2020 Ethiopia Boris and Yammy

The guide book refers to this as the most spectacularly situated rock hewn church anywhere in Ethiopia. We were not disappointed. To me it has been the highlight of our travels in Ethiopia. It is located somewhere between Axum and Mekele. There is only a small village near by. From a distance you see three towering rock pillars.  In no way can you imagine there is a church up there carved into the rock. Late morning we started climbing the stone steps leading up to what seemed a cliff. We arrived at the base and could see a crack in the rock leading upward. With the help of several helpers our hands and feet were guided into some well rounded footholds and handholds. At times we were hanging on the cliff with precipitous drops below. Finally we got to the spot between the pillars.Here we discovered some kind of marmot animal and a crypt full of human skeletons.  Next we climbed up to a ledge that was about...

The main thing about Axum is that we are in a clean efficient hotel with hot water. Our bodies and clothes are infinitely cleaner than during the trek.  Axum seems to be a prosperous middle class city. The streets are well organized and for the most part clean. It boasts a civilization thousands of years old. The Christian Orthodox church has been established here since Roman times. I am afraid we only touched the surface of tourist attractions . We went to the stelae park a couple of times.  Another big attraction are the ancient churches close to the stelae park.  We gave it a pass. Women are not allowed in the church and we didn't feel the need to pay $10 US for that privilege.  Women here pray outside the church gates. A zillion years ago an Israeli queen conquered the area and burnt down all the churches. It has been pay back time since. So we have spent our time walking around a...

I won't bore you with the chaotic scene at the park office trying implement our four day, three night trek. Finally we were off with another bunch of travellers like us. Along the way we stopped to watch a troop of about a hundred Gelada Monkeys munch away at a grass field. This was the first bunch of hundreds we were to see. Then we commenced our trek at a scenic spot overlooking a precipice and grand scenery. We arrived at our first camp and were disappointed to find our that we were relegated to a bunkhouse rather than a tent. The toilet facilities were grim a portent of worse to come. Most people used any convenient brush and left their toilet paper flapping in the wind. Enough said about that.  Day two we trekked for about three hours to a gorge with a stream running through it. The water was clean enough to wash some of the dust off.  After that it was a long hot c...

Our trip to Gondar was postponed for a full day because of demonstrations against the government. The road to Gondar was blockaded. The next day we arrived in Gondar after a very comfortable two hour drive.  The next day we toured the Royal Palace Compound, The Royal Baths and an orthodox church which was one of the most important in town. It's claim to fame was that it had survived the pillaging of the town by Sudanese invaders. Under divine intervention a swarm of bees drove the invaders away. Today we arrived in Debark, the jumping off spot for the Simien Mts.  We arrived to be confronted by yet another anti government demonstration. Our trek is postponed another day.