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Sunday 20th March Unsurprisingly we were all very tired and a little bit 'ratty' the next morning but were keen to get out of the hotel as early as possible. At least we had decided to take it easy - the former border town of Shady was only 40km away and we thought it a good destination to ease ourselves into Ethiopia slowly. We found ourselves a little teahouse on the roadside where we could have some sweet shai and some bread to dip into it. The change in attitudes between Sudan and Ethiopia was already obvious. Here the children were far more 'forward' and persistent and unlike in Sudan we could tell they would become something of an irritation as our journey progressed. Although we know it comes directly from Amharic greetings, the constant shouting of 'you, you, you' is one of the least endearing elements of 'faranji' hysteria. And although we expect children to be inquisitive, their crowding and continuous attention can quickly get very tiring. The young woman serving us tea thankfully managed to keep them at bay. She had distinct tattoos around her face and neck which we found quite common amongst Ethiopian women. We don't know what they mean or symbolise but this and their more relaxed approach to dress code showed a big departure from the more conservative Muslim women that we have been exposed to over the last few months. Even this little interaction over a cup of tea exposed our limited knowledge of the Amharic language and for the first time Paul had the most advanced language skills, but this wasn't saying much! After tea we wheeled our bikes out onto the road under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people and to the sound of 'you, you, you'. We peddled off, glad to be leaving Metema behind. Although the road had improved, it was still very hot and hard going, but the gravel road passed through beautiful scenery. The land was becoming increasingly fertile and we saw a greater variety of trees and plants, including eucalyptus and baobabs. Our riding was accompanied by birdsong of different birds, which at times became almost deafening! Amongst the birds we saw along the way there were hornbills, kingfishers and bee-eaters, and we even saw a handful of monkeys. It was a wonderful ride but unfortunately this was stopped short for Stephan just before Shady as his rear wheel had decided to stop turning. He had to push his bike the last kilometre over a few hills and us sympathetic souls waited for him in the first decent looking café in the town. It was here we had our first real taste of injera since arriving in Ethiopia, and although no meat was available (it is fasting season) it was still a welcome change from fuul. The hotel in town was far more pleasant than in Metema, and we had comfortable if a little dirty rooms, which even had mosquito nets. Unfortunately we would later find out that the toilets were absolutely disgusting. If you ventured to peer down the hole in the floor, all you could see was a sea of squirming maggots! Best not look then! Paul and Stephan set about stripping the rear hub that had refused to play fair earlier on whilst Kate and Fritzi took turns in the bamboo-floored shower. This was very welcome as it was the first running water since Khartoum. Luckily Paul and Stephan managed to find some bearings and temporarily fixed the bike so it was running smoothly again. By the time the boys had finished playing with their toys, our stomachs were grumbling. We went for an evening meal which started with hot fried bread from the street and ended with a large tray of injera, closely surrounded by too many curious children. Despite having better rooms it was still a hot sleepless night. Stephan and Fritzi had a rodent visitor in the night but luckily we were spared! Monday 21st March We're not very good at these 5.30am starts. We wake up with good intentions but still only leave at 7.00am! Almost as soon as we started cycling we were stopped at the customs post in Shady. Why we had to go through customs formalities again after being through Metema, we don't know. As it was, after keeping us waiting for half an hour, the customs official was in fact still sleeping so we were eventually given permission to go. At least the riding was becoming more and more enjoyable as we passed through increasingly beautiful countryside, but by late morning it was again oppressively hot and we pulled into the village of Kummer. In fact, we were all extremely hot, exhausted and fed up, the lack of sleep was beginning to tell and we were in no mood for hassly children who couldn't understand the idea of personal space. We ate injera and started talking to a man called Telef. He had come to the village (not an easy task in itself) to hold a meeting with local farmers about starting a new co-operative. Sadly no-one turned up to this meeting. We came to realise that many Ethiopians seem reluctant to help themselves and improve their situation; a great disappointment. All too often we have seen first hand that they are far too happy to rely on external handouts. Exhaustion had particularly hit Kate and unusually she had no patience for the crowding children. Stephan and Fritzi kindly managed to create a diversion which relieved Kate from the claustrophobia and allowed her a few moments sleep. Morale was