Gonder + Tim & Kims (Ethiopia)

Brett: The road from Debark to Gonder is very slow because of all the road works. We finally reached Gonder, where we went straight to the ATM to get cash, and then to the petrol station to fill up – we resolved to keep at least one of the jerries full at all times, so ended up taking 160l onboard. This may have been the single biggest petrol transaction in the history of the Gonder Total as its only really the tuktuks and motorbikes that run on petrol - as the numbers on the pump went up and up, so did the number of spectators who stopped to watch. We checked in at Belegez Pension ($10 double), which is a great little guesthouse in a nice and central spot right near the Royal Enclosure. Aside from a slight amount of hassle from prospective guides when we arrived, we really liked the feel of Gonder and set off to find lunch. We ended up at the New Day Restaurant next to Daschen Bank, where we had by far the best Kai Wat (out of several good ones) of the trip so far, with drinks, for the astoundingly low price of $2. We explored the Royal Enclosure ($6pp), an impressive collection of old castles, where we were too lazy or jaded to take a guide. There are pretty much no signs or info and the guidebook was also a bit sketchy on detail, and we were knackered anyway, so moseyed round in a daze making up our own wacky version of the possible history of the sites. We had hoped to bump into the English family to check up on the patient and return some birr they had kindly lent us - they had been heading towards Gonder, but I guess our delay of an extra day waiting for petrol in Debark meant they had already left. Back at the guesthouse we had a looooong hot shower (Mary was on her 5th day in the same t-shirt) and went out to dinner.

Mary: Gonder turned out to be a fantastic town for food – we went out to breakfast at the Telecafe under the post office – I had spotted fuul on the menu (a kind of garlicky bean gruel) and wanted to give it a go. It was absolutely magic and we rounded it off with a strong macchiato before staggering out in a blissful state. We stocked up on a few expensive basics and changed some birr into Sudanese Pounds at Belegez’s (at a bad rate – you can get a much better rate in Sudan on the black market than the “official” exchange rate) before heading for the Daschen Brewery for lunch and cheap draft beer. There is normally a free tour which ends with a free draft apparently, but the tour guy wasn’t around – suited me perfectly as I had been dreaming of getting to Tim and Kim’s ($3.50 pppn camping) at Gorgora / Lake Taka for a long time. On the way the heavens opened and we spotted some (Spanish) motorbikers sheltering under a tree but obviously heading the same way – once again I’m reminded how nice it is to have a car instead of a bike!
Tim & Kim’s is a lovely spot with great food courtesy of Kim. There is no running water (yet) and electricity is only from solar panels, but it is a great spot to just chill out. The motorbikers turned up and we spent the evening chatting over a beer. We caught up on chores – tonnes of washing, tidying and dusting, as well as fixing a puncture and rotating the tyres. We redid our dustproofing as the canopy and drawers were covered in dust from the last few weeks, and got ready to head towards the Sudan border...

