Friday, August 28, 2009

And Another Day........

Off to Mekele, only 300 km and a whole day to do it!!!Well that was what we thought at the beginning of the day. 11 hours later we arrived in Mekele, in the dark, in the rain and amidst a “family festival” with blocked off streets, not indicated on the GPS and extremely short fuses!! We found a hotel, got some local red wine, had some supper and then reflected on the day. Luckily we struck the jackpot with the room. It was big, with hot water, a loo and a clean comfortable bed. The fact that Dick dislodged the showerhead before we even used it, is immaterial!

Well, the fact that we only had 300 km to cover for the day, was one thing, but the reality of travel in this country is, that most distances get measured in travelling time and then we still have to add a couple of hours for stopping for photos, the slow travelling ability of the Land Rover and the fact that the locals measure travelling time in the way they travel, which is not something that we can do, as we still have a sense of road respect in us. Before we had even left Lalibela, we nearly took out a motor cyclist that appeared from nowhere and ended up in a puddle of muddy water. We are not exactly sure of the words he used, but we had a good idea, even if our Amharic is extremely limited.

Anyway, hardly out of Lalibela we were into the first climb and over the first mountain pass and that set the tone for the day. It was up to 3000 m and down to 1900m and all on gravel and the latter part of the day in steady rain. The scenery is constantly awesome. We stopped in a village for lunch and after that hit the road again just to be repeatedly confronted with the groups of dancing, drumbeating and money asking girls. The first 20 times we managed to remain cheerful and taken up in the spirit of the festivities, however even with the best intentions one ‘s sense of humour sometimes fades. Well just that happened sort of mid afternoon, when we had to confirm that we were indeed on the right road. Just that bit of slowing down served as inspiration to the dancing girls and the begging boys. The girls did not want to get out of the way and the boys jumped on the back of the Land Rover. After a few failed attempts to get them off the back, Dick stopped, flung open his door and in no uncertain terms told them to “fuck off” in good English. I nearly killed myself laughing because you just saw kids scatter off and out of the way. They got the message loud and clear. After that we hardly slowed down for the groups and they just had to MOVE out of the way.

To add insult to injury the festivities were in full swing when we eventually reached Mekele and the main road into the town was blocked off, just like Adderley street at Christmas time, with stalls and all. The poor uniformed guy that stopped us from going down the street also got a mouthful. We backtracked and luckily the GPS was accommodating and we were back on the road to the hotel for the night. I must say it is really stressful to arrive in a strange town in the dark, not knowing where you going and then to get a place to stay and with the language barrier on top of that. I must say, I don’t do to badly as a rule. It all adds to the experience in any way and mostly the local people are extremely accommodating.

The next day we spent in Mekele and just explored some of the local places of interest. We visited a church which was about 16 km out of town but down a road that would challenge any dedicated 4x4 driver. We went through mud patches and again we were very grateful that we had spent a day in Nairobi fitting new BF Goodrich tyres on the Landy. They have paid their way over and over in the last 3 weeks. When we arrived in the village where the church is, we were again met by the , now familiar, group of enthusiastic kids all offering services and asking for Birr, pens or anything going. They also love having their pictures taken and Dick has become real good with that. All you have to do, is to show them the picture and they are happy. The church, though, was again another experience. Built in 1806 and decorated in the typical Ethiopian style, depicting biblical history. Everything is so simple, however so real and alive. We have been blown away so many times already. As in many other instances, this church is also situated in the most tranquil, overgrown garden with so many birds. One could spend a day just bird watching at most of these places.

A museum visit the afternoon and an early night got us ready for the next exciting day of our journey.

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