On the Road Again: Axum

After just under two weeks in Mekele, I said good-bye to the kids at Lola, spent my last evening giving the new volunteer a quick introduction to the city, and hopped on a six hour, six am bus ride to Axum, the first stop on our tourist itinerary.   

Let me just say that not even two weeks of acclimating to city transit could prepare me for the adventure that is inter-city, long distance bus rides in Ethiopia. Being the only ferenjis in the crowd outside the station at five in the morning did have the advantage of having a couple of kind souls take pity on us and help us find our bus in the chaos that occurred as soon as the doors opened, otherwise, we might still be in the Mekele station, wandering around hopelessly lost, getting pushed back and forth between buses. Once we finagled our way into seats that didn't require strangers elbows or shoulders embedded in our bodily mass for the duration of the ride, we were off!
...but not for long! It seemed like we stopped seventeen times in two hours. The first time wasn't even fifteen minutes in for some kind of security checkpoint where everyone disembarked, guards with large, intimidating arms (not talking about biceps here) took quick peeks into baggage and glanced briefly at IDs. We'd pause occasionally at no regular interval for even more people to wedge themselves into the bus, and then be on our way, until the next one, where once again, everyone would unload and we'd be sitting there confused and tired. Thank goodness for the multitude of caring, English-speaking people who could tell by the looks on our faces that we had no idea what was going on and would clue us in.   

Eventually, we did arrive in Axum, and with the help of  a man sitting outside a cafe and a horde of street children, found our way to the Africa Hotel, our cheerful, yellow, two-story, price-is-right, home for the night.

Axum is the holiest city of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the acclaimed home of the Ark of the Covenant, making it in many people's minds the spiritual center of Ethiopia. It also functioned as the capital of a significant empire as early as the second century AD, and was home to the first Ethiopian king, Ezana, to convert to Christianity in the early fourth century AD. There's still an immense amount of archeological research to be done in the area, but some archeologists found catacombs in nearby hills that date back to the fifth century BC. Needless to say, it's pretty old school.

For the non-Orthodox visitor, the main attraction of the city is the granite stelae, or carved obelisks similar to the obelisks found in Egpyt. How these ancient people were able to move the stelae, the largest of which is 33m (108 feet) tall, is still a mystery. Generally, the stelae are attributed to a specific king, but like much of Ethiopian folklore, there's little historical backing for those attributions.

After dropping our bags in our room, we spent the afternoon wandering, and the next morning rented bicycles so we could see more of the sights in less time, at the same time avoiding the people selling unwanted souvenirs or children trying to engage us in stories about how they need us to spend 300 birr on a football from their father's shop. Have I mentioned that Axum is a serious tourist town? I got spoiled by Mekele, where there are few tourists and fewer people trying to make a chunk of change off of them. Let's just say the two cities, and my experiences with the locals there, were very, very different. 

I'm tired of typing, so have some pictures. 

Most of what people seemed to think of whenever Ethiopia came up in conversation back home is desert and famine. That's mostly based on the big news surge about it from 1985, four years before I was born. Needless to say, that's not an accurate view of the country.

We hung out on the roof of the hotel for a bit. You'll notice there are no railings between us and a two story drop. Ain't no thang.

 The largest stelae built, which fell shortly after being erected, probably because the base wasn't large enough to support it. You can see some others in the background. The one with the supports is King Ezana's, and the one closer to us was semi-recently returned to Axum after a stint in Italy, courtesy of the

And the famed Queen of Sheba pool. Dates back quite a while, but historicity of it actually being associated with her is questionable.

I have another post scheduled to go up in a couple of days, and I'll be working on a couple more about my final days in Mekele and travel adventures to be shared whenever I internet again.