After a somewhat restless night's sleep (plagued with bad dreams, I'm blaming the malaria pills), with people yelling, dogs fighting, and some kind of singing that again started at 2 am, we were off at 6:30 a.m. Some people thought that that singing was the Muslim call to prayer, but I disagreed. It was softer and didn't have the urgency that that does, and it went on for at least four hours. I was thinking it was something to do with it being the the days between Christmas and Epiphany.
The early start was Claude's plan to get us to Axum by around 3 pm. About eight hours of driving were ahead of us, with a lot of dust to cover.
We were again treated to wonderful scenery and beautiful views. We stopped at one viewpoint and some children gathered around. It breaks your heart here. They are always the front line of sales, and the first to approach to ask for money or clothes or what have you. This stop was incredibly hard. Three children, one of whom had obviously slept in a hay bale - he was covered in it. Another young girl asking for a shirt, she was literally dressed in rags, another was wrapped in a blanket and had a cough. It was hard. The issues here are so complicated and there is no easy answer. The answer seems to be, give them whatever you can...and in the moment, it is very difficult not to do so. My thoughts are that I need to do more, participate in the world more, make some sort of positive impact. How to best direct my efforts is still unclear, but seeing this up close and personal makes me think it is time.
After that it was dust, dust, dust and a ton of four wheel driving. I was in car three with Ceci, Kitty, and our driver, Teddy. They are building - rebuilding? Improving? - the road from Gonder to Axum, and we were stymied at times by construction and (potential) road closures. There were times when we would wait for just a few minutes and then they would send a bulldozer in and clear a path for traffic. Claude said that we could have been stuck for hours without the four wheel drive vehicles - there is no way a bus could pass through what we did. Our drivers are amazing. Very friendly and professional.
We came around a corner and just sitting by the side of the road was a camel. Minding his own business. It was very random and made me laugh for some reason. In the middle of a major highway construction in Ethiopia, here sits a camel on the side of the road, wondering why everyone is getting so excited about him. I had the incongruous giggles. I also think of them as the "Holy shit, I'm in Ethiopia looking at a camel outside my car!" giggles. Those types of realizations make me laugh with surprise and joy.
I told Ceci that that camel "wasn't in the promotional literature."
Then Kitty, started laughing about the signs saying "Slow." Signs that were in the middle of a pockmarked roller coaster ride of dust and potential destruction. "Like someone could even speed through here!"
It was literally constant four wheel drive, rocks and dirt and donkeys and people everywhere. Utter, delightful chaos.
As we drove, our driver pointed out the road to Eritrea, and the refuge camp that was in the area. We saw UN vehicles and the UN headquarters for the town. Lots of trucks with food.
The terrain and people changed significantly when we hit the Tigrai region. The land is more flat, and agriculture seems to thrive there. We stopped for drinks at a town called Shire, and you could see it in the hairstyles. Very elaborate, almost lattice-like braids and buns and hair coloring on the women. The waitresses at the restaurant looked like they were wearing head bands until you looked closer. The front of the head is very tightly braided, like corn rows, with small buns of braids collected near the top of the head, and the curls left to flow down the back. I took some pictures of a hair dresser advertisement in Axum, and it looked just like what these girls had done.
As we drove along, there was suddenly a huge camel caravan. It looked like they were going to market. Just row after row of them, tied nose to tail. I've never seen so many camels in one place.
We finally arrived in Axum at around 2:45 p.m. and some of the ladies decided to go for a walk around town. The ladies, going out alone again. There are some pretty damned impressive women on this trip.
We wandered through a little bit of downtown, it was hot and dusty, but I got some great shots. My favorite is the barber shop. I had walked past, then went back and tried to converse with the barber and his patron. There was mostly just a lot of smiling and nodding, which is fine. Then I asked to take their picture, and it came out beautifully. The colors and the client's hair are just perfect. I was very pleased. The colors here are just what I'd hoped for: vibrant and varied. I helps that we've had amazingly good weather, too. Mostly clear blue skies and pleasantly warm.
