Hi Everyone,  Where do we start...what a 7 days it has been and a baptism of fire after Oman...just reflecting on Oman...in the 1970's it was a country of fighting tribes and to think that in almost 50 years the various Sultans of Oman have turned the country around to what one has to describe as an almost model society...yes they have oil but when you look at the other countries with oil and the corruption where in Oman they are all benefiting from the oil wealth!!  And so from the well dressed folk of Oman to the rag tag clothing on the people in Ethiopia....the heat here has been bad..not as hot as Oman but there is no air con whatsoever and never any ceiling fans....and so Ethiopia has a population of approx 78 million with around 4 million living in Addis Abba which is a city in chaos, everything a work in progress!!  The food is terrible we think, and on the flight from Dubai to Addis Abba with Ethiopian airlines it was the worst food ever...tomorrow will be our last flight we hope with Ethiopian air lines...tomorrow we have flight # 10 in 13 days but we have done a lot of flying here and we have had the roughest landings in fact we have just about crash landed every time but the runways are so rough...we have just flown in from Lalibela to AA and we struck real turbulence out of Gondar...we have heard of folk hitting the roof in a plane well that was just about us today...it certainly got everyone sitting up on the plane and talking about the airport here, every airport has the BBC or CNN on TV going and all in English and usually there is only us and perhaps 6 other tourists at the most....AA is having a railway system put in so that is part of why the place is a shambles but there is building going on everywhere and nothing seems to get finished...our guide, Alan tells us that Ethiopia and Nigeria are now the 2 fastest growing economies in Africa overtaking SA...we question some things but Alan seems to be very knowledgeable...  we are told there is no inflation and their GDP is 2 %...the currency is the Birr and there around 20 to the $1US and it is all in notes and the paper is literally falling to bits...tipping is terrible in this country to the point I have challenged Alan about it...you go to see something and another guide has to take over (my memory of travelling in Russia) and you have to tip these guys and often we couldn't understand their English and so Alan told us all about the place we were at and therefore I couldn't see why we should tip the other guide but Alan would always give the other guide something....and whenever you stop you are surrounded by young and old and they all want money but when you are walking somewhere they all want to tell you a supposed better route an then want to be paid for it but the classic was we went to see a sunset one night and there were 3 boys there around 10 years old and one asked for money and Michael told them you don't ask for money, you have too do something for money and with that one produced his school work for me to see, one started blowing me kisses and the 3rd gave me a flower!! I said you Michael you asked for that!!  We laughed later..it really was funny...also they all want to practice their English on you...anyway a bit about the places we have been to....after our flight into AA on Tuesday 3rd June we had an early start on Wednesday..set the alarm for 4 am but we didn't need it as the dogs having a great fight outside our hotel window (we don't think we saw a single dog in Oman) and so our flight to Bahir Dar and Lake Tana.....Bahir Dar all tree lined streets and very green and so to our hotel which was a luxurious spa hotel where we got a complimentary foot massage....Ethiopia is all mountains but not like the desert mountains of Oman...very green here as they get lots of rain...Ethiopia provides 87% of the water in the Nile..and so it was straight onto a little very tippy boat on Lake Tana...Michael, Alan, me and the boatman and we motored out to a peninsula but it had the feel of being on an island..Lake Tana covers more than 3,000 square kilometres and is by far the largest body of water in Ethiopia....Bahir Dar is Ethiopia's 3rd largest city with aprox 200,000 residents...Lake Tana itself is the source of the Blue Nile which then winds through Sudan combining with the White Nile to form the worlds longest river system....the lake has 37 islands which host churches and monastries and trace their roots back to the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries...they still make papyrus boats on the lake but it seems like it is a dying art but we were lucky enough to see a couple of fishermen out in their papyrus boats...we visited the Ura Kidane Monastry....had all the paintings described to us but all a bit over the top and of course one has to always take ones shoes off...a bit of a trek up to the monastry and it was hot and of course all the local folk had their little stalls trying to sell their wares.....Linda Hopkins you will be pleased we got out of Oman without buying anything...Michael nearly weakened and today in Ethiopia he did when he bought me a nice necklace...Ethiopia is 45% Ethiopian Orthodox and 25% Muslim and the rest are Catholics, Protestants etc.. and so back onto our boat and we went to the part in the lake