Every trip seems to have one section that doesn’t quite go according to plan, and I think this section is it. After my Simien Mountains tour I was supposed to go straight to Aksum, but was told instead that I would have to spend the night in Debark and go to Aksum in the morning. Morning came and my ride didn’t show up. I then spent the whole morning trying to arrange a ride in a town with no local transport to where I needed to go. A seemingly random couple of guys on the street made some calls and by noon I was in the back back way back of a Toyota Landcruiser with a very nice driver and four elderly Parisians who just finished their own tour of the Simiens. I was cramped and the twisty, turny, rocky, bumpy, unsurfaced road didn’t make me anymore comfortable. Luckily, the breathtaking scenery helped me forget periodically.

A couple of hours in and we stopped for lunch where the drivers friend was taking a nice Belgian couple for the exact same drive. They arranged to have me switch vehicles so I would have more room. Now I was in the front seat with the wind on my face, the road was now paved, and all we had to worry about was the infinite herds of cattle, goats, and mules blocking our path. Four hours later just as the sun was setting, we were in Aksum and I was a day behind schedule.

I decided to skip, or hopefully just postpone my next planned stop so that I could see the sights in and around Aksum, which was the first capitol of Ethiopia during the Axumite empire. Aksum is believed to have been founded in the 4th century, and aside from the modernish city center it looks like it hasn’t changed at all since then. I spent some time walking around the old old old residential part of town looking at ancient stone and mud houses while children yelled, “Hellooooo!” and goats, mules and camels wandered the rough dusty streets.

The big attraction in Aksum is the stelae field where the Axumite people erected hundreds of stone stelae, most of them covering tombs, some of which are open. Some of the stelae are elaborately carved while others are just big monoliths sticking up out of the ground, but they’re all pretty fascinating. 

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Also right across the street from the stelae is the Maryam Tsion church complex. It was originally the first church ever built in Ethiopia, but it was destroyed in two different invasions in its history and the current structure, while very important to Ethiopians, isn’t all that interesting. What is interesting, however, are the old monastery on the premises and the church that allegedly houses the original Arc of the Covenant. No one but the priest is allowed to see it though, and the only two westerners who claimed to have seen it described two different arcs so it’s doubtful either of them saw the real thing, if it really exists at all. For me, it’s just another church claiming to have some important relic that no one is allowed to see. The place looks like Fort Knox, though, metal fence laced with barbed wire, security lights, and guards.

Just outside of town is the ruins of the Queen of Sheba’s palace. All that remains are the foundations, but it must have been quite a place at one time. 

After exploring the town I set off to wander the historical sights high above Aksum. First was the Ezana Stone, a huge stone inscribed with the many deeds and conversion to Christianity of King Ezana in three languages, Ge’ez, Sabaean, and Greek. It was found by accident by a farmer when he chipped it with his plow haha. They dug out the earth around it and then built a shed around it to protect it. I can’t help but wonder what other treasures are lurking around Aksum, buried and waiting to be discovered.

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Further up the hills from the Ezana Stone I explored two underground tombs of former Axumite kings, Kaleb and Gebre Meskel. The bodies and the artifacts have long since been removed, but the structures are still intact. Finally, a long walk through the beautiful hills and farms above Aksum until I reached the Pentalewon Monastery, perched on a very sharp peak, where the priest showed me his collection of 700 year old artifacts and paintings inside. The views below of the city were really incredible too.

The next morning, after a good nights sleep I jumped in my own private minivan bound for my next stop. Along the way we stopped for a couple of mini adventures, one of which was absolutely terrifying and really tested my fear of heights. Don’t worry, I survived, but I’ll write about it later.

See all my pics from Aksum here