Ethiopia - Part 3

Wednesday 24^th October

We have had a relatively quiet week back in Ethiopia, spending the first few days after the border crossing at ‘Kim & Tim’s’ camp on Lake Tana, generally regarded as being the source of the Blue Nile (where we had stayed previously, before we headed into Sudan).  This is also where we had stored out beers and wine and I guess the only event worth mentioning is that we had our first cold beer in over two weeks. I think Don’s face says it all!

We pretty much took the vehicle  apart to clean out the desert sand and dust which took us a couple of days. We then visited  more local sites along the Blue Nile, including the impressive Blue Nile Falls, before heading into the Simien mountains which are one of Africa’s largest mountain ranges and described as the ‘Roof of the World’.

We had spectacular views driving up the mountain passes and when we reached our camp at 3,200 m the temperature dropped to 5 degrees and out came the winter pyjamas and the hot water bottle once again. There was a bitter cold wind blowing at night but all four of us felt that this was nevertheless preferable to the heat we had experienced in Sudan.Our Bradt guidebook recommends that instead of camping in these mountains one should try and stay in one of the mountain villages where you would either sleep on the floor or on a wooden platform with goats or cows underneath for warmth.  Well, perhaps another time.

The picture above shows our camp toilet with has to be the toilet with some of the best views in the whole of Africa overlooking a valley from a height of 3200m.

The local people here are some of the poorest we have encountered in Ethiopia so far and it is difficult to see children dressed in little more than rags and no shoes in such hostile weather conditions. This little girl in the picture below was one of them and when I bought a little handmade basket off her I was rewarded with this lovely smile.

 Yesterday we drove further north to a town called Axum which is widely regarded as being the spiritual capital of the Ethiopian Christian community. Although the scenery was amazing, the track (can’t really call it road) was one of those where you crawl over rocks for most of the day and it took us 10 hours averaging 25km/hour.  We were all totally exhausted when we reached Axum in the dark (broke that rule again!) but managed to find a clean budget hotel for the night.

Axum, which is in the very north of Ethiopia and close to the Eritrean border is said to be in possession of one of Christianity’s most important artefacts, namely the Arc of the Covenant. For those of you who are not familiar with the ‘Arc of the Covenant’ (and I was one of them), it is believed to be an ornate wooden box containing the tablets on which God wrote the ten commandments before handing them to Moses. It was thought to have been kept in Jerusalem before it was stolen by an Ethiopian king (the son of The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon) and brought to Ethiopia. It is now thought to be kept in a chapel in a church compound built on the grounds of the first Christian church ever built in Africa in the 5^th Century AD. 

Chapel where The Arc of the Covenant is thought to be kept

 It is guarded by a single monk who becomes the guard aged 20 and stays in the chapel grounds until he dies.  This means that at any one time only one person alive has ever seen the Arc since its arrival in Ethiopia, although all the monk is allowed to do is to cover the box with an embroided cloth and take it off again on certain occasions. It is believed that if he (or anyone else) was to look inside the box he would die.

Of course it is not proved whether the Arc of the Covenant is really kept in Axum (or indeed whether it exists at all) and western historians generally don’t believe it is. And yet, it is impossible not to be caught up in the intrigue of it all. With the help of a local guide we got as close to the chapel as any person is allowed to be and yes, there was definitely a spiritual moment there.

The longer we are in Ethiopia the more we are captivated by its history.  Sudan and Ethiopia are the only countries we have visited so far with extensive numbers of ancient monuments pointing to ancient civilisations. And yet, Ethiopia’s official history is made up more of myths, legends and oral tradition than documented historical fact. Perhaps that is why it is so fascinating. Everyone you talk to is totally passionate about it and it is difficult to find a consensus when it comes to dating monuments or events even in the literature we are reading.

Sunday 28^th October (Happy Birthday Dan!)

We left Axum and headed towards an area called Tigrai which is best known for its rock-hewn churches. These are churches literally carved into cliff faces and again, their history is surrounded by myths and legends. Some of them date back to the 5^th century AD but no-one knows why they were carved into such inaccessible places. Some of them are so inaccessible that they can only be reached by being pulled up on ropes by monks. 

This particular one, Abba Yohanni,  in the two pictures below was almost impossible to spot and we very nearly missed it. Our guidebook described it as being '...build in a tall west facing sandstone cliff about three hours drive from the main turn-off'. If you look carefully you can just about see it in the very centre of the picture and this was our first sighting of it. Because the church is monastic, woman are not allowed to enter so we just took photographs. 

We visited two more churches, the first one was also very remote and thought to be the oldest.  We had to first find the priest who holds the key to unlock the door in a nearby village (who needed to be transported in Heather and Ian’s car sitting on the console with a guide sitting on the bonnet). We then climbed up a fairly steep but manageable rock slope and after a lengthy ritual opening a large wooden door found ourselves in a very small dark little church hewn into the cliff face.

It was absolutely amazing just being in such a place. I can honestly say that St. Peter’s in Rome did not have the same effect on me. The priest lit a tall candle to light up the murials on the walls and roof and the engravings of crosses and symbols into the rock. Unfortunately it was too dark to take any quality photographs on the inside.

Today is Sunday and we have treated ourselves to a slightly more upmarket hotel in a little town just south of Tigres. The longer we are in Ethiopia the more we want to see and an opportunity has just presented itself for us to join a group of people who are heading into an area called ‘Danakil Depression’ which is known for being the hottest and most hostile place in Africa. As well as having active volcanoes the landscape is a mixture of desert and salt lakes. 

One for the boys I think but will keep you posted! If only I could find internet access.