Simien National Park – Ethiopia

Mary: From Axum we headed to Debark, which is a grotty, dirty shanty town. Here you really do get hassled, but I think we are getting used to it and it didn’t seem terrible. We camped in the parking lot/rubble heap of the Simien Park Hotel (at $3 per tent we couldn’t really complain). We headed off to the Tourist Office to get tickets for Simien Mountain National Park (entry $5.50 90 birr pp/day, car $1.50 20 birr/day, scout $4.50 75 birr/day, camping $0.50 10 birr pppn, map $20 – not really necessary). You have to take a scout (we were assigned a cheerful old guy called Fante) but they don’t speak English, which is obviously designed to encourage you take a guide as well, but that means you should probably hire a mule and mule-driver to carry the guide’s stuff, and one more mule for your stuff, and then you may as well also take a cook, and another mule to carry the food… We didn’t want a whole expensive entourage and being excellent mimes we weren’t put off by Fante’s lack of English, so we didn’t take anyone else, which the guy at the Ticket Office assured us was fine. We got the guys to tell Fante to meet us at our hotel at 8:30 the next morning and headed off. There was a fantastic cafe at the hotel where we had a really good dinner and then headed to bed.
At 7am, Fante turned up to collect us. We were running low on fuel but there is no petrol in Debark (only diesel), so we bought 5l on the black market at a 50% mark-up. Having paid for the fuel we were also pretty low on cash, and there is also no ATM in town, but we figured we wouldn’t need to buy anything and we had enough for a tip for the scout, so we were confident we would be ok. How wrong we were! We arrived at Sankaber campsite where we were planning to spend the first night and got ready to hike to the waterfall. Just as we were leaving the campsite, the senior scout came up and said we needed to pay for an extra scout to guard the car, in case it got stolen. He was extremely aggressive and when we showed him the alarm and gearlock he told us that if we didn’t pay him, “something would definitely break on the car – maybe the mirror or a window”. We even said I would stay and guard the car while Brett went off on the hike, and at that point he really lost it and chased us out of the campsite shouting at us that we couldn’t stay there unless we paid him. We were really annoyed and cleared out, heading for Chennek campsite instead. Chennek is much prettier, with stunning views over the escarpment, and we didn’t have anyone asking for money, so we set off for a hike with Fante up to Inathi peak (4064m). The hike was great, initially very steep as we climbed past herds of grazing cattle and then levelled off. The only problem was the hordes of children who followed us asking for money, pens, t-shirts etc and trying to get us to buy their baskets and hats. They were relentless, following us for several hours and crowding round us when we stopped for lunch. We sat at the peak watching the eagles swooping around us. When we got back to camp, we expected Fante to leave us and hang out with the other scouts in the kitchen, where they apparently get fed and sleep as well. Instead, he hung around while we were reying to relax and eventually laid out his blanket to sleep next to the car – we had to get another guide to come and chat to him – apparently he was worried our stuff might get nicked so was planning to sleep under our tent to guard us…we told him he was fine to go sleep in the kitchen where it is warmer and we finally got some peace.
It was freezing in the night so we slept in a bit the next morning before getting ready to go on our next hike, up to Bhawit peak (4430m). Lo and behold, just as we were setting off up the road, one of the camp scouts appeared to tell us that, surprise surprise, our car wasn’t safe and we would need to hire another scout to look after the car while we were gone, and to top it off, if we wanted to hike up to Bhawit peak we would need an additional scout to come with us as one isn’t enough! By this point we had had enough, but at least the guy was nice about it, so we told him we didn’t have enough money for all these additional scouts and that we were only willing to pay for one extra scout to guard the car (which was not quite true but near enough). This did the trick and we handed over the extra cash, setting off up the hill. We suspected Fante’s English was fractionally better than stated when we started discussing how we would now have less of a tip for him, as he went into a bit of a huff. It is amazing how these things can ruin a hike, and we were both in pretty bad moods. We came across a large group of Gelada baboons on the way and stopped for photos – they seem quite relaxed around people and you would never want to be that close to a normal baboon. Suddenly an Ibex with massive horns came walking down the road, followed by 2 other adults and a couple of juveniles. This was quite a treat and we started up the steepest part of the hike feeling slightly better. By the time we got up to the top of Bhawit our bad moods had evaporated and we soaked up the amazing views – absolutely fantastic and we started to believe that our luck had finally turned hehehe...
When we got back to camp the car was completely unguarded with the fantasy additional scout nowhere to be seen. We made some popcorn and settled into a nice sit-and-relax, and just then an English lady came up to ask for help. She was hiking with her husband, son and his girlfriend on an organised tour, but the son’s girlfriend had become very unwell with altitude sickeness. The tour company vehicle had left and they weren’t sure if it would be coming back that night, they had no first aid and they really needed to get her down to a lower altitude – could we pack up and take son & girlfriend down to Sankaber camp or preferably Debark? We both jumped at the chance to get back to Debark a night early rather than camping in the freezing mountains as the previous night had been so cold, and we had planned to pack up in the morning anyway to get on to Gonder. We were concerned about petrol as the fuel consumption had been so high due to the steep windy rough roads – the needle was below E and we didn’t want to run out on the way back to Debark with a sick patient onboard – so we asked if they had any petrol at the camp. Now, to clarify, petrol is “benzeen” in Amharic, whereas diesel is “naptha” (or “diesel”, or just “fuel”, since everything in town except motorbikes runs on diesel). So we said, “benzeen?”, and they said “yes, benzeen”, and that is how we ended up with 20l of diesel in the tank. The engine was turning over but we were not going anywhere and lots of smoke was coming out of the exhaust, drawing a massive crowd of spectators. “Maybe the fuel is a bit dirty” suggested one helpful fellow; “it must be the battery!” cried another. Suddenly suspicious, I asked the man with the yellow jerry if he was sure it was benzeen…”WHAAAAAT??? benzeen?? but this is DIESEL!” he replied, looking truly shocked – *!#@$%!!*.
The campsite scouts were really apologetic and pretty much every local at the campsite had a go at trying to siphon the diesel out, but the only pipe we could find was too short. Just as it started getting dark, we finally managed to get most of the diesel out by disconnecting the pipe leading to the fuel filter and pump (there was a lot more in the tank than we had thought, and we would have easily made it back to Debark – we now know exactly how much our reserve is!). Using our sat phone, the tour guide (Tesfaye) was able to contact their vehicle and arrange for the group to get collected and taken back down to Debark. We managed to scrounge some Diamox from some kindly Israeli hikers and said a hasty goodbye to the group as the headed down the mountain. They took one of our jerry cans and some dollars – Tesfaye had promised to come back the next morning with 20l of petrol. There was nothing for it but to set ourselves up for another night in the mountains.
Brett: After a fairly restless night we got up and made a cheer-up breakfast of eggs and viennas, and then settled in for the long wait for petrol. Mary was pessimistic about our chances of the petrol or our money ever being seen again, but at about 12 a truck full of locals pulled up and a guy jumped off, handed me the (full) jerry, some money and a handwritten note, climbed back on the truck and disappeared into the distance. Tesfaye had been true to his word and changed our dollars, bought us petrol, and sending it back up the mountain with the correct change in the hands of a trusty sheepherder – what a star. We didn’t waste any time and chugged the petrol in – on the 3rd attempt the Beast roared to life and we were on our way! The scouts at the campsite all came out to say goodbye and wish us well. It was a great feeling to finally blow that rice paddy and I don’t think any tourist has ever been happier to see Debark town. We were readier than ever to head on to Gonder, but needed to get more petrol as we didn’t have enough to get to the next petrol station. Of course, Murphy wasn’t done with us just yet and as we got to the Kobil station (only sells diesel but the manager runs the black market in petrol) we were told there was no more petrol available in Debark…so once again we handed over a jerry can and somebody promised to take the bus to Gonder to go buy petrol for us. We camped again at the Simien Park Hotel and treated ourselves to a nice dinner where we met a friendly Chinese/German girl travelling on her own, also hoping to go to Simien NP. We told her our tale of woe but didn’t put her off too much as it was still really beautiful and cheap (aside from the petrol/diesel disaster it had cost us $75 for 2 people for 3 days – tour companies were quoting $400pp).
In the morning a messenger came to tell us our petrol had arrived so we packed up and set off for the Kobil station. When we got there, they told us we just needed to go collect the jerry from somewhere else, so the manager hopped in the back and we drove off up a little dirt road towards the slummier part of town. We didn’t really know what was going on but had no choice but to go where he directed us… and he directed us to - the police station! At this point we were both a little tense and waiting 45 minutes for the police chief to turn up didn’t help, especially as the Kobil guys didn’t tell us much besides that the police had confiscated our jerry because the business was illegal, but that it would all be fine. When the police chief arrived we thought a fine/bribe would be requested, even though we hadn’t done anything wrong, and we couldn’t figure out exactly why we were at the police station in the first place. Fortunately this time it was all quickly resolved – there is no petrol in Debark so it is not a problem for the Kobil manager to run a black market in petrol (in fact he apparently supplies the police with petrol for their motorbikes!), but they had assumed that the Beast was diesel and that the manager was trying some elaborate scam on us by charging us an inflated price when there was already legitimate diesel in the pumps. After a quick inspection to confirm it was petrol in the jerry after all, we were released back into the wild. Finally we were on our way with enough petrol to get us to Gonder… we were free!