where it goes into the Nile....quite often there are hippos there but none today and I have to admit I was quite relieved as our little boat wouldn't have given us much protection! Lunch under a big fig tree at a nearby restaurant..... and then a city tour in the afternoon...then dinner and by this time we were not feeling well....AA is at an altitude of 2,300 metres which is nothing for us but oh boy have we had altitude sickness...I have a head cold from all the air con in Oman (probably) which I just can't get rid of...however the fun began the next day when we drove from Bahir Dar to Gondar...our only real drive in the rural areas and still we hadn't twigged about this altitude thing....Alan decied he wanted to show us this Commune on the way which was really interesting to add to our itinerary...very interesting as approx 400 people live there of all denominations...we started the tour of the place and I knew I wasn't going to last so Alan took me outside and I lost everything...at lunch the day before I had eaten the national dish...raw meat...they call it Indra Kitfo... knew I shouldn't have done it and oh boy I now had food poisoning.....they took me into a guest area to lie down and I lost it all again....I have never been so sick...Michael continued with the tour and took many photos...on the way out we met 3 girls from Israel who were going to stay in there for a few days as they do B  B as well..this Commune set up in 1991 and all very interesting.....and so back on to our drive to Gondar...we made many stops...Alan took a photo of Michael with the locals ploughing the field...everything is done manually here...the farmer carries these big wooden framed ploughs to the field as he drives the 2 animals to do the ploughing....there are really no buses in Ethiopia, everyone walks everywhere and it doesn't matter where you are, the road is always busy with people and animals and vehicles have to pick their way through it and the roads are shocking..believe me when yo feel sick and you are being thrown around all the time as all our transport has ben in old vans...Michael likens it to popcorn popping in a pan, truly you are being tossed all the time even on the sealed roads.....there is just no maintenance done in this country but it was a very interesting drive from Bahir Dar to Gondar...we got there around mid day and I had to go to bed so Michael did the city tour in the avo' without me and took lots of photos...I stopped eating as I also had diarrhoea and I missed dinner in fact I have missed so many meals, just the smell of food seems to make me sick still....Gondar was the capital of Ethiopia for 200 years....Gondar is known for its medieval castles. Michael really enjoyed the tour and said the guide was very good. ..Friday was another flight and so I  struggled out of bed but Alan was very good as on the way to the airport he made a stop at the Royal Enclosure for me to see the big swimming pool as the locals call it...the Bath of King Fasilides...it takes over 2 months to fill and they have it ready in December each year for people to come and be dipped into, to refresh their baptism....whilst on baptism apparently a boy is baptised 40 days after birth and a girl 80 days after birth and Alan says that is still strictly adhered to....back to our drive to Gondar and all the children working on the land..I questioned Alan about children getting an education here and he said they all go to school for part of the day but the children  also have to work the land...Alan was born in Axsum and he said he walked to school 12 kms one way (24 kms round trip) each day and still he had to work on the land so perhaps it is true...our kids wouldn't bother going to school if they had to walk a half marathon every day probably that's why they are all so skinny here...they are all skin and bone...some fat people in AA but certainly no where else ...there is no cheese, no yoghurt, no ice cream, tin milk, no chocolate, no biscuits...just coke and fanta and that's pretty scarce....and so to Axum ....the Axumite Kingdom grew to be a great trading power in the 1st century AD and thrived for over 1,000 years....we went to the building where the Arc of the Covenant is but of course you are not allowed inside...then we went to the big church that Emporer Haileselassie had built in 1957...there is the old church there beside this church but it was only for men so when he came to church and his wife had to stay outside he built this new church so that men and women could pray together...and the big chandelier in the church was donated by Queen Elizabeth II...then we went to a museum beside the church and like everywhere else here nothing is maintained...they all sit around and take the money...this museum housed all the crowns of the kings over the years and their robes and other items...nothing was lit in the glass cases and the glass was all filthy to the point you couldn't see through it and the place looked like it had never ever been dusted!! Then we drove out to look at another archaeological site once thought to be the Queen of Sheba's palace......
I'm exhausted so will sign off here and finish Ethiopia tomorrow when we get to Kilgali..... Michael says Ethiopia has been one hell of an experience but we've survived it!.......M & F