Azezo Beyond the road becomes gravel road for fifty miles. A large cloud sits on the horizon. Soon ominous shade into, gunmetal, pregnant with rain. Start downloading. The land becomes a slippery skating rink and the cold water penetrates underwear. But, I can not let up because there is no shelter to the huts of peasants. You take the muddy path, go through another town full of animals, children and from prying eyes, I climb a hill and then I see. At the bottom, Brown and agitated, Lake Tana. A long straight leads to Gorgora, which is nothing more than a village with just a hundred mud houses.
Shortly after another signal appears. “Tim & Kim camping”. The path is narrow and steep. After a left turn, flattens and there is the absolute paradise. Before me are a few small lodges thatched conical. A young man with long curly hair European greets me with a handshake and a smile. Es Kim, the Flying Dutchman who rules this simple complex overlanders.
The conversion of the Emperor
During dinner they serve a dish of potatoes au gratin with cheese. What I eat and drink a beer after another. Castaway look. I talk up a storm. Tell you why I'm here. Seeking the "discoverer" Spanish sources of the Blue Nile.
—Ah, Pedro Páez.-dice Tim.
I look to my host with surprise.
- Do you know?'I say.
'Yes,' nods, I love the history of Ethiopia.
The darkness around us and the mosquitoes buzzing around us.
- You know, that Paez became the emperor to Catholicism Susini?.
Tim nods.
-This conversion had a lot to do with politics. Susini they saw with a formidable foe: El Islam. Threatened by the four cardinal points, the Portuguese were a great ally, but assisted him in exchange for admitting to the Jesuits in a land of strict Orthodox tradition. After the official conversion of the emperor to a foreign faith began a civil war which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Coptic peasants. Fasilides returned to orthodoxy and drove the Portuguese settlers. It was the end of Catholicism in Ethiopia.
'But at least be the palace design Paez-commented almost worried Susini. For me it is vital to visit.
'Today is a mere ruin, says Tim. Just one arch remains standing. Everything is covered with weeds. It is the kingdom of snakes. You have to go by boat. The road is impassable. Bridges have fallen. I have not managed to get in my 4×4.
- Are there any grave?
My interlocutor shakes his head as he takes a long swig of his beer and looks at me with curiosity.
- What do you mean?
-Paez is buried there. Gorgora returned to several times to supervise the construction of the complex. Each trip should be a big effort for a man who was nearly sixty. On his last visit he fell ill. The 25 May 1622 died here.
Just one arch remains standing. Everything is covered with weeds. It is the kingdom of snakes
The path of nearly a million stones
The next day I go in search of the Palace on my bike Susini devoid of luggage to make it lighter. I arrive at the first hurdle announced in the sketch drawn Tim: the fallen bridge. I wade a stream whose channel is filled with large stones of alluvial. These rocks are pointy and loose a constant distressing. They jump in all directions and moving from room to step on.
They come from the old road leading to the palace. It's like a giant plow had nailed his metal in the middle of the road and all the stones had started leaving them in the worst possible position. On this kind of mattress is almost inconceivable rolling fakir. Sometimes there is only a very narrow path by which a person can hardly pass, a cow, a donkey, a pair of goats and now a BMW R1200 GS named Sassy. His name is being demonstrated at this time as entirely appropriate.
Accelerated, I put the wheel in the furrow, flight over the rocky edges and gradually overcome the trap. In these moments is committed when you really appreciate having provided a set of springs made in Holland TFX. High quality and independent oil bottles front and rear, Not abut a single time. The recovery is amazing for such a heavy saddle. As for the grip, I have it covers guaranteed by Continental TKC taco 80. The best on the market in their sector. Nor fear a fall. The bike is reinforced with all types of defenses the German manufacturer: SW Motech (www.2tmoto.com).
Farmers and cows roam this idyllic horizon. This scenario is the closest thing I've ever seen the Garden of Eden
After reaching a plateau, I admire the stunning views. The lake will be about 10 kilometers that extends over a succession of gentle hills and lush fertile in crops, forests and farms. Farmers and cows roam this idyllic horizon. This scenario is the closest thing I've ever seen the Garden of Eden. Raptors fly over us, Real Lord of the heavens in Ethiopia.
I insist. Another million left behind stones and then find a flat trail that winds and bucolic cornfields. At the end stands a mountain on a small peninsula in Lake. At the top I find the broken ruins profile. At the end of the trail, begins a steep ascent. At the open passage into the bush you can not even call path. Nail boots on the footrests, I stand on the bike, I raise the view, I grit my teeth and accelerated without fear. The jungle swallows us. The characters that come to see what the heck is going on are part of another category of farmers. Health but do not ask for anything. Clear sign that do not come here many white men. Really primitive and isolated, These Ethiopians are sentinels of an unknown treasure whose value.
The forgotten grave
I come to the plain and only meeting up the skeleton of the church. Beside him lay scattered stones that built the palace walls. The peasants have been gradually destroying the complex to build their houses. Soon there will be nothing. It smells wonderfully of mint. The birds chirping of a thousand different voices.
Just right is an archway with delicate latticework Portuguese. There is nothing here to remind Pedro Páez. Unesco and the Ethiopian Government has restored other temples, palaces and castles, and charge good money for it, but no one has remembered that here lies a man in the history of Ethiopia. English Speke has a plaque on Lake Victoria in Uganda as the discoverer of the sources of the White Nile. Paez black hole in a remote.
How different are the nations in the treatment of children. But, sniff pregnant with rain and watching this perfect landscape I can not help remembering the dreadful circus of tourists riding around the castle of Gondar. Given this perfect solitude I think this may be the best tribute that could have Pedro Páez.
