Welcome back!
So, we crossed the border at Metema, Ethiopia at noon.
Now, my 1st impressions of Ethiopia were in stark contrast to what i had imagined it to be..... i had pictures of a barren dry land, with starving people, kids with swollen bellies no clothes & great looks of sadness. I couldn't have been more wrong!!!
Ethiopia is a beautiful country, with a green. lush mountainous terrain. the 'salaams' of Sudan, have turned into 'you, you, you' which apparently is the only english word the rural people know! There are people walking everywhere! the men carry AK47's or long wooden staffs! The kids can run as fast as the car! There are Australian 'gum trees' in abundance & the scaffolding for all buildings is made from these poles! Donkey carts appear to be the main form of transport - apart from trucks, cars in rural Ethiopia are non existent! village homes are either mud walled rondavels or square mud houses with corrugated tin roofs.

Gonder is a fair sized town which deserved a couple of days to look over. The royal enclosure of 1640 built by Emperor Fasilidas was pretty impressive, as was his baths! What was even more impressive was the visit to the local brewery, where Dashen beer is brewed & is the equivalent of 35p per pint! but more interestingly is that the brewery would not look out of place in gunwharf.... it was that flash.... amazing what the priorities are, even in Ethiopia!
Next, stop was De Bark, where we stayed on the edge of the Simeon Mountain national Park overshadowed by the great Ras Dashen mountain.
De Bark was a stopover for the mountainous trek thru the Simeon mountains to Aksum..... & what a stunning drive! Dirt roads, with sheer drops over the mountain! Amazing views over valleys, thru gorges. Groups of vervet monkeys in the trees. Kids as young as 6 with their herds of goats or sheep dotted the mountain drive. We hit Aksum on sunset, absolutely exhausted & covered from head to foot in red dust from 9hours of mountain driving on rocky dirt roads & with a shock absorber problem, but it was soooo worth it!
Aksum..... home of the Queen of Sheba & her enormous bath! The 'stele' columns & the St Mary of Zion church, where apparently, the Ark of the Covenant is kept! well worth a stopover & we met up with a great Irish couple, Stu & Steph, who came with us on the road trip to Lalibela...........