my name is tony giles and i'm totally blind and severely deaf in both ears. now we're moving. i can feel the wind in my hair. i've spent the last 21 years travelling. i've visited over 120 countries. every continent in the world, including antarctica. my mission is to visit every country in the world. i started off in december planning this recent trip and i decided to start in egypt because it's at the top of north africa and work my way through several countries to get to ethiopia. 0k, i've got some fish. now i'm feeding the birds.

it's my passion, it's what i do, it's what makes me happy. it's the biggest challenge i can get. i just want to be normal. i've got to be strong all the time. it's the only way i can travel. the only way i can cope. i've explored quite a bit of addis and i think it's time to move on and explore a bit more of this wonderful, fascinating country

that is ethiopia. i really want to try to get to the rift valley and try to visit some of the lakes, get some of the nature and natural ambience. really get off the beaten track. we're going to the village, it's roughly two or three hours south of addis ababa. it's one of the fresh rift valley la kes. and apparently it has lots of birdlife and hippopotami. hello. what's your name? my name is arlo. my name's tony, i'm from england.

i can hear something. a tractor? a helicopter? a motorbike. motorbike, yeah. the lake's in this direction? yeah. the biggest problem for me is, i've got no direction, it's just an open field. there's nothing to follow. and the wind is giving me problems. we're trying to follow the sound of the cow and the wind is taking away from my hearing aids. this is one of the biggest problems for me when i'm travelling, is the wind. because if i can't follow something on the ground, i've got to try to follow sounds.

like, traffic, or other noises. i've got the cow's tail! here he goes. managed to grab his tail, but it has decided to run off and drag me with it. so that was fun. there are some local kids around, giving fish to the marabou stork. i've got some fish, now i'm feeding the birds. 0h! one of the main reasons i come travelling is to get off the beaten track and get away from the tourist crowd, and this lake is idealfor me because it's peaceful, away from tourists, just locals, very natural. it's perfect.

from some of the research i had done about haile selassie and ethiopia and hearing about the rastafarian culture, it's this idea that haile selassie had designated a bit of land, so that former african slaves, descendants, could come back to africa. that sounded interesting so i thought i would head to a town called shashamane, where it's a very rastafarian culture. lots of people out, this feels very lively, very rural, traditional. i like it. hello, salaam! the driver and i are now looking for my accommodation, a rastafarian—run lodge.

alex, i am alex. hello. welcome! come in. wow, you're tall. wow, you're small. like a lot of western european tourists who think a rastafarian culture, lifestyle, i have my sort of stereotypical idea of dreadlocks and just laying about listening to reggae all day. didn't realise it was probably not all like that. but i still had some. and when i got there, i met alex and his wife, and very quickly they changed that whole perception that i had. welcome to our house, of ancient ethiopian people. wow. i became a rasta man as a teenager, you know, when i saw bob, bob marley, in france,

i was so amazed. you know? by his performance on stage. sure. he touched me, and changed my life. touched you inside, in the heart? yeah. i discovered who i was, you know? he gave me a sense of dignity. what is a real rasta man? a real rasta man is a faithful servant of the almighty, jah. someone who tries his best to live a righteous life. jah is god, yeah? to love his next. his neighbour? to fulfil the will of god on earth. so it's not about smoking ganja and listening to bob marley? i am not a smoker, to tell you the truth. it's not all rasta will smoke ganja. you have rasta who don't smoke. one of my biggest loves is music.

i've always loved music so i can connect with it. i don't need to see, i don't need to hear. i can connect with the rhythm. music is beautiful because it crosses all boundaries. it doesn't matter what skin colour, what disability. it doesn't matter. i said, i play drums. he said, i play drums. he started playing and i started following. we just sat there, the two of us, drumming, jamming. no woman, no cry. sharing energy and positive vibes and connecting. a really beautiful moment. that was awesome, amazing. do you still feel excluded, at times? we have no rights.

we're not ethiopian citizens. we're foreigners. but we decided to live permanently and forever in ethiopia. but we don't really get reconditioned after so many years. we just got, the other day, id card, to stay legally, you know, for five years. but with a lot of conditions. it's not so easy. to live as rasta people in ethiopia. so you're still considered as foreigners? yeah. we're now in a local tricycle. you have a favourite football team? i like liverpool. mo salah. mo salah! yeah! cool

my mum is pretty special. very special, amazing. she's the most important person in my life. she supports my travels. she encourages me, she helps me with my maps, she helps me research. i can do most things on the internet with a speech software. but one thing i cannot do is book flights. the websites are impossible for all air companies. so she books flights for me. she is my rock that i stand on. she is the reason i can do this. without her, i'd be nothing.

