Ethiopia sixty-third day - 27/11/13 otherwise known as 19/03/2006 in Ethiopia!

Today we left the Ark Hotel at 7.30am, stopping at a few hotels along the way to see if we could sort out reservations for the day we return to Aksum. Because of the festival it is uber busy and the prices are high even out of town, so we'll take our chances and see what happens. We travelled to Adwa, then Adigrat, finally stopping at Sinkata for a nice local lunch. After this we saw our first rock hewn church of the Tigray region in the Takatisfi cluster - Medhane Alem Kesho was beautiful and mass was about to start as we arrived, so we were ushered in and out very quickly and got to hear a service which has probably not changed in the last 1500 years.




 Another drive away we visited Abraka Atsbeha in the Gheralta cluster. It's Wednesday (fasting day) and a holy celebration on Saturday, so there were lots of people worshipping today and plenty of photo opportunities. There was also a service on during our visit here. I was particularly impressed with the ceiling and wood carvings in this church as well as the Adam and Eve paintings!

We then watched the sunset before checking into a local hotel in Hawsien and dining out on some of the local rice and meat dishes. An orange Mirinda washed it all down and I was in bed by 8pm - bring on the climbs tomorrow!

Ethiopia sixty-second day - 26/11/13 otherwise known as 18/03/2006 in Ethiopia!

Today we took a tour guide (350 Birr) and minibus (300 Birr) around the city of Aksum to see the main historical sights. First up was the Northern Stelae field where we saw three very impressive stelae (tomb stones for the kings of Ethiopia) and more smaller versions. underneath there are said to be hundreds of royal bodies and we descended a couple of dark tunnels to the tombs. The arctitecture is amazing, no cement, every stone cut uniquey to fit each other and all from the 4th century onwards.

We went on to Dungur, the queen of Sheba's Palace, where we heard tales of how she was tricked by Solomon. There are only a few ruins there now and the site needs to be excavated further, but the views are very interesting (and the legends!) with some original steps and features remaining. The graveyard (more stelae) in front of her palace, is still in tact over the road from the palace but you can't visit that yet.



We saw the famous rock (King Ezana's Inscription) which has the original Ge'ez (Amharic) script alongside Greek and Sabaean inscriptions of the same text describing military actions from 330-350 A.D. This rock sits in a little building in the middle of the countryside and hasn't moved since the farmers found it (apparently it's cursed to do so!) - the Ethiopian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone.

On next to the Queen of Sheba's Baths - she had this built for everyone to enjoy, and they still do! About 7-10  naked men were swimming and bathing as we drove up while a group of women were washing their clothes in it.


Finally we saw the tombs believed to belong to Kaleb and Gebre Meskel. They weren't buried there - as all kings in the Christian period opted for a monastery burial to guarantee their next seven generations a place in heaven! We had the most amazing smoothie for 20birr (I had banana, mango and avocado whereas the others opted for the same plus guava) This was then followed by Tibbs (Goat meat and Injera) for me and the guide while Marissa had a sandwich and Daniel had a coke.

After a day of sight-seeing, we visited the shopping street to check out Aksum's craft scene. I found two nice small paintings of St. George and the Ethiopian style angels and these go perfectly with the small bible/gospel reading which I bought earlier at the Museum on the Northern Stelae site.

Back at the hotel we opened heavy negotiations for a two day trip and finally agreed on a price and route - we will see what tomorrow brings!

Ethiopia sixty-first day - 25/11/13 otherwise known as 17/03/2006 in Ethiopia!

I woke at 4am, had a banana and some water and packed up ready to get the bus to Axum via Shire. This bus journey is supposed to have the most spectacular view in Ethiopia - we will see!
The bajaj we arranged did not arrive, but a cheaper one did so we hopped in that and were at the gates like everyone else, ready to board at 5am. When they opened it was a scene similar to that of a herd of cattle running in the wild with all the ticket men shouting destinations and steering people onto the correct buses. Luckily I heard "Shire" so we showed our tickets and boarded a pitch black bus which was already almost full - I have no idea how they got on so fast, with so much stuff! It was like the bus from Addis to Bahir Dah for me but a level two this time. I used my towel to stop my knees banging on the chair in front of me and fell asleep a lot. It was hot, bumpy, dusty, noisy and stopped only 3 times in 10 hours - once at Debark for quite a while when some more tourists got on - Daniel - from Brazil, joined us onboard and continued on to the hotel with us as he was travelling alone too! The second time was almost 7 hours into the journey when the left-back tyre burst and had to be changed on the roadside and again shortly after that (about 20 minutes) in a tiny village, so that children could get on the bus and sell us 'bombini's' (like a donut ball without filling) and various drinks.

My bottom, back and neck killed, then when we reached Shire, the minibus driver tried to rip us off, his taut told us 22 birr each and he wanted us to pay 200 each. So we complained loudly near the offic and a guy took us back to the minibus and got us on for 22 Birr each. Again, upon arrival the bajaj driver tried to charge us lots to get to the hotel but eventually one said he would take us all for 10 Birr.