very low as we began cycling again and we were all so temporarily miserable that we would probably accept a lift from any passing truck. In fact both Kate and Stephan were not feeling on top form but we had decided to cycle anyway. Surprisingly, our moods improved dramatically as the heat of the day eased and the road became smoother and faster - even if more climbing was involved. As we rode we had to weave through herds of cattle and donkeys, whilst nodding and waving to the shepherds as they walked by. In fact, the amount of traffic - pedestrian and animal, not mechanical - is huge in Ethiopia, and this makes a pleasant change from the busy roads we had left behind in Sudan. We had gradually become experts weaving in and out of this far more sedate traffic but it was still a little disconcerting when faced with an oncoming bull! We rode another 25km before reaching the outskirts of a town called Nagaribihah where at the top of a steep descent we pulled in to a café for some shai. It was a pleasant place where we received almost no attention and we would have loved to have stayed there the night. The lady informed us though that there was a cheap hotel further into town which was far from ideal but it was our only option. As soon as we arrived in the centre of town we were mobbed by children and adults. At least we found the hotel reasonably quickly and were soon inside. It was an awful place which smelt of the disgusting toilets, was crawling with rats and other insects, and the staff were rude and it looked like it was rarely cleaned. The only consolation was that it was 7 Birr per night (less than 50 pence!). In fact the whole town was a pretty awful place with an uncomfortable atmosphere. We spent a miserable evening being followed by scores of harassing children and again by an unwanted self-appointed 'guide'. To top it all off, apparently the whole town had run out of soft drinks … despite us seeing a little boy with cold Pepsi! As you can tell, we didn't like Nagaribihah. Tuesday 22nd March Our aim the next morning was to get to Aykel which was supposedly at the top of the highlands. Unfortunately, Stephan was feeling far worse than the day before and his rear hub had also decided to pack in again. So, there wasn't much option but for them to take a truck. Paul had also woken to find his 2nd flat tyre of the trip … obviously Kate was sympathetic but relieved at not being the only one! Checking in the dark found no cause so we just pumped it up and hoped for the best. This actually meant that later in the day we were pumping the tyre up every couple of hours which would add more frustration to the tiring riding. After a quick tea and bread we left Stephan and Fritzi on the truck and rode off. Within a few minutes we found ourselves climbing a steep rough road and were wondering why on earth we hadn't accepted the offer of a lift to Aykel! The morning's riding to Gint was slow, hard-going and very demoralising as we spent most of the time climbing but with the short steep descents we found ourselves having gained almost no height over 20km. We were not happy bunnies as we sat in a tiny shai house in Gint gulping down Pepsi and tea and munching on Ethiopian biscuits whilst trying to take shelter from the already oppressive sun. Kate kindly pumped up Paul's tyre - not for the last time that day. We sat there preparing ourselves for the monstrous climb that we could see ahead and after about half an hour we forced ourselves into action. We were in first gear the whole time, sweating profusely and ever climbing. Surprisingly, our morale started to lift as we gained height and the air started to cool. That, combined with the first cloud cover we had seen in weeks, meant that we could continue cycling throughout the middle of the day. We were followed by a refreshingly friendly and extremely fit shepherd boy who ran alongside Kate, encouraging us both and asking for nothing. Shortly after we had stopped for some cheese and biscuits we passed a small village with a school. Unfortunately we had incredibly bad timing as the school had just finished and children were pouring out of its gates. We were a prime target for their attention, and soon we had scores of children running alongside us. With our laboriously slow progress it wasn't difficult for them to keep up. Sadly our high morale began to falter as they continued to harass and jibe us. Trying to keep a positive mental state is very difficult when you're hot, exhausted and constantly being heckled by hoards of children. Soon we had had enough and sat down by the side of the road hoping that they would eventually take the hint and leave us in peace. Fat chance of that happening! We sat there for an hour, completely trapped in a mass of curious but thoughtless children, incessantly asking us questions and laughing at us, gradually wearing us down. Finally, a kindly shepherd took pity on us and managed to 'shepherd' them all away. Although it took him some time, we were eventually left alone. It took everything we had left to pick up our bikes and carry on. It was ironic though to think that the Ethiopian children, the ones we'd come to help, had in fact almost driven us to give up so close to the end. The road continued to switch back up the escarpment and the clouds grew heavier with the rain seeming imminent. After 20km