Day 112 - 117 Lalibella to Adis Ababa We left Gonder at 7am and drove for a full day to Lalibella, the site of incredible rock hewn churches. Again the roads were bone-rattlers but the scenery spectacular. Children ran from all directions as we passed, chasing us with their hands in the air - we felt like we were in a zombie movie! Arriving in Lalibella we camped in the grounds of another hotel (there are no campsites in Ethiopia but you can set up a tent in the car park of most hotels - a cheaper but noisier alternative to having a room - although one we prefer for security and bed bug reasons!) We went to open the back door to set up camp and the dead bolt had snapped inside the door meaning we couldn't open it! This meant we had to unbolt the dogguard, remove the boxes from the back of the car and climb in through the front seats - time consuming but possible, with the right tools...and ours were locked in the back of the car! It took a couple of hours but eventually we removed the bolt and were able to open the back door - but not lock it closed. It was another hassle we could do without! We spent a whole day visiting the churches carved into the rock and built in caves. They were incredible and a sight definitely worth visiting. It was fascinating to see the people worshipping at the churches - old women kissing the walls and floors of the churches; hermits in holes in the rock reading their bibles; priests with their solid gold crosses healing the sick. In one church, Yeoman Kristos, built in a mountain cave 40km outside of Lalibella, our guide showed us a pile of skeletons - those of the priests of the church. He had a long stick and rattled their bones - it was quite macabre...on our way out I trod on something hard and used my torch to see I was stepping on a skull! We left Lalibella after a morning of re-fixing the dog guard and exhaust and tightened all the nuts and bolts on the car - it's amazing how everything shakes on the corrugated roads and works itself loose. We drove through interesting villages where everyone waved at us - we felt like celebrities. Our clutch was playing up so we tried to sort it out in the car park of the Lal Hotel in Weldiya, where there was a Save The Children function going on. It was interesting to chat to people to find out their perspective of Ethiopia. The following day we drove towards Addis, camping at Debre Birhan on the way. We saw tarmac for the first time and were relieved for about two minutes, until we realised that the tarmac was so potholed it was almost as bad as the gravel roads! As we arrived in Addis Ababa we saw lots of athletic men and women running along the roads - training for marathons. The altitude is so high here it is amazing how they can run so fast. In Addis we headed straight for EIG, a garage we'd been told that stocks land rover parts. We needed to sort out the clutch and get some new bushes for the suspension. At EIG we met a very friendly Brit called Craig who had just been seconded to 'sort out' the workshop. Craig took us and Biggles under his wing and as well as mending the clutch (ironically putting back the original clutch master cylinder we had changed in Cairo - the new part was faulty!) and advising us to get two new shock absorbers (which we bought for $70), he invited us to stay in his house where we had hot showers and a comfy bed! We spent the evening with Craig and some of his Ethiopian friends checking out the local bar and nightclub scene of the city - Adis seems to be a fun city with a lot of character.