Today was a very interesting day. Our guide Refine collected us,at 04h30, from our Mog. We walked into the village of Axum where we attend a religious procession starting from the Church that supposedly houses the Ark of the Covenant. It was still pitch dark but a lot of pilgrims were in attendance. We walked into the compound of Churches but at a certain point Moz had to wait as women were not allowed into the inner sanctum. Refine and I proceeded and watched as the Priests brought a Talbot out under a cloth cover. Many of the worshipers were carrying candles and saying prayers. We returned to Moz and the entire procession went into a square outside the Church compound. There was singing and generally a serene religious atmosphere with lots of worshipers clad in white robes carrying candles. At a certain point the procession started to walk through the village with the singing of a religious chorus returning to the square after about 1 hour.
After breakfast we returned to the village to buy rolls, fruit, vegetables and eggs. We had some help from a volunteer. What great fun camels, donkeys and interesting small shops.
We then left for Adigrat with a planned stop at the Monastery of Debre Damo. This is perched high on a hill, does not permit women and you can only enter by climbing with ropes up a 15 meter vertical cliff. I needed a lot of help from two Monks pulling while I tried my best to climb. When I got to the top I was exhausted and shaking from exertion. There is no other way to enter the Monastery. After a short rest I was shown the Church used by the Monks at the Monastery. It is a beautiful old stone building with fantastic views.
The climb down was equally difficult, my decent was controlled by two Monks whilst I tried to hold on and clamber down. It was well worth it !!!
We are back in the hotel parking lot. We hired a single room for $ 17. It has a clean shower with hot water and a flush toilet. We are getting quite good at this 😀
To date we have travelled 11600 km and tomorrow we head South again. Homeward bound. 😘
By the way ....... Had to conquer a few more mountain passes again.
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