The guidebooks try to warn you. Staring up at the final few meters of the ascent up to Abuna Yemata Guh, a church carved into the very top of a rock mountain in a remote area of Ethiopia, I remember Lonely Planet's words: The last two minutes require nerves of steel - our hands are sweating just thinking about it! Well, I don't have much of a choice now, do I? I already hopped into the car with my new friends Nick and Amy and made the journey out into the dus...

A lot has happened since we last blogged in Khartoum, but I’ll keep to the highlights and we can tell you about everything else some time over a beer. Leaving Khartoum and heading from Sudan into Ethiopia we were struck by the sudden change in culture (Amy happily stripped off half her clothing as soon as we exited Sudan!); and were relieved by the temperature drop as we ascended into the Ethiopian highlands. We first headed 50km along a bumpy dirt road to Gor...