When the mind wonders off – part VIII

After this wilderness we were more than happy to find the first part of the asphalt road. It was also a great relief to our bodies and vehicle.

From the quiet mystic mountains we went to another mystic place of Lalibela. It’s a place of monumental churches chiseled out of rock, that attracts many pilgrims. Our curiosity got the best of us, so we went there.

The builders of these places of worship were true artists, for the churches are chiseled masterpieces you can easily miss. They are camouflaged by the surrounding mountains. Discovering the details is also a real adventure: a slow world, with a few monks who have read the wisdom of the books and you can even fins skeletons on almost every step. You start to wonder how people have lived the very same way eight centuries ago, when they retrieved into the world of holy rocks, unchanged until today.

The passage from Ethiopia to Kenya was a drive from the Ethiopian town of Moyala to the Kenyan town of Isiolo. The corrugations on the road, huge boulders, fine sand, bedrock, mud, desert… all in the same drive on something we’d never bother calling a road.

We even got two policemen to accompany us, equipped with most interesting riffles. An armed policeman should never travel anywhere alone, there should be another one to supervise him. Time ago, these were the places of bandits, so it’s better to have a security force with you, for they usually attacked tourists.

The drive was exhausting and prolonged into the night. Avoiding the obstacles on the way was even worse. So we got to the half way point (Marsabit) at midnight and got even more policemen to accompany us, so we didn’t expect any problems with the bandits. But they officers were also surprised to see us, for it’s not allows to drive between 10pm and 6am. Yet we had no problems with that. 
Fried eggs and home made bread for breakfast – yes, that one tasted real good. A hot shower came from a bucket and it was already time to head further south towards Isiolo. We took our farewell from the armed forces and off we went. 
 
Bouncing along the way we stopped to pick up a local from a very picturesque tribe, who was more than happy to have gotten a ride. He had difficulties to get into the car, for he had many spears and a camel bell on him. After a few photos (which we showed to him too) he was confused and scared to sit too close to the door. He had the whole back bench, but always wanted to go to the middle of it – I suppose I’d have felt the same level of discomfort on a camel.
 
And so we arrived to Kenya. As a welcome party we had to change a tyre, for we got a huge nail into it. Piece of cake!