Jared and Dianne

The cheapest listed, descent hotel in Lalibela was 100 birr. An acceptable price for one night but we didn't want to pay that 3 nights in a row so after dropping our bags off we went in search of something cheaper. The more budget options were pretty horrible and considering that Lalibela has a flea problem we opted to camp. We found a hotel called Tukul village who would let us pitch our tent on their front lawn. They would also keep a room free for us so we could store our bags and use the bathroom. The rooms were usually $35 US and we were paying 50 birr. Needless to say it was a steal and we snatched it up.

So after a dry night (the hotel ran out of water) we trundled down the rather long road to our new residence and set up camp before heading into our room for a shower. I think that the owner suspected we were using the room for more than just the bathroom. We weren't but to us it was an oasis so the slightest need of water and we were back inside. We were probably a little to rash for a country with a water shortage.

It was time to check out Lalibela's prime attractions, the rock-hewn churches and if Tigray was a taster then Lalibela was the main and dessert. Lalibela has 11 churches, all in close proximity, carved clean out of rock such that they are only attached to the floor. Am impressive engineering feat, especially seeing as they were built hundreds of years ago.

We spent the morning exploring the Northwestern group of churches which contained my second favourite; Bet Medhane Alem which was slightly spoiled by the surrounding scaffolding. Check out the pictures but in short it is huge, and over the top, like a house in the suburbs. The experience was made more surreal by the fact that the churches are all joined by tunnels, channels (up to 8m deep) and bridges. With only a simple map it is an enjoyable adventure.

Even the churches close down from 12-2 here so we went out for lunch to a more expensive place but only got the salad (12 birr). The food was good but I'm not sure about the other patrons. During parts of the trip we have gone three days without seeing another white soul and sometimes they are all around us. Lalibela was one of the latter occasions. It's not a good thing or a bad thing but hearing posh accents on the horn of africa saying "He just wasn't brought up right, that's the problem" can be a little too much.

We resumed churching by visiting what is supposed to be the most beautiful site in Lalibela: Bet St George. Whilst it was beautiful and did make my top three it didn't have the same feel as the others, maybe because it was removed from the rest. For the remainder of the day we explored the Southwestern cluster. It was exploring in every sense of the word. We would find one church and after appreciating it, try to find the next, easier said than done. Sometimes we would find ourselves walking along a path or tunnel only to hit a dead end, elevated 15m from the church we were trying to get to. We were grateful for our head torches when we entered one tunnel which was at least 20 metres long. It was a long day and we were tired from the walking and blazing sun so we were glad to be rewardewd at the end of it by my favourite church Bet Amanuel. Maybe not the biggest or most creative but the attention to detail was second to none. The churches closed for the day and we resigned ourselves to a feed and a few beers.

When we both woke the second day we were acutely aware that despite the impressive nature of the churches we had nearly had enough so in the morning we went over a few things we had rushed passed the previous day and in the afternoon I got myself buzzing on five macchiatos which cost me a grand total of 1 aussie dollar. That night we took full advantage of the pristine facilities at our "campsite" expecting to never see the same quality again in Ethiopia.

Whilst going through the usual, "I can put my own bags on the roof", "I'll tie the luggage down", "I'm not paying for the backpacks" procedure that we endure every bus ride Di realised we had left our stove in the hotel. Clear thought prevailed and we left it there, an extra day in Mekele to recover an 80 birr stove didn't make sense. So at 8am when the 6am bus departed our load was unwelcomely lighter.

The bus ride was a standard affair and we thought silently to ourselves, we've got this whole bus thing dialled. The hours rolled by as did the seemingly endless mountains. For much of the time I was thinking to myselfy, I don't remember it being this mountainess around Addis but enough time had passed that I couldn't really remember, and I thought maybe the entirety of Ethiopia was mountainous, in stark contrast to the general perception in the west.

We rolled into Woldia in the early afternoon and found ourselves a good value hotel for the night. We hit up the restaurant twice, once I had pasta and once I had local food. With a quick cash exchange between bites we were prepared for Lalibela.

The lonely planet prepared us for a late departure the next day but to play it safe we headed to the bus station at the usual time. The mini bus was half full and we thought we'd be gone in no time. Four hours later we departed with no spare seats for Lalibela. By lunch time we had picked up another 20 odd people in a 30 person capacity bus (apparently there were no traffic officers bewtween Woldia and Lalibela) so we were glad for the leg stretch. After lunch the situation only got worse; stopping every 200 metres to pick up more and more people. By the time we approached our destination we were bursting at the seams. We had travelled about 70km as the crow flies and the 6am bus rolled into town at 4pm.