we've just landed in lalibela, one of the major tourist cities in the north of ethiopia. i knew that when i came to ethiopia, that one of the places that i had to visit was lalibela. the rock churches, what these mean to the people. i thought, ijust had to come here. when i landed in lalibela airport it was a bit confusing. normally i have the assistance, to take me through the airport. but a guy who works there took me through the airport and outside, and handed me onto another guy. at first i thought he was my couch surfer.

i started walking with him, he wasn't saying much. i started to get a little bit concerned. you're the couch surfer, yeah? and i started asking questions, like, are you my couch surfer? he took me to the bus and he said, get on. give me luggage. yeah, that's fine. i was going to ask the bus driver to call the number i had. and then abedi showed up. 0k, welcome, tony. nice to see you, yes. it all got sort of cleared up. so it was a bit concerning. almost kidnapped, but not quite. would have been a better story if i had been. now we're almost near lalibela. just minutes to arrive at my home.

it's all rocky, really rocky. stony. i like this, this is great. really steep. quite difficult to walk along. i thought, wow, where are we going? if this is what lalibela is all like, this is going to be great. ok, this is my house. the place i'm staying tonight, for me, it's perfect. it's as rough as you can get, as off the beaten track as you can get, as basic as you can get. it's real africa, for me. and it wakes up all my senses. ok, this is the toilet? yes. bit of a walk, if you get caught short. it's nothing new for me. just a bit more difficult

with the steps. i've just got to be a bit slower and take my time. if i get stuck ijust shout, there are people around here, they will come and help me. it's not a problem to me. i can smell it! i love it. part of the adventure. i'm skyping my girlfriend. it's ringing. hi, happy birthday! # happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, # happy birthday darling—beautiful—lovely. .. # happy birthday to you. i miss you. all right, be good. bye. if i want to visit places that are quite tricky i try and find

a guide, a personal guide, to show me around. hello. my name's zamed. hi, zamed. yeah, i'm a local guide in lalibela. 0k. yeah, today's plan is we will explore the churches for you. 0k, thank you. ii churches. the churches divided into three groups. the first group churches, there are six church. yep. and the second group churches, there are four church. 0k. and the third group church there are only one churches. when were they made? what year? sorry? how old are they? 1,000 years old. 0k. more than, yeah. the church is in front of me? chanting in background. it's pretty rough, big steps.

the guide was — probably not guided a blind person before, so they didn't really tell me anything about the steps or the terrain, started telling me information when i sort of started asking her. i don't think she could really understand me, and i couldn't understand her at all. this church is one of the biggest in ethiopia. the biggest? the biggest. outside, inside, total 72 pillars. sorry? 72 pillars. seven pillars? yeah, 72. yep. outside, 3a, inside 38, total is 72 pillars. is it this way? yes. what does it look like? just one doors, the main gate, a little bit of windows to get in light on the priestess. and do the windows have glass? no glass. they're open? rock. just rock windows. yeah, yeah, rock windows. so now where are we heading? around there we get inside.

is this the entrance, yeah? yeah. so we went in the first church and walked around it and could hear chanting. chanting. i tried to explain, but it was very difficult to understand her. this all origanlly rocks. sorry? this originally pillars. right. not collapsed. soa column? yeah, this very cold. 0k. where's your arm? this way. tony sighs. very frustrated, a bit upset. unsure how to handle it, how to extricate myself from the guide without being rude and also getting another guide to continue, i probably can't do this by myself.

i could probably have a go and try and follow tourists, but the terrain‘s pretty, pretty rough. i just want to be normal. she is a nice person but, ah! rrgh! i'm not very good at expressing my emotions. i've got to be strong all the time. it's the only way i can travel. it's the only way i can cope. i am guiding you now. 0k. 0k? i will be on your left because the wall is on your right. and then, one step, tiny step, and then keep forward and then a big one. yes. well done. another one, that is good. you can feel it either side if you stretch your hands. all right!

we got a different guide organised so gently got out of the situation without offending. i felt more confident with him, ifelt more secure, i got the information i wanted. it was all explained in great detail, he was very personable with me, he gave me what i needed. this is a moment for you to take a picture, tony. yep. down there is bete giyorgis, it is a shape of a cross