Ethiopia: Addis, Lalibela, Tigray and Axum

Brett: Finding Wims Holland House ($7 per tent) in Addis Ababa is not easy – Wim’s is in some kind of old industrial estate next to the train station and bus terminal. We missed the turnoff which is behind an obscure boom at the SE corner of the bus terminal next to the main train station building, and ended up in a maze of tiny alleys. Eventually we got there with the help of a few locals who are obviously used to lost faranjis wandering around the area! The campsite is quite unusual, as it is divided into 3 separate small plots, with narrow public roads in between, and the whole place has a kind of cheerful suburban slum feel (but in a nice way). The restaurant is good, if a little pricy by Ethiopian standards, but this was more than made up for by the draft St Georges from the Dutch style bar. Unusually for an overlander meeting point, Wim’s doesn’t have Wi-Fi and the 3G (actually EDGE) connection throughout Ethiopia is frustratingly slow (even in Addis).
We bumped into Ruedi & Suzi who we had met at JJs – they had been having some problems with one of the axles of their Australian OKA truck so were spending quality time at Wim’s pit fixing things. We had a few beers and chatted to a few other overlanders, but almost everybody we met is heading South (or travelling North but much faster than us). We had hoped to meet up with the Richards, Mo and Casper, who we travelled with through Omo Valley, but they were nowhere to be found – hopefully just taking their time rather than stuck somewhere! After a lazy afternoon (the first in a while) we wandered back to the train station to a great local restaurant, Buffet de la Gare. Addis is such a relaxed city that even walking around a grubby train/bus station in the dark in not the greatest neighbourhood, we felt totally safe.
In the morning, we began the chores in earnest, having built up a massive amount of washing and tidying. The Beast got a proper bath and all her bolts checked and tightened. We decided to take a walk into town to see the sights – Wim’s is quite near some of the popular tourist sights. Mary had caught a cold so the walk ended up as more of a short stroll, and even though we were being lazy it didn’t feel like there was terribly much to see, but the hassle factor was low and we enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere.

