The next day we had to get a tuk-tuk to the bus station just after 4am and lined up outside the locked station complex with all the other early birds. The guard checked our tickets and let us into the compound and showed us our bus. There were only a handful of us inside and we were the only foreigners, but as soon as the gates were opened there was a huge stampede as people raced around looking for their buses. The armed guard directed us to the front seats and later came back for some money for letting us in and getting us good seats! We didn't sit in the front seats he gave us as there was no place to put your feet as there was a seat where our feet should be so we moved to a better place that had a window that could open and that was not covered with black film.
John finished his course of antibiotics and was back to normal health. He kept an eye on the bags being stacked on the roof of the bus while I held the seats. There were more than 30 buses in the compound and they all started their poorly maintained engines at the same time and being side by side the fumes spread through all the buses. We couldn't see for black sooty diesel smoke as it irritated our eyes. The bus exhausts were in line with the entry door so everytime someone got in the bus, it filled with smoke. The whole yard was enveloped in the stuff and people were coughing and complaining everywhere. There was no escape from it.
We climbed up and down through valleys and there was a lot of road construction. Sometimes we would not be able to pass until the bulldozers cleared the huge rocks and rubble from the middle of the road.
We passed through the town of Debark which is the place where trampers get off to walk the trails in the Simien Mountains. We had originally intended to do this too but as getting around the country is so unreliable we decided against it. We were the only foreigners in the bus and only saw 2 guys from the Czech Republic who were heading off to walk the trails.
We crossed the Tekeze River and saw a caravan of camels. We had read about 30 camels that had been stopped near this area. The camels were carrying huge bundles of second hand clothing and they were being illegally brought into the country. It seems the clothes come from Europe through Dubai and camels crossing remote borders bring them in to the city traders. The people are too poor to afford brand label clothes so there is a huge market for second hand label clothes.
Something happened to the fuel line on the bus so we had to wait while the driver's assistant hitched a ride to get some spare parts. Two hours later they had it repaired. We had hoped to get from Gonder all the way through to Aksum but by the time we arrived at Shire, where we were meant to connect with a minivan, the last minivan for the day had already left.
An Ethiopian man who spoke good English helped us find some accommodation. He worked for a communications company in Addis and was doing some marketing in Shire. The hotel was near the bus station and it was really cheap and basic. We headed off in the dark to find somehere to eat and the only restaurant we could find had just one dish on the menu- cow stomach and ingera, well that is what we think the waiter was describing as he pointed to his stomach! However, he did offer us eggs and bread, he forgot to tell us the bread was stale.
While we were eating, an Israeli guy came in looking for food too. Eight years ago his family adopted an Ethiopian Jewish boy and he was heading to a small village in the north where the boy's mother lived. He was taking a parcel of photos and things with him as the mother had not seen the boy in all that time. He had already had 12 hours on a bus and had another 12 hours before he would reach his destination. Israel opened its borders to anyone who was Jewish, so the boy's family sent him there.
The minivan from Shire dropped us outside the Africa Hotel in Aksum. It was a clean warm place with a small restaurant. The stickers on the walls in reception showed it was well used by the trucking tour companies but we only saw one other foreigner. He had been tramping in the Simien Mountains and was drying out his camping gear on the roof.
From here we could easily walk to the historic sites that we wanted to visit in Aksum. The ancient kingdom of Aksum was one of the most powerful before 400BC. It was an important commercial crossroad between Egypt, the Sudanese goldfields, and the Red Sea. Aksum exported frankincense, grain, skins, apes, and ivory. They imported goods from Egypt, Arabia, and India.
We visited the stalae fields which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. There are over 120 stelae ranging from 1 meter to 33 metres high. Under these are a number of underground tombs.
Aksum is also the Christian heartland of the country with St Mary of Zion church their holiest shrine.
We passed by the place where the Queen of Sheba used to bathe and it is now where the local water supply is stored.
We walked to the outskirts of town where we visited the ruins of Dungar- the Palace of Queen Sheeba. Most of the walls have been rebuilt to a height of 2 metres and you could look down on the complex from a platform.
The local children from the farms surrounding the city call for money, sweets, pens, and food from all the tourists. When we walked back into town, we were followed by several kids who
took turns voicing their begging mantra. It happens from the second you leave the hotel till the second you get back into it and is quite draining!
Some of the farms in this area used camels to carry goods as well as donkeys.
The knitted wool mats were a favourite item in the souvenir shops.
In the evening we went to one of the big hotel where they had a good selection of different dishes to eat. We watched the BBC News on their TV and saw the protests in Egypt developing each night. On the street was a bar that had local draught beer where we would have a pint and watch the locals watching us! The beer was called St George, and he seems to be a pretty popular saint in Ethiopia.
There were a lot of 5+ storey buildings being constructed in the city but not very many private vehicles. The local taxis were the blue and white tuk tuks from India. The main road was sealed and a few side streets were cobbled but most streets were rocky and dusty. Sometimes we could get an email written or read, but more often than not there was no internet connection available. Surprisingly Aksum was a pretty clean place, especially in the centre, but outside the town the rubbish piles were where the animals scavenged.
There were a lot of 5+ storey buildings being constructed in the city but not very many private vehicles. The local taxis were the blue and white tuk tuks from India. The main road was sealed and a few side streets were cobbled but most streets were rocky and dusty. Sometimes we could get an email written or read, but more often than not there was no internet connection available. Surprisingly Aksum was a pretty clean place, especially in the centre, but outside the town the rubbish piles were where the animals scavenged.
