Now we had to pay the price for for our "extra" day yesterday - leaving at 05.00. I soon discovered that Ross had put on the vehicle notice board a photograph he had printed on to A4 during our stay. This is of me, flat out fast asleep on the Lake Nasser, ignoring a Sudanese family close by - the title is "Bryan making friends with the local community".
On our way, we passed the site of the battle of Adwa in 1896. This date is as well known in Ethiopia as 1066 is back home, as it was here that the totally untrained, and woefully equipped, Ethiopian army defeated the Italians - the only time that an African army has defeated a modern European one. I rather liked the memorial.
Passing through the province of Tigray, we stopped to visit the rock hewn church at Atsbeha (?) dating from AD1000 or before (the Italians put the portico on the front). Just a foretaste of what we shall see in Lalibela.
For lunch, we discovered what it was that we had eaten a few days ago in the Friends cafe - the secret ingredient was bread! Here, there was a bit more pizzazz about how it was prepared - first, you break your bread roll into a bowl and then the waiter comes and mixes in all the other ingredients (chopped vegetables and scrambled egg) in front of you. May not sound too good, but actually very tasty (and, at least for me, infinitely better than injera, the seemingly national dish which is available almost everywhere).
Then a long drive through yet more beautiful scenery until we arrived in Korem in the pitch black - too tired to eat, just went to bed.
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