Axum street

Broken stelae

Cathering water from Queen of Sheba's pool

I had planned on extra time in Lalibela to soak in the atmosphere but when Jess headed off to Axum, I decided to change my flights and tag along.

We changed Jess' single-room reservation at Africa Hotel to a double, set our things down and walked to the stelae park. Outside of the hotel and the historical sights, there were no tourists to be seen. The streets buzzed with hyperactive children and loping camels.

The stelae park was incredibly disappointing. The most elaborate stela was surrounded by a steel fence, and the much-ballyhooed return of a stela stolen by the Italians was still not complete. Construction crew came and went throughout the park. Blind beggars lined up by the entrance to latch on to passing tourists.

To my shock, I ran into Raj and Anshal—friends from home —right outside the stelae park's gate. I'd seen their tour itinerary and expected them to be in town, but never guessed it would be so easy to find them. They wanted to see the museum first, which was perfect timing as we could join up with their guide.

We opted out of the churches, feeling a bit churched-out after Lalibela; it didn't help that the most interesting church was closed to women and all of them required an entry fee. Instead we visited Queen of Sheba's pool, an romantic name for a cement-lined reservoir. Townspeople came to fill their yellow oil jugs with water, which provided short-lived entertainment.

Also opting out of Kaleb's Palace, we wandered back through town looking for food. At Ghenet Hotel, a decidedly locals-only place, we were confronted with a lack of menus or English speakers. Hesitantly ordering bread and tibs, we were rather taken aback when a bowl of half-cooked meat appeared. We ate around the reddest pieces, mopping up the sauce with the bread and feeling guilty over the wastefulness. With sodas the meal cost only 11 birr apiece, which we paid with some embarrassment.

A trio of crazy children accosted us asking for money, for pens, for candy. They were unbearably cute, so eventually I bargained with them: one birr for one photo. They smiled sweetly for the camera and didn't seem to mind that they were splitting one birr three ways. Several minutes later, they caught up to us again, babbling incessantly but no longer asking for money. One child grabbed Jess' hand and kissed it repeatedly. It was strange.

Jess & St. George

After dinner at Africa Hotel, we headed up the road to the much fancier Remhai Hotel to meet Raj and Anshal for a drink. The sprawling hotel grounds featured a pool, plant-lined walkways, and entertainment in the form of dancing and music in a large tukul. We spent the evening talking about our varied experiences in Ethiopia, including Raj and Anshal's hours-long journey with armed scout to Hadar, where Lucy was excavated.

Appreciating Axum requires a great deal of imagination and a serious case of history-lust. The physical sights didn't engage me, but it was wonderful hanging out with Jess and catching up with Raj and Anshal after nearly two weeks of rough independent travel. In their private bus, accompanied by an English-speaking guide and Anshal's wealthy parents, they found Ethiopia easy. Comparing experiences over bad local wine made for a wonderful, relaxing evening.

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