of hard climbing from Gint we reached the top. As we did the heavens opened, sending us speeding down the muddy road into a town called Sareba where we found a small house in which we could shelter from the heavy rain and hail stones. We bought ourselves and the other sodden customers a selection of tea, Pepsi and ouzo, and managed to have a conversation in Arabic with one of the soldiers stationed at the military base in town. The temperature on Paul's watch had dropped from 44° on the climb to 22°, so we sat there shivering in a puddle with our wind proofs on. Despite being soaked and cold, this was actually quite refreshing as we hadn't seen rain since Cairo and it left the air with a beautiful fresh atmosphere. On top of the plateau the contours had become far less dramatic enabling the farmers to have more productive arable farming. After the rain had stopped and we had ventured out, we soon found ourselves surrounded by a patchwork of fields. Only a few minutes out of Sareba, a big overland truck pulled up beside us. The driver turned out to be Pierre, the guy we had met in Meroe. He now had a small Italian tour group in tow. They immediately took pity on us bedraggled, dirty, exhausted beings and offered us bananas … oops, sorry no bananas left but instead plied us with a large chunk of fresh parmesan each, 4 delicious grapefruits from Sudan that day and a whole salami all the way from Italy. Of course, these were all out of the mini fridge that they had tucked away in the back of the truck, and we nearly had tears in our eyes at the sight of all this wonderful food. They even offered us a lift but we declined. Having just climbed that monstrous hill there was no way we were going to give up now. They did, however, leave us feeling much more cheerful and positive than we had been 20 minutes earlier … thank you! From here it was just 10km of gently rolling countryside and (we don't know whether this was because our mood had changed) now everyone seemed to be so much more friendly and cheerful. After one final swooping descent and quick climb up, we finally reached Aykel where Stephan and Fritzi would be waiting for us. As we entered the town, the first person to greet us was Doctor Gitachu who promptly explained that he had seen Stephan earlier that day and had diagnosed dysentery. Wonderful !? We were obviously extremely concerned and so set off in search of the unfortunate pair only to be told, as we asked around, that they had gone onto Gondar. Considering the situation, we both agreed that this was probably a good decision but also very unlike them to not leave us a message. Virut Hotel was pretty much the only modern concrete building on the road and so we were surprised that for the same price as the hotel in Metema we had a large reasonably clean spacious room, with a big double bed and an en-suite bathroom, which had a western toilet and shower! In reaching Aykel we had ridden 50km that day of which we estimated 37km were climbing. We were now at an altitude of 2225 metres, having started at only 700 metres that morning so we think we deserved a rest day. We hadn't been there long when we had a little knock on the door and who should be standing there but Fritzi. They had obviously not left for Gondar and were in another hotel down the road. Stephan still had a high fever but was improving so we invited Fritzi out for an injera and a Mirinda (an Ethiopian orange soft drink) that evening. Stephan ended up with one of the Sudanese grapefruits instead! Wednesday 23rd March 5415.9 miles, Aykel, Ethiopia This morning there was no possibility of a much-needed lie-in as our body clocks are a little screwed up. At least we slept well with the so-much-cooler highland air. Stephan couldn't bear to miss out on the opportunity of salami, bread and grapefruit so managed to drag himself over to our hotel to feast on the food. It was the most incredible breakfast we've had for we can't remember how long. We've just had lunch and a coffee ceremony at Yaleulet's house. He's a nice guy who's helped Stephan and Fritzi a lot since they arrived in Aykel. Both our stomachs are feeling a tad bit dicky at the moment but we're still making preparations for leaving tomorrow for Gorgora, a village on the edge of Lake Tana where we'll rest up before arriving in Gondar on the 29th. Thursday 24th March We ended up getting stuck in Aykel. We both woke up not feeling too well - we'd had a bad night's sleep with another rodent intruder and some noisy truck drivers. There was going to be no cycling that day. Gorgora was looking less and less likely, and so the likelihood of staying in small town Aykel for the rest of the time until Gondar was getting greater and greater. On the one hand, this was a good thing because we had a pretty reasonable hotel but the town is not exactly big and we had already received far more than our fair share of attention from the locals. The prospect of a week here already seemed depressing. To top this all off, we had found a DEET (insect repellent) leak that had started to eat through one of Paul's panniers and some of the items in it - can't Life Systems make a decent leak-proof container!? The next few days became a bit of a monotonous blur … Love Kate and Paul x
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Challoner's, Fasiledes, Amersham, Buckinghamshire