Now my belly is full of Spaghetti Bolognese - the only food I've eaten today apart from my breakfast banana and four bourbon biscuits and I have had a couple of cokes to wash it all down. I've had a great hot shower and washed my very dusty trousers ready for the next few days adventure. I will never! forget todays journey - my life was never more in a driver's hands, especially turning corners less than 30cm from sheer drops off mountain cliffs. We also passed a refugee camp for people from Eritrea (a former part of Ethiopia) and expereinced many police checks afterwards to ensure no Eritreans had left the camp (I presume) on our bus or minibus!

Ethiopia sixtieth day - 24/11/13 otherwise known as 16/03/2006 in Ethiopia!

This morning I went on an organised half-day hike to the Simien Mountains (750birr!). The scenery was even more breath taking than the journey here with wheat, barley and teff fields looking beautiful 2400m landscape. Upon arrival our guide (a 17 year old lady) met us and took us around a couple of mini mountains to see the spectacular views of the peaks. We saw about 20 baboons in the distance and later on a larger group of around 40 with babies, who were playing and moving around. She pointed out the eucalyptus tree which the local community use to make medicine and house and fire wood. Sage thyme and mint were also growing wildly along the way. As we sat on one of the many viewpoints looking out and eating our sandwiches a pair of ravens began swooping around us and plunging down the mountainsides. One caught a large rodent of some sort and looped the loop on the wind with its prey in its claws. Far off in the distance we also saw a humongous bird - the largest in Ethiopia, an eagle which picks up lambs for prey! I was with another couple, Victoria and Frank from Austria. A scout joined us on our trek to ward off children with his big gun - I'm told they don't use them, it's just scare tactics. It was so peaceful and quiet up there, I think I know why they farm and walk it despite the remoteness and lack of electricity and running water. The guide said she never gets bored trekking the same route as there is always something new to see, like the Ethiopia beehives, a large woven basket attached to an old tree which the bees use as a home and make lovely organic honey!

This afternoon I had a short rest before heading out at 2pm into the city centre and the Royal Enclosure - home to six different castles, built by six different emperors of Ethiopia when Gondar was the capital! I heard lots about which emperors the people liked from my guide Grum, which ones were selfish and one similar to Robin Hood - his castle was small! Another who took all the money to don his castle in gold-leaf and ivory inside - which of course was all looted out in the civil war! One died and left his 8 year old son in charge, who's mother helped him to reign and then his son after (5 years old an emperor) who was helped by his grandmother - an amazing woman I'm sure!
Before the enclosure I visited an immensely famous church made by the Emperor Fasil - the "Holy Trinity, Mountain of Light" in the 16th century. Very beautifully painted by one man over a four year period, it is famous for the angels ceiling, who look in every direction to assure you that wherever you go, an angel is always watching you! Also, the Virgin Mary painting has eyes which follow you around like the Mona Lisa - creepy!


After the royal enclosure we visited the baths 3km out of town. We took a bajaj there and back and I found out that it was built and used by the emperor Fasil and his family to swim and rest in. It's amazing but what's more amazing is the fact that every 23rd of January, they fill it, the priests bless it and everyone swims or bathes in and around it - to represent Jesus baptism. The bath is surrounded by large trees and many beautiful birds reside there, I certainly wouldn't mind a swim in there! A lovely day but I burnt my neck! Bring on the ten hour bus journey tomorrow, 100km on a proper road and 260km of African Massage (according to our driver today!).

Ethiopia sixtieth day - 23/11/13 otherwise known as 15/03/2006 in Ethiopia!

In the morning, the same group met to visit the Blue Nile Falls in Bahir Dar, which proved to be a very interesting journey as it was Saturday and Market Day. There were all sorts of cattle and produce being moved along the road to a big market centre near the falls. Our guide was excellent as he grew up there and continues to live there after studying geography at Bahir Dar's university but he has never been anywhere other than Gondar! He took us to the top of the falls on the opposite side of the bridge where we could see all three falls - two of which would not have been falling if the hydropower plant which takes 75% of the water flow here had not malfuctioned - it was spectacular!

We then walked down near the falls and felt the full power of wind and water in our faces! After a short stop there, we trekked back through chad fields (the local class 2 drug) - apparently our guide only chews 50g per day - and various other crops, I particularly liked the candlewick flower. There were of course lots of children and families selling crafts on the way, but they were wardened off by our guide and we got on a little boat back to the minibus location.
After another interesting minibus journey back to the hotel, I joined Marissa on different minibus to Gondar  for three and a half hours. Rihanna "Where have you been" started and ended our journey which
brought us to the Genetics guest house in Gondar.

Our contact Alex took us to a restaurant called Masterchef where I had a well deserved Pepsi and vegetable/meat/spaghetti dinner before sorting out photos and booking a flight.