June 16th;I have abandoned any updates since we left Khartoum mainly because the internet connection in Ethiopia is frustratingly slow. We are currently in Addis Ababa, the capital, where we have finally managed to find something other than tempremental dial up. We arrived in Ethiopia nearly two weeks ago now and as soon as we crossed the border and started the long drive uphill into the mountains we nnoticed a welcomed decrease in the temperature. Goodbye to the 50 degree days and hello to 30 degrees maximum and rain! It has been a long time since we have seen rain and it was a refreshing change to the never ending dry desert we experienced throughout Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia has represented a change in the trip for us. The religion here is a mixture of local religions, Islam and Orthodox. The Orthodox Ethiopians take religion very seriously with their last pennies going into the village Church collection boxes. With the shift in religion the culture and society here is very different to that we have experienced in the many Islamic countries we have spent the last two months in. As soon as we crossed the border we saw Women, not only on the street but baring their shoulders and wearing skirts above the knee! Furthermore, at the border crossing there were advertisments for local brews and each village has an abundence of little pubs and bars serving Dashen and Tej! is noticeably poorer than any country I have visited before in my life. At the Metemma border post the stench of shit and urine was apparent immediatly and it seems to be prevelant throughout the country. People poo where ever they want, even on their water source, or on their doorstep. The begging is also a lot worse here than I have seen before. It seems some idiot gave a lot of Ethiopian children pens sometime ago and now they pester every passing ‘farangi’ (foreigner) for more. They repeat the same story every time. ‘Please give me a pen and 5 birr so I can buy an exercise book and go to school…..’ It is very sad to see the children begging and to resist their pleas but I fail to see how groups of farangis giving them pens will help matters? I have a funny feeling they are taught a number of phrases and words like that mentioned above, and ‘give me?’ and ‘money’ which their parents send them out to beg with. Maybe I am wrong but from what I have seen here of ‘aid’ it seems that things that are donated like pens, food or médicine, far from being used to directly help those who need it they are just sold on to other people o have the money to buy it thus by passing those that actually need it. Alternatively a child is sent out by the parents to beg and anything you give them will go straight back to the parents for Tej money? Ethiopia has made me very cynical. It has made me think a lot more about third world poverty, how far aid helps and how far people want to help the themselves. Ethiopia is a stunning country. It has beautiful mountain ranges and miles and miles of spectacular country side. It is sad to see that much of this country side is being excessively farmed and deforested. We visited the Simien Mountain national park which has peaks like Mt Ras Dashen rising up to over 4000 metres. Many indigenous people still live within the park boundaries so even in such a protected landscape the agriculture is apparent. However the Simiens are not to be missed we spent two days trekking around the second base camp, Sankaber at over 3200 metres. It is compulsory to be accompanied by an armed scout whilst in the park. It was amusing to see a guy armed with an AK 47 sitting behind us in Carol! Still he was a nice chap with a kind face and he knew his way around the mountains like the back of his hand. We did not feel as though we needed a guide as well. Up in the mountains we had our first brush with Wild life. Whilst walking we came across fields full of hundreds of endemic gelada baboons. We were able to sit less than a metre away from the animals watching them feed and groom. We spent our first few days in Ethiopia relaxing at Tim and Kim village in Gorgora. Tim and Kim are a dutch couple have set up a community based project here. They are working to set up an Overland/campsite/lodge accomadation for travellers. The work is being carried out by local people and part of the idea is that profit raised will be ploughed back into the village. What they are doing is incredible and the campsite on the northern shore of Lake Tana is idyillic! We spent many days there relaxing! Between relaxing at Tim and Kims and trekking in the mountains we also spent a few days in the historial town of Gondor. There are old castles and palaces set among gorgeous grounds that remain from the days when Gondor was the Countrys capital and also some beatiful painted churches to see. In Gondor we met a lovely Chinese traveller who we call Sky. He joined us in our trip to the mountins and hopefully we can catch up with him again when we head south.After spending a week or so up north we set off on the long journey to Addis Ababa. We stopped off at Bahir Dar to view the dissapointing Blue Nile Falls. It seems back in their day the water fall was one of the most impressive in Africa! Now it is little more than a trickle due to a hydro electric plant that uses the water. Despite that it was a pleasent walk. In Bahir Dar we managed to esemble something of an ‘overland’ crew! We met a French couple Guillame and Celene who have since hopped into the back of the landy and accompanied us down to Addis. We also met an Ozzie couple Jackie and Scott who we have sent in the direction of Tim and Kims! In Bahir dar we also met up with our faithful travelling companians Mandy and Jacques who we hope to cross to Kenya with for the infamous Moyale to Isolo road… We have heard nothing but bad news about the road from the border South into Kenyan. Although once notorious for banditry it has been deemed by the South African bikers we met in Khartoum as ’the worst road in Africa…’ in terms of the road condition. We will have to judge this for ourselves in a few weeks time. Ethiopia is a difficult country to travel th rough. On the road we get shouts in every village from locals. ’You you you you you’ or they shout or ’farangi farangi’. Although many are just excited to see us and want to speak with us there is also a more sinister side to it. On a number of occasions children have thrown stones or sometimes full on rocks in the direction of Carol. Others spit at us and the rest just run after us begging for money. The roads are often not great to say the least which means we go very slowly giving the stone throwers a better chance at a hit! Despite the frustrating side to Ethiopia we are still having a good time here. We have met a number of lovely people and seen some beautiful things! We plan to spend a few days in Addis to get the car fixed…. Again… dont ask. Celebrate my birthday and see some sights before we head south for a week or so before we reach the border.