Monastery

way in

Our final afternoon in Axum a small gang of us chartered a minibus to visit a monastery. Located a 2 hour drive away this was a boys only trip since no women are allowed in the monastery.

scaling the entrance cliff

The drive itself was well worth it with stunning rock formations lining the route with the final 40km of dirt track taking us close to the boarder with Eritrea. The monastery itself is situated on a high plateau, at around 3,000m and is accessible only by scaling a 20m cliff with the aid of a cow skin harness and rope. Of the 5 manly men who undertook this venture, only 3 of us took on the cliff. Lloyd went first & must have looked in need of assistance since a local decided to use his head to support Lloyd's posterior. Thomas and I made it up without such help. Legend has it that the founding monk scaled the cliff using a serpent and of course there are pictures to prove it. 

the monastery

the old way in

We scaled the bell tower while waiting for the key man to arrive, who then opened up the sanctum containing a book of scripture & a number of drums. This old monk that showed us around had been living here for 50 years.

inside the monastery

living quarters

The surprising part was the scale of the village there, housing 250-300 monks.

Another monk showed us around his living quarters, surprisingly kept locked, they were quite spacious. The electric hot plate was where he cooked njera    

Axum

Axum (or Aksum if you prefer) is one of the most important Christian sites as the home of the arc of the covenant. The fact the arc is held out of public sight and on the rate occasion it is paraded it remains covered by a shroud brings out the sceptic in me.  I prefer my attractions more tangible. 

A good road got us into town with time & plenty of daylight to spare.  The opportunity of a wander through the market in any town is always a rich source of photo opportunities.

Axum market

Axum market

We maintained a tail of at least 2 or 3 boys throughout the afternoon, eventually they gave up after a juice bar stop for an incredible concoction of avocado and mango.

avacado & mango

tour guide - Bazam

Final stop for the day we followed a sign to Bazam, not having any idea what it really meant. The kids earlier had kept mentioning it, along with the church, so the clues were pointing towards some kind of tourist attraction. It turned out to be a precursor to Sunday's sightseeing with a small monolith and 5 underground tombs. Led around by an old chap who, one can only imagine, spends most of his days sat alone by the gate. 

Sunday morning's truck tours started at Stela park, a collection of obelisks (more correctly termed stela as they do not end in a pyramid). 

Stela

These stela mark burial chambers, the largest of which of course are royal tombs. This practise stopped on the 4th century following the conversion of King Ezana (& ethiopia) to Christianity. On this site there are 3 main stela. The largest was never erected as it fell & broke as the vase was not large enough to support such a structure. The smallest of the  three has been standing for 700 years, although it is now leaning and supports put in place. The most controversial of the three was broken onto three parts and shipped to Rome in 1937 during the brief period of Italian rule in Ethiopia. Following a number of broken promises it was finally return in 2003 and redirected five years later. It's a good job the Brits don't follow this lead or the British museum would just be a shell of a building. 

Ezana enscription

Stop 2: the Ezana inscription 

In the 4th century King Enza, used the stone to record his military successes in 3 languages; Greek, Sabean and Geez. The so called Ethiopian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, despite none of the languages being lost. The stone was discovered in 1981 by local farmers, although unlike the terracotta warriors in Xian none of them were there to sign books. 

Stop 3: some tombs

Tombs

Stop 4: the Queen of Sheba baths, no sign of a queen just a naked man having a wash

Queen of Sheeba baths

Axumite palace foundations

Final stop for the morning, Axumite palace foundations 6th century, that would have supported 2 floors. While many claim this to be the Palace of the queen of Sheba it is too late a construction, although it is thought she had a palace in the nearby hills. However within the foundations, recently discovered fragments have been dated from 985BC, the time of the queen. 

Overlanding by the book

For the perfect day of overlanding take the following ingredients, mix well and serve on a hot day;

a) scenic views
b) dusty roads 

c) truck problems (fixable)

d) bush camping

e) a campfire 

Leaving Debark

f) wide eyed locals watching on

We hit our truck problems straight away as it failed to start. Swapping the battery had no effect but further inspection revealed some overnight tampering and cut wires. Domingo was soon on the case & we set off on the road to Axum.

Lunch stop

Winding up & down through the mountains with stunning views, often on  both sides.

Lunch stop on the road includes the staple ingredient of laughing cow.

A brief stop in a small town en route gives the opportunity for anyone wanting to purchase a cold drink. 

stopping in a small town

view from the window

After a couple of abortive viewings we settle on a flat piece of ground well off the main road. Despite this, there is already a group of kids watching us put up tents, and their numbers swell to around 50 by the time the cook group are preparing a three course feast. 

interested onlookers

bush camp

The kids leave after dark as we roast bananas and marshmallows on the embers of the camp fire

fire!

My Christmas Day

Morning frost in the Simien Mountains

Up early on cooking duties, frost is still on the ground, so i'm probably closer to a white christmas than if i'd have stayed at home

The cook team underestimate the time it takes to boil a kettle of water at altitude - around 45 minutes next time you are camping at 3,600m

However the fried tomatoes, baked beans and eggs make up half an english breakfast, the lack of a tesco express puts the other ingredients on hold.  All washed down by a glass of honey wine, which, judging by the way the top exploded off the bottle, had been fermenting the past 3 days. 