Mary: The distances in Ethiopia are massive - heading north to Lalibela is a 2 day drive (16 hours). The first day was along good tar roads through beautiful green mountain passes and recently built tunnels. We got to Hayk Lake Campsite ($6.50 per tent negotiated down to $4.50) in the dark, finding our way down the steep road through the town which was absolutely chockers with cars and taxis coming back from a wedding at the restaurant attached to the campsite. They had some wedding food left over so we had a good dinner of  Tilapia, chips and salad. We camped right next to the lake as there is really not much space, just a strip of grass about the width of 2 cars between the lake and the restaurant. In the morning we got to sample the facilities, as we headed up through the restaurant, past the open air kitchen/butchery (chunks of meat were lying on the ground covered by a tarpaulin to protected it from the flies and circling eagles) where we were cheerfully greeted by a lady cutting up what looked like pieces of dog fur, and up to what have to be the worst latrines of the trip so far. Large turds had been deposited like mines all round the latrine holes (presumably by the wedding guests?), so after negotiating the puddles to get in position we were faced with the problem of having to squat to get comfortable, but not so much as to put yourself in too close a proximity to the existing deposits! I am usually quite blasé about grotty latrines, but I was severely traumatised by the experience.

We got an early start, taking the popular route via the Woldia and Dilbe (tar up to Gashena) to reach Lalibela. On the way, a bee flew in the window and stung me on the arm – my first bee sting in about 17 years! my arm puffed up quite a lot and I was worried about being a bit allergic, but it turned out to be cellulitis instead. We stayed at the Serkie Campsite ($3.50) in Lalibela, (the only campsite in town), camping in their parking lot, which was fine given the price. We found an official guide to take us round the churches – they charge a fixed $20, which seemed a little steep considering his English wasn’t the best and his accent was very strong, so we struggled a bit to understand what he was saying, but he was a friendly chap and we would definitely have missed out on some of the cooler features (eg an underground tunnel between two of the churches) that we just wouldn’t have noticed if we had been by ourselves. Aside from the guide there is also a Shoe Guy who collects your shoes from the entrance of the church and brings them round to whichever door you exit through, and then gets in the way and tries to put your shoes on and tie your laces for you while you desperately try to get them on by yourself. There is no fixed fee for this service but a small tip is required. Entrance to the churches is $20pp and includes all 11 churches - it is worth going to all of them as each one has something different to offer. Our favourites were the famous St George’s church shown in all Lalibela photos, as well as Saint Gabriel & Rafael, which have a bridge over a deep moat-type-thing (and friendly priests who seemed happy to pose at the door looking like they were studying their bibles thoughtfully - see photos below). Some of the other churches featured beautiful carvings or ancient paintings, and some had plastic flowers or kitsch plastic cuckoo clocks! All of them had fleas – it’s a good idea to wear long pants and tuck them into your socks if you don’t want to get chowed.
We finished the day with a few more photos of St George’s church just as the sun was starting to set. At this point my arm was swollen up and tight like a big pink polony and we had drawn lines around the swollen bits to see if if was growing or shrinking (growing) so we headed back to Serkie’s for a freezing shower and some antibiotics. We treated ourselves to dinner at the Seven Olives Restaurant, probably one of the fanciest restaurants in town and a really lovely location up on the hill. We sat outside in front of a roaring fire of old bamboo chairs (not kidding – but it was great) and had some fantastic sizzling Tibbs (fried meat served in a clay bowl with charcoal underneath to make a hot-rock type effect) and chicken. The feast set us back about $14, by far our most expensive meal in Ethiopia - you can really eat so well and so cheaply here!

