is levied on all tourists – the guy who collects this fee will find you.

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