Culinary masterpiece

Christmas cook team with Danuta & Thomas

After breakfast & while the tents are drying out there's yet more photo opportunities with the Baboons, Ibex and Lammergeyer all within 100m of the camp.
On the way out of the national park we stop for a coffee, or something stronger at the Simien Mountain Lodge, the only hotel in the park & with a claim to be the highest bar in Africa.

the highest bar?

We arrive back in Debark early afternoon before a christmas buffet meal where Anya, our Drago leader has managed to produce a number of decorations and even some mulled wine.

There's another couple across the bar with a birthday to celebrate, so the meal is rounded off with some birthday cake.  The lady then kindly offers us some local red wine before they leave, after tasting the wine it was perhaps not such a kindly gesture  rather a way to empty the bottle so they could leave.

The full party

Merry Christmas Everyone..

Simien Mountains

Simien Mountains

First drive day from Gondar, we stopped for lunch in Debark en route to the Simien mountains national park. Debark was also the point to pick up our two guides, Bikey and Biney alongside three armed guards. It's not entirely clear who or what was being guarded by these guys, rather it seems to be a job creation scheme.

In the park it wasn't long before we came across a troop of around 50 Gelada baboons. Gelada baboons graze in herds of up to 400 and have a very distinctive red chest. They eat grass and as such spend most of their time on their haunches which is the theory as to why they don't have red bottoms like other baboons. 

Gelada Baboon

For day 1 we took a gentle 2 hour stroll into our first campsite, Sankaber around 3,300m. While it was warm with the sun out, once it had set around 6pm the temperature really dropped. This presented a problem to the cook crew who struggled for over 2 hours to boil potatoes as the rest of us kept warm around the camp fire. Eventually a tasty stew was produced & not long after people scuttled off to the warmth of their sleeping bags. 

Day 2 the short hikers (route choice rather than discrimination on the basis of height) set off for a waterfall while 6 of us got a lift a few km away at 3,600m for the start of our trail. We climbed up to 4,070m for lunch, taking in the views along the way. A cheeky think billed raven managed to snaffle a box of crackers from someone's bag before flying off with his prize. Post lunch a larger group of baboons delayed us for further photo taking as we made our way to the next campsite, we covered 9.25km in a total time of 5hrs. The highest campsite in the park at 3,620m the overnight temperature at Chennek dropped to -3C. 

Simien Mountains

Walia Ibex 

Day 3 started with the sight of Walia Ibex; unique to the Simiens having been hunted close to extinction it's numbers have quadrupled to 600 in the last 50 years.

Thick billed raven

Today's trek was anther 5hr, 9km effort although this one was a bit more straight up and back down. The high point at 4,430m also had a couple of enterprising locals selling the usual tourist tat. It's something you find in nearly every country, they all have the same range of items almost across the entire country; in Ethiopia this is various metal crosses as necklaces, woven mats and small pottery chickens.

Lammergeyer

Back at the campsite the Lammergeyer also put in an appearance. The largest bird in Ethiopia they can have a wingspan of up to three metres.

Gondar

Saturday is market day in Gondar and the place to go for a wander having arrived overnight from London.

Making the connecting flight in Addis was an achievement from sitting on the tarmac at 6.30, clearing immigration, collecting baggage, changing terminals by following the road signs then jumping the check in queue, not to mention the two security scans to pass through before being the last person to squeeze on the bus to drive around the tarmac in search of our plane, which had also been rescheduled ten minutes earlier for a 7.50 departure.  Having somehow made it onto the plane I was sat next to an old chap, who after crossing himself several times on takeoff, spent most of the 50min flight with one hand over his eyes and the other firmly gripping the hand rest, leaning into my space - not to mention he stank & didn't speak a word of English. 

Spice market  

A couple of lads from the hotel took it upon themselves to show me around. We took some time to walk around the various markets before my first taste of njera, the local staple food. Njera is a kind of sour pancake, the equivalent of naan or roti in India. On top of which the meal is served. I can already safely say it won't be the highlight of my trip to Ethiopia. 

Having visited the local (empty) stadium I had time for an afternoon nap before meeting up with group I will be travelling with the next 3 weeks. It's a not untypical drago group of 16 spanning 8 nationalities. 

Sunday morning we went as a group to cover the cultural highlights of Gondar with a local guide. 

Gondar castle

The UNESCO listed Gondar castle is one of a few in East Africa, King Fasilades built the castle having picked Gondar as his capital in the 17th century. It's relatively well preserved, with the lion cages in use as recently as 1991. The baths that also bear his name are in the process of being filled for a forthcoming annual festival that will see hundreds of people throwing themselves into the water. 

King Fasilades Baths

Debre Birhan Selassie church

Debre Bhiran Selassie church hails from the late 17th century. It is one of the few remaining churches from the era to have survived. Inside, the walks depict a number of biblical scenes alongside a depiction of St George slaying a dragon - seemingly a sufficiently well celebrated event to name a beer after him. The ceiling is covered with the faces of angels, remarkably vibrant in comparison to the walls. 

Angels on the church ceiling

Having completed this cultural tour a few of us stopped off at the local Dashun brewery for lunch and a fine draft beer. Unfortunately it's not possible to tour the brewery but it looks like a large, modern setup.