Brett: We headed north from Lalibela along a good dirt road through Sekota, Abergete and Samre to Makele. It was another long driving day (8hrs), so rather than stopping to eat lunch, Mary made us cheese provitas, tinned pineapple slices and lumps of tinned salmon which she fed me while we bumped down the rough, windy mountain passes. It was rather like that Top Gear where Jamie Oliver has to make lunch in the back of a speeding van, and by the end of it we were both a bit of a mess but canning ourselves laughing. The scenery was fantastic, with several really spectacular passes, and we hardly saw any other cars all day. We got to Mekele just after dark and checked in to the Atse Yohannes Hotel ($13 for a twin room), looking at a few rooms before we found one which was both quiet and had a functioning geyser (hot water showers were really not optional at that point) and pigged out on delicious spaghetti bolognaise and burgers in the blingin’ 80s style restaurant.
From Makele you can organise expensive tours out to Danakil (about $1,200pp), the hottest place on earth, so we wanted to investigate if there was any way we could go independently. We suspected it would be impossible without a convoy, as foreigners are forced to take a guide and several policemen/armed guards, and this was confirmed by the friendly guy in the Tigrai Tourism Office (which has moved to near the Axum Hotel). We would have had to hire another 4x4 to carry all the hangers-on as well as to pull us out if we got stuck, and the whole thing would have been just one big expensive hassle (various permits are needed and apparently you have to pay bribes at some of the villages) unless we could find some other overlanders to go in convoy with. This was really Depressing () because Dallol, the salt mines and Erta Ale look incredible – hopefully we will get to go one day.
We headed on through Wukro to Megab (T4A doesn’t have the tracks, but OSM does) where we picked up a local guide and drove along the 4x4 track to the start of the trail for Abuna Yemata Guh, one of the Tigray churches. Mary wasn’t feeling well, so stayed in the car. We didn’t have much time, so we covered the 1.5km hike to the church (with 500m altitude gain) in 35 minutes at a very fast pace. The last section includes a 40m almost vertical free climb, that isn’t too difficult/dangerous provided you have done some climbing and are steady on ledges with big drops (Mary: that’s bollocks, I’ve seen the photos and it looks very dangerous – the Elf of Safety* would not have been happy with you). The setting of the church is fantastic, between 2 buttresses and very well hidden. The church is still in weekly use and the paintings inside the cave are very well preserved (you need to take a torch). It was a great experience, but I was quite annoyed by their scam:  the entry fee is 100 Birr pp and the local guides charge 250 Birr (with “everything included and no hidden costs or surprises and will would only be 2 of us walking up, no other hangers on” - in the guide’s own words). Even still, when we reached the top, there was suddenly another fee for the priest’s son who had carried the key to the church and refused to unlock the door without getting paid. And then on the downward leg of the climb, the scout who had tagged along started getting in the way and saying he wanted money for his services as well. When we got to the bottom I just told him to speak to the guide if he wanted money. The guide’s excellent English became conveniently poor, but when I told him I would tell others about the hidden costs he suddenly looked quite embarassed. The churches around Megab are the only ones in Tigray where you can get a local guide – for the rest you have to take an official Tigray Tourist Comission guide from Makele or Wukro (ie you have to have space in your car and give them a lift back afterwards). If we had opted to take a guide from Makele, the Abba Yohanni church near Abi Aday looked really good, with a similar setting on the cliff, and an easy walk in to the church rather than a climb. After the hike, we headed to the Tourist Hotel in Hawzien, which was full, but they let us camp in the parking lot for $4.50. We ate at the Lalibela Hotel’s restaurant for $3.50 (for food and drinks) – excellent food and very popular with the locals.
(*Elf of Safety: a mythical figure similar to a Fairy Godmother, responsible for keeping us safe on this trip – ie. ‘elf ‘n safety)

Mary: We continued on the dirt road (following our nose as the roads aren’t on T4A or OSM yet) through Adwa to Axum. We stayed at the lovely Africa Hotel ($10 per double) which has electric showers, ie unlimited hot water assuming the electricity is on – brilliant. We went out for lunch to the Tsega Cafe which was great, and then headed off to see some of the sights. Tickets covering most of the sights in town are $3pp and are sold at Tourist Office, which has moved to Denver Street, North West of King Ezanas Park. The main stelae field has ancient carved pillars and is interesting but the rest of the sights less so – maybe we are just history peasants. In any case we had seen enough churches to skip the Tsion Maryam church which you have to pay for separately ($12pp) – although the Ark of the Covenant is supposedly kept here we figured they weren’t going to let us see it anyway. Axum town itself has a nice relaxed feel, with the only minor hassle being when we pulled up at the hotel and a bunch of guys came up to the car wanting to take us in to the hotel, thereby getting commission. This has happened in a couple of different towns and now we just tell them we already have a reservation, which seems to work.