With a slight sense of remorse we left Aksum on the ever reliable 6am bus, fearing a return to the trials of the everyday ethiopian experience. Expecting a full day on the road we settled in for another bum numbing ride. So we were wrapped to arrive mid-afternoon giving us a chance to explore the city. We checked into a 40 birr hotel and set off to explore Mekele. Two things were prodominantly on our minds, the cheapest internet in Ethiopia and a refreshing juice. We soon determined that the cheapest internet was also the most unreliable and dropped that idea like a stone. Desperate for a 50% success rate we headed in search of some juice. Not hard to find considering every second shop was a juice bar, once we had started down the culinary trail there was no turning back.

The food in Ethiopia consists of meat, injera and not much else. Until this point I had been very happy as I generally like my meals to be meat heavy but day in day out it can become tiresome and I was ready for a change. Di had looked up a pizza place in the L.P. which looked like just the ticket so we chowed down on some good old western food. It was so good that I knew my local food intake was to be permanantly reduced.

The next morning we resumed the hunt for internet and were again defeated. The problem being that the only ISP in Ethiopia is the government so when that goes down the shows over, all over. With another defeat on our backs we decided to visit the town's museum. We weren't expecting much and at first, that's all we got. Everything closes from 12-2 in Ethiopia and we arrived at about 12:15. So we settled down under the shade of a nearby tree and passed the time. When the museum reopened the curator came to meet us at the gates. We had him and the museum to ourselves. The museum was actually an old castle of the royal family and as such it housed mostly royal possesions. It was actually quite a rewarding attraction. To put the icing on the cake, half way through I got a call from my parents, reconnecting me with home.

With little more to do in town we expected another kick backed afternoon. On our way back to our hotel we saw another internet establishment, with not much else on we thought we might aswell give it one more try and we hit the jackpot. So I passed the rest of the day, bum firmly in chair, catching up on emails and this blog. Not far into my epic internet session a very loud and colourful parade hit the street outside and it continued for much of the afternoon, thousands of people singing and dancing, marching bands and just general cheerfulness. Then we remembered, it was Timkat. The 19th of January is a massive Ethiopian Orthodox Catholic celebration day. So we enjoyed the parades and captured a few frames and photos to remember it.

Happy to have had a surprisingly interesting day we walked briskly home to our jumpers. On arrival Di realised she didn't have her wallet on her, so we walked even faster back to the internet cafe, no surprises, it was gone. The good news was now that neither of us had a wallet we couldn't lose them again. I ventured back to Ethiopian cuisine for dinner, it was cold and disgusting, reaffirming my renewed invigour for faranji food.

Early the next morning we caught a mini-van to the nearby town of Wukro. Our launching point to the rock-hewn churches of Tigray. We were forgetting the day after Timkat is a public holiday so facilities were limited. None the less we hired a van to take us around for 400 birr. The first church we visited was not known for its architecture but rather its dazzlind position, carved into a rock face separated by several hundred metres from the ground below. Even the route up was a little hairy, a grade 5 for those who know australian climbing grades. It was truly scenic and well worth the hike, the church itself was tiny and cost 50 birr each for entry so we decended without ever going in. The second and last church was supposedly the most impressive and I could see why. The whole thing was hewn out of one rock and the roof was carved carefully with intricate patterns. Not wanting to over do the churches before we got to Lalibela we went back to town. The buses had stopped running because of the public holiday but we luckily found a ride in a car. The route to Lalibela was long so we filled up on pizza and ice cream and went to bed early.

We had allowed six days for the Simiens and had only used four, leaving us ahead of our schedule, impressive seeing we didn't really have an itinerary. With the extra time up our sleeves we decided to slow it down a notch.