It was a long day, so I'm turning in early. I can only sleep on my left side due to the massive swollen bruise on my right hip, and I found more bumps and scrapes on my right shin. So it is time to rest before hitting the Axum History Tour in the morning.
The early start was Claude's plan to get us to Axum by around 3 pm. About eight hours of driving were ahead of us, with a lot of dust to cover.
We were again treated to wonderful scenery and beautiful views. We stopped at one viewpoint and some children gathered around. It breaks your heart here. They are always the front line of sales, and the first to approach to ask for money or clothes or what have you. This stop was incredibly hard. Three children, one of whom had obviously slept in a hay bale - he was covered in it. Another young girl asking for a shirt, she was literally dressed in rags, another was wrapped in a blanket and had a cough. It was hard. The issues here are so complicated and there is no easy answer. The answer seems to be, give them whatever you can...and in the moment, it is very difficult not to do so. My thoughts are that I need to do more, participate in the world more, make some sort of positive impact. How to best direct my efforts is still unclear, but seeing this up close and personal makes me think it is time.
After that it was dust, dust, dust and a ton of four wheel driving. I was in car three with Ceci, Kitty, and our driver, Teddy. They are building - rebuilding? Improving? - the road from Gonder to Axum, and we were stymied at times by construction and (potential) road closures. There were times when we would wait for just a few minutes and then they would send a bulldozer in and clear a path for traffic. Claude said that we could have been stuck for hours without the four wheel drive vehicles - there is no way a bus could pass through what we did. Our drivers are amazing. Very friendly and professional.
We came around a corner and just sitting by the side of the road was a camel. Minding his own business. It was very random and made me laugh for some reason. In the middle of a major highway construction in Ethiopia, here sits a camel on the side of the road, wondering why everyone is getting so excited about him. I had the incongruous giggles. I also think of them as the "Holy shit, I'm in Ethiopia looking at a camel outside my car!" giggles. Those types of realizations make me laugh with surprise and joy.
I told Ceci that that camel "wasn't in the promotional literature."
Then Kitty, started laughing about the signs saying "Slow." Signs that were in the middle of a pockmarked roller coaster ride of dust and potential destruction. "Like someone could even speed through here!"
It was literally constant four wheel drive, rocks and dirt and donkeys and people everywhere. Utter, delightful chaos.
As we drove, our driver pointed out the road to Eritrea, and the refuge camp that was in the area. We saw UN vehicles and the UN headquarters for the town. Lots of trucks with food.
The terrain and people changed significantly when we hit the Tigrai region. The land is more flat, and agriculture seems to thrive there. We stopped for drinks at a town called Shire, and you could see it in the hairstyles. Very elaborate, almost lattice-like braids and buns and hair coloring on the women. The waitresses at the restaurant looked like they were wearing head bands until you looked closer. The front of the head is very tightly braided, like corn rows, with small buns of braids collected near the top of the head, and the curls left to flow down the back. I took some pictures of a hair dresser advertisement in Axum, and it looked just like what these girls had done.
As we drove along, there was suddenly a huge camel caravan. It looked like they were going to market. Just row after row of them, tied nose to tail. I've never seen so many camels in one place.
We finally arrived in Axum at around 2:45 p.m. and some of the ladies decided to go for a walk around town. The ladies, going out alone again. There are some pretty damned impressive women on this trip.
We wandered through a little bit of downtown, it was hot and dusty, but I got some great shots. My favorite is the barber shop. I had walked past, then went back and tried to converse with the barber and his patron. There was mostly just a lot of smiling and nodding, which is fine. Then I asked to take their picture, and it came out beautifully. The colors and the client's hair are just perfect. I was very pleased. The colors here are just what I'd hoped for: vibrant and varied. I helps that we've had amazingly good weather, too. Mostly clear blue skies and pleasantly warm.
It was a long day, so I'm turning in early. I can only sleep on my left side due to the massive swollen bruise on my right hip, and I found more bumps and scrapes on my right shin. So it is time to rest before hitting the Axum History Tour in the morning.
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