Simien mountains

A long tiring drive from Debark north to Aksum in Tigray province. It was stunningly beautiful. The first 24 miles took 2 hours as it was a rough dirt road descending tortuously from 3200 metres to, eventually, 900m. Once we got down to a valley it was a grinding ascent again, though the last 140 miles was on asphalt. The views back to the Simien mountains made up for it. We stopped for coffee in the village where Mr C and his fellow trekkers 4 years ago came down from the mountains, then continued on. We reached Aksum after 8.5 hours. Our hotel is on the main road so quite noisy, but it was fun to sit on the pavement outside with a drink and watch all the young people meeting. They are all dressed in jeans and tshirts (boys) and the girls wear tight skirts and clinging tops. Only a few miles from the abject poverty of the villages where people are living in one room in a house of sticks and mud.

I’m dreading the election result. Our friends in Ipswich are campaigning so hard for Sandy who was rated the 25th best MP, but they fear he’ll not be re-elected. It beats me how people can be so gullible but I guess that’s the power of the media.