Driving to Aksum/Axum - North Ethiopia
It would be another 262km/162mile drive from Debark to Aksum/Axum and Johnny anticipated 7-8 hours. This meant breakfast at 6:00 am to leave by 7:00 am. It was very cold during the night and we slept with most of our clothes on, huddled under blankets.
TIP #1: Put whatever clothes you need for the next day in the foot of your sleeping bag or under the covers with you. That way, they'll be warmer to put on.
TIP #2: Always keep a flashlight/torch in your backpack in 3rd World countries. Never know when you'll need it.
The route started through the Simien Mountains with dramatic scenery and a dramatic road curving its way through those mountains. Along the road, rusted tanks and trucks leftover from Ethiopia's civil war.
Camels! I don't know why we didn't anticipate camels. ...View image... This is arid land...this is Africa...and there they were. The Amhara people in this area use camels if they can afford it instead of donkeys. A donkey (and they were such little donkeys) costs around 300 birr ($33 U.S.) and I'm sure a camel is much more expensive. ...View image...
Through the mountains...with Johnny always willing to make a photo stop...View image...
Four hours later, we were in Shire for lunch. A really good lunch at the Africa Hotel with tasty chicken (unfortunately, one of those chickens that had run back and forth across the road a few too many times), and it was getting hotter in the flats. A very tasty lunch in Shire...
Before long the landscape changed again to barren and arid...
Another 1-1/2 hours from Shire to Aksum/Axum and the Yeha Hotel. The scenery has changed from mountains to camels to green and fertile with the Amhara people finishing up their reaping.....
...and I think the Ethopian people (and children) are some of the most beautiful we've ever seen...View image...
The Yeha Hotel overlooked the main Stelae site and it was pleasant sitting on the terrace, again watching raptors soar overhead. The big sightseeing of Aksum will wait until tomorrow...
