Day 77 to 78- 15th to 16th January - The Historic Route

Point of departure : Lalibela

Point of arrival : Axum

Accommodation: Yeha Hotel

Km travelled today: 401km Cum: 14 930km (gravel 386km cum 4 215km)

Countries so far: 7/16

Where to next? Simien Mountains

Total number of photos taken: 77 (cum 3 549)

Our sightseeing plans for today were disrupted when John checked the car to discover that we had one totally flat tyre and one soft one.The totally flat one had been plugged previously and John re-plugged it and re-inflated it and it seems to be holding.The soft one seems to have a very very slow puncture and that is being tested with a view to getting it "professionally" fixed. We found the tyre place (not very encouraging, a shack that opens out on to the pavement with a few dilapidated tyres indicating the nature of the business). However, they did the job.

The afternoon was spent with our guide David who took us on a whirlwind tour of the archaeological sites of Axum.

Axum is the most ancient of Ethiopian capitals (Tigrai province) and the holiest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.It's also the home of the Cathedral of Tsion Maryam (site of Ethiopia's oldest Christian sanctuary), founded in the 4th century and still regarded as the spiritual home of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

Axum's greatest significance is as the epicentre of the Queen of Sheba's dynasty. Haile Selassie I whose line descends from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Jerusalem. Emperor Haile Selassie II claimed to be the 225th monarch of the Solomonic line. His removal from power by a military coup in 1974 and his death a year later, marked the end of an era and beginning of the end of an entire way of life.

Ethiopia's claim to the lost Ark of the Covenant is a vexed one and contentious one. Many do believe that this priceless Old Testament treasure rests in Axum. It seems that the Ark arrived in Ethiopia in the late 5th century BC. There is some evidence that it was first installed on an island on Lake Tana where it remained for 800 years before it was removed to Axum. The building where the Ark is said to lie is a small unpretentious sanctuary built in 1965 on the orders of Haile Selassie. The chapel stands at the heart of Axum's extensive monastic complex and is annexed to the 17th century Cathedral of St Mary of Zion. In line with a time-honoured tradition, only one man is allowed to set eyes upon the Ark - usually an elderly holy monk.When the custodian is dying he has to nominate his successor. We tried to visit the Cathedral but it was closed and as women are not allowed in the sanctuary we did not go there either.

The tour started at the Stelae field (opposite the cathedral). These are solid granite obelisks and the largest (which weighs 520 tons and is 33 metres high) lies shattered on the ground) - it toppled over soon after it was erected probably due to the base of the stele being too small to support it. The second largest stele which stands at 26m was carved into three blocks and transported to the Piazza in Rome (during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia) - in 2005 it was returned to Ethiopia.Not far from the stelae is Remhai's tomb which consists of 12 underground vaults that are high enough to walk through - the most striking feature of this tomb is the precision of the masonry.

From there we visited the tombs of King Kaleb and his son Gebre Meskel. These tombs are underground and were prepared for King Kaleb, his wife and his son and heir Gebre Meskel. However, when they converted to Christianity, they were buried in the churches of Debre Liqanos and Pantaleon Monastery, and the tombs remained empty.

An interesting fact we heard from our guide is that the Ethiopians are buried in the churches, and a year later their ashes are exhumed and scattered to make space for the next corpse. They do not bury their dead in cemeteries.

Then on to the Mai Shum or locally referred to as Queen of Sheba's Swimming Pool - a small reservoir just north of the town. Traditions are that this place was built 3000 years ago as a bathing place for the Queen of Sheba. The more credible story is that it was dug out as a water reservoir for the early 15th century Emperor Yishak.

Our last stop was the ruins of the Nobles' palace which was built upon the site of Queen Sheba's palace. Evidence has been found of artefacts from pre-christian era (the time of Queen of Sheba) but no conclusive proof. The Ethiopian nobility lived there.

All a bit rushed on top of the prior day's travel and the tyre activities in the morning. We are exhausted.We were pleased to be able to retire fairly early to bed in the hotel.