19/02/22, stage 25, Blue Nile Gorge to Italian Bridge Camp

The tent did fine 🙂 And it did not wash 1300 meters down into the gorge either 🙂 At some point the rain slowed down and I decided to make a run for it. I made it to the tent without getting to wet, and everything inside the tent was dry. I fell asleep like a rock. Tent made it through it’s first real rain test!

This morning I woke up by the sound of my alarm. The rain had stopped and this was one of the first times I felt like staying in bed for one, two or six hours longer since the tour started. It was cold, everything felt damp and little clouds of danp left my mouth and nose. Perfect to stay in bed a little longer, but unfortunately breakfast time was still at 630. Furthermore we had another day of climbing ahead of us so I wanted to leave early.

I packed my bag, broke down the tent and gagged down my breakfast and left, hoping that my legs would not be completely empty… Luckily they were not and I had a slow but steady ride today. Just after lunch we reached the highest point of the entire tour at around 3150 meters. I’ve never been this high with my bike 🙂 I could really feel the altitude though. I just felt completely out of shape… Luckily it only lasted for about 20k, after which followed a long 17k gradual descent into camp 🙂

At camp I put up my tent and took a long nap. Later in the afternoon I took a walk with Baldr to see the nearby Italian bridge (1940’s) and the nearby Portugese bridge (16th century). The Italian bridge was pretty nice, but the Portugese bridge was just stunning, overlooking one of the gorges that lead to the blue Nile gorge… Great day (again, I know), although I’m pretty tired. Tomorrow we’ll ride into Addis. If I’ll take it slow I should be alright!