Abiy Adi is a rural town in the Tembien region of Tigray. There are some local hotels and a more touristy one catering to foreigners. I went to the local Nur Hotel just on the piassa in a fancy looking glass building (100 Birr per night), although the inside is more makeshift than the exterior. Along the main street you can find many shops, restaurants, mobile equipment and the like.
The town is nestled between huge red sand rocks which make for an amazing scenery. Birds patrol the air and it is not uncommon to spot an eagle. One km to the east you enter a red valley with high cliffs on either side and the end of the road opens into a botanical garden which turned out to be a nice restaurant and bar (Mailomin or Mylomin) which serves food, beer and excellent homemade tej, an ethiopian brew that resembles honey-wine and is made of fermented honey. Outside Abiy Adi there are some rock-hewn churches (see my Aba Yohani post).
Yesterday I was lucky to check out Abiy Adi's "nightlife" with Gigi, a student from Mekelle who is visiting his sisters here. First, we went to have a beer and then a stroll along the main road talking about our lives, hopes, jobs and football. He is a big Liverpool fan.
We played some 8ball in a local snooker stall, and then went into a shack just around the corner from Piassa where we played some ProEvolutionSoccer on a Playstation. Out of three matches I at least won one (I hope he did not let me win :-). I am happy to say that I made a genuine friend here who was only interested in my time and nothing else.
The Tembien people are really smooth, friendly and laid-back. Although I seem to be the only faranji in town, there's no hustling, just friendly faces and greetings. The kids love to shout "faranji" or "china" when they see me, which is really funny. On the first day one of the local kids followed me. He didn't speak a word of English, didn't ask for money or anything else, and seemed to be just curious. With the few words of Amharic I have learned up to now we somehow communicated and he led me to a local church hidden inside a small valley and because he was rather pleasant company I invited him to a mirinda and shared my plate of tibs with him.
I will really miss that place. It is beautiful, genuine and unique. My friend Yacob from recommended this place to me (it's his hometown) and I can really recommend it to anybody else.
Edit:
To continue to Axum you can catch a minibus to Adwa (around 50 Birr) and contiue with another minibus to Axum (15 Birr). There might even be a direct service. I was lucky to get a ride on a pick-up Toyota Landcruiser which was way faster than a minibus.
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