Despite being two tourist hotspots there are no busses from Debark to Aksum, probably because next to no tourists bother with local busses. There is a bus from Gonder to Shire (near Aksum) which goes through Debark but by the time it gets to Debark the seats are all taken. Due to dilligent planning we were prepared for this and had found a guy who we paid to go back to Gonder the day before we were due to leave, stay the night and in the morning buy two tickets and reserve two seats on the bus, we paid him 10 USD including his expenses (hotel, food, bus fares). We met him in the Debark bus station at 9am, got our seats and left for Shire. We arrived in Shire later than we hoped but grateful to be alive. I know I said the blue nile crossing was steep but it looked like a bowling green in comparison to this, add to that the bus driver from hell and even the locals were crossing themselves and sweating in fear. Despite our worst thoughts we arrived in Shire before 6pm and caught a mini-van the final hour and a half to Aksum. Di had stomach cramps when we arrived so we got the nearest hotel. He was asking 175 birr for the room but with due stubborness and my lack of compasion for Di we chiseled him down to 100. It was more than we wanted to pay but we dealt with it for one night.

The first thing we did the next morning was to find a cheaper hotel, we got one for 40 birr which we made home for another two nights. Farenji fever was a little less prominent in Aksum and we took full advantage of it. Aksum is most famous for its stelae which are essentially giant obelisks. The biggest standing one is 23m and the biggest one full stop is around 33m. The giant one fell during its ressurection in the 4th century, it broke through a near by tomb and is believed to be the last stelae ever made. We explored the local tombs and admired the intricacies, precision and engineering involved in the stelae for just over an hour, ate our bakery rolls and hired some bikes. We rode the bikes out to the stelae quarry some 4km out of town. The rode was rough and the bikes in disrepair, we never actually found the quarry but we did come across some 4th century palace ruins and another stelae field.

It was only 2 o'clock when we returned but as I mentioned before we were in cruising mode so we spent the rest of the afternoon drinking fruit juice, beer and playing cards. In the process we were approached by a local guy who runs a free english school for local teenagers. He asked us if we would attend the class to give the kids some english exposure through a question and answer format. We cautiously agreed after establishing no money was to change hands. The class was interesting and beneficial to the kids despite the less than perfect english being taught and the embedded moral lessons.

Our second day in Aksum was similar to the first, a morning of sights and an afternoon relaxing. Our first stop was to see a stone in a 'park' in the centre of town. It is a kind of Rosetta stone which has the same message engraved in three different languages. The second point of interest was the so called queen of sheeba's baths which had been concreted and as such looked like any old resevoir and thirdly we visited two king's tombs on a nearby hill. We were prepared with head torches but we were not prepared for the bats. They gave me a fright when I entered their 'lair' and they launched into the air around me but it was not as frightening as when Di pointed out the threat of rabies. The other tomb was lit, both were interesting and worth the visit.

For the afternoon we sat on the decking of a ritzy hotel overlooking town and had a few quiet beers as we watched raptors glide effortlesly on the thermals. Aksum had been just what the doctor ordered and we both felt refreshed and rejuvinated.

If you're all a little bit sick of my 'we did this, we did that' blogging then take a break while I fill you in on the life of a foreigner in Ethiopia. There is a phenomena here which the Lonely Planet describes as 'Faranji Fever', just one day of it gives you a taste of the celebrity life. You have more money than anyone around you, you never cook or clean but more than anything else you are constantly flocked by civilians. In case that was too cryptic for you, everyone on the street calls out "hello" (not once but for the entire period you are in view), the curious rural folk follow you around and the young kids constantly beg for money, biscuits and even pens. There are no exceptions to this and it can become a little over whelming.

Di and I hoped we knew the cure, a trip to the Simien mountains. So once again we got up before 5am and walked to the local bus station, we organised a bus to Debark, the launching pad for the Simiens. By nightfall we had organised our compulsory scout (complete with AK-47) and our guide. We even got a 4WD which skips the first 'mundane' day of the walk for 30 USD, usually priced at 75. We retired early for another early rise.

After the usual morning preceedings we met our driver and the rest of the team and headed for Sankaber. Here we organised a muleteer and a mule to carry the teams gear (each cost 2 USD a day). Within 15 minutes of walking we were navigating along a several hundred metre high escarpment, no more than a metre from the edge. Its a difficult decision to chose between looking at the view and making sure your feet land at the right place. By an hour we had already seen Gelada baboons and a Klipspringer. In another hour Di was wrecked, to her credit she trudged on to our lunchtime recovery point. The day was filled with many beautiful views and some good wildlife spotting including birds of prey numbering in what seemed like the hundreds, most impressive of all was the Lammergeyer vulture.

We arrived at Geech camp mid afternoon and after setting up our tent Di took full advantage of it while some of the local kids coaxed me into a game of soccer. It started of well, I was a bit of a star if I don't say so myself. But when you live at sea level, soccer at 3600m is quite a task and in 15 minutes my lungs were screaming at me, in another 15 minutes I retired to the amusement of the locals. Still enjoying the experience I sat down to watch the rest of the game. One of the goals was situated within 5m of a steep hill and as you would expect the ball was lost over it not long into the game. I joined the search party looking for the ball and as we were proceeding down the hill Nur, our guide said "Shhhhh, look a big cat" my eyes followed his finger to the creek in the base of the valley and to my surprise I saw a leopard. Sounds of excitement from everyone in the search party startled the cat and it took off. It was the first time our guide had seen one and the other guide at camp had never seen one either. I counted myself very lucky. For those of you who are interested the ball was also found and soccer resumed.

Di and I cooked ourselves a rather ordinary pasta for dinner on our newly purchased $10, overpriced, chinese camp stove, from there Di went to bed and I joined the locals and team members around a eucalypt fed camp fire. For my benefit those who could speak english did so on occasions but in the end the conversations transgressed until they were 100% Amharic. It didn't take long to register that they were all telling campfire stories and as much as I desparetely wanted to understand I still felt privileged just to hear their family stories.

The following morning we had a late-ish start because were were only doing a half-day hike. On our way to a near by peak of around 4000m we came accross a troop of Geldada baboons. They had no fear of humans and we got within 10 metres of them. It was a magical experience; the youngsters played in the trees and the older ones mulled around eating the grass (Gelada baboons are the only vegetarian baboons in the world). We could have sat there all day but we didn't have lunch with us so after an hour we pushed on to the 'summit'. The peak itself did not really stand out as it wasn't much higher than its surrounding plateau, on the other hand the views were astounding, with a lack of words to describe it check out the attached photos (when I upload them). We took a different path home via yet another view point, as we sat staring down to the valley below Nur spotted some Walia Ibex an endangered endemic species of goat, although common in other areas of the mountains we were very lucky to see them where we were.

Back at camp we cooked some Mi Gorengs which have never tasted so good. As we were finishing up the local school kids were let out and with it came the offers to buy beer, eggs and chickens. I declined all three but I secretly longed for a beer. I started asking one of the boys sitting near me about school and soon enough the teacher in me came out and I started giving him a few maths problems to do. In no time I had about a dozen kids gathered around all furiously at work trying to solve the tasks I set. By the end of it all I was confident a few of the locals would remember order of operations, at least for a little while. A pasta dinner later, we were in bed and out of the cold.

Unfortunately the only way out of the mountains in the time we had set was to retrace our steps. So as we rewound the familiar path to Sankaber camp I sadly reflected on how quickly people become complacent, the views though no less spectacular didn't take my breath away. We encountered some more baboons, this time from afar, I still could have watched them all day. There was trouble in paradise as a few of the bachaelor baboons were challenging the older males for a place in the troop. They were fighting on hills that approached 75 degrees at points yet somehow none of them ended up falling off the cliffs at the bottom. When it was all settled one of the bachelors carried his sorry self away for some more alone time.

With the help of a shortcut we arrived at Sankaber early and to our surprise the place was heavily burdened with tents. Some tour groups were coming through and there were no shortage of old german, french, italian etc hikers. We were unceremoniously sent to the kiddies table, or rather the poor peoples thatched cooking hut where we were accompanied by three other people in our age bracket and the staff from the other groups. We drooled over the oldies prepared meals as we made yet another spaghetti dish. Its not that our cooking is so bad its just that the ethiopians have very little in the way of fresh produce available. I shared a nip of ouzo with a british guy, got some good info on the rest of africa and went to bed.

The trudge down from Sankaber to Debark was steep and slippery. Di and I were both very grateful that we had taken the cheap ride up. The views of the fourth day were meagre in comparison to the other days and it really did just seem like the way out. Our scout, Getatcho was leading as our guide caught the car back with most of our gear. He had a different opinion of a walking track to our guide and pointed his imaginary compass to Debark and made a straight line to it. So through grass, dirt, creeks and errosion channels we made a hay line for Debark. We knew we were near town when we heard the first, "Hello, give me money" I think it's the only time we have ever enjoyed that sound and it was still grating. We arrived in good time, and luckily we got a room in the same hotel as before.

After some recovery time and food we headed to our guides house and watched the end of a really ordinary movie with him. Di bought a local item called a gavvy (jumper/blanket/snot rag) which no local would be without. We said good bye to Nur and followed the usual dinner, teeth bed procedure.