"Ethiopia" - who does not think about starving children in an underdeveloped country!?
Once we cross the Southern border we are therefore quite surprised so spot in Turmi dozens of modern Toyota Land-Cruisers packed with tourists. International tourism has long discovered the Omo-Valley and locals are fully aware of their fame. For each picture you have to pay, children do not ask for sweets - they demand sweets (money etc.). We prefer not to linger in the South of Ethiopia but quickly move on to Addis Abeba.
The drive to Addis is horrific. Not so much because of the road but because of the people on the road. Every-day-life happens on the road in Ethiopia. In other countries it is usually the market place where people gather - in Ethiopia it is the road. Children ignore their cattle and point their fingers at us screaming "you-you-you". Women seem to work really hard, carrying wood and foodstuff for their families along the road while men stand together in small groups and chat. Impossible - if not suicidal - to drive at night under such circumstances!
Initially, Addis Abeba appears just like any other African city: an endless traffic jam, tons of people and the usual herd of goats roaming. Right in the center of the city there is a campsite, tiny but cute: Wim's Holland House, where we meet plenty of fellow travelers who hesitate (just like us) to travel north due to the revolutions in Egypt and Libya.
Our weekend in Addis starts early at 6am with the sound of unnerving vocals from the nearby orthodox church. The mosque joins in just a few minutes later. Muslims and Christians have been competing for the Ethiopian souls since forever! The history of Ethiopia reads like a fairy-tale including emperors, kings and knights fighting gruesome battles. In comparison, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy appears like a romance. So let's go to middle-earth and let the journey through time begin!
On a perfect tarmac road we travel north-west towards Debre Marcos. In this region, people seem to be really busy, hardly anyone bothers us by screaming "you-you-you". Once we reach the Blue Nile (Abay) the landscape becomes really dramatic. During millions of years the river has carved a canyon which looks like the big brother of the Grand Canyon in the United States. The road winds down into the canyon and climbs up on the opposite side. For our "Archie" this trip might be torture - for us it is pure fun!
On Lake Tana we take a break in Bahir Dar. The small city is not so ugly but we barely take notice. It is the picturesque lake and a cold drink that command our full attention. The south-west corner of the lake forms the source of the Blue Nile which is going to await us together with our old comrade - the White Nile - in Karthoum.
The monuments that we are about to visit now belong to the most outstanding buildings that Africa has to offer: the stone churches in Lalibela. Just to travel through the breathtaking landscape from Bahir Dar to Lalibela is already something you will never forget. I almost pity tourists that catch a plane from Addis to Lalibela and who will never experience those biblical landscapes!
According to a legend king Lalibela (1167 - 1207) had a dream in which God encouraged him to build a second Jerusalem. And King Lalibela did as required and carved eleven stone churches from the red vulcanic rock in Lalibela. Our tourist guide Josef (somehow all men in Lalibela are called "Josef") explains that the King needed only 23 years to complete the construction as angels continued working during the night.
Very unfortunately some of the churches are protected by ugly modern roofs to protect them - all financed by the EU! What a disaster - could someone please dismantle them!?
The road from Woldia to Maychew has very recently been paved by the Chinese (hurry, it won't last long!) and the drive could be just divine - if the children in the region would not have the nasty habit of throwing stones at everyone and everything (not only tourists). We were just annoyed, friends, however, lost a wind screen!
To find the right words to describe the road from Maychew to Aksum is difficult - simply "WOW" probably fits best. Fortunately we believe already that the way itself is the goal - because we are disappointed when we finally arrive in Axum.
Axum is for the Ethiopian Christians a city of similar religious importance as Rome for the Europeans. According to legend the old cathedral houses the ark of the covenant. Every year thousands of Ethiopians visit this dusty little town around the end of November. The rest of the year, time seems to stand still. Should one of the former kings come back to visit (e.g. King Ezana 325-355) he would be really surprised how little has changed during his absence. Only prices for restaurants and hotels have arrived in the 21th century and are just crazy.
Our journey through time is far from over yet - to the contrary! Those who continue the circuit trough the Simien mountains to Gonder (or Lake Tana) will find themselves in a surrounding which reminds of medieval times in Europe: villages look run down, dirty and poor. People and animals look scruffy and the road has disappeared. Instead we need to get across a huge construction area (end: autumn 2012) with bulldozers paving the way just in front of us.
Once we finally reach Gonder we first of all need to clean Archie from loads of dirt and dust before we visit the old city of kings from the 17th and 18th century. The palace district with its towers and reminds in an ancient pompous castle. In its heydays the glamorous city is said to have accommodated about 80.000 people - hard to imagine today when you look at its ruins.
But we have embarked on a journey through time, so we need to use our creativity just a little bit longer and imagine how Gonder once looked like - once upon a long long time...!
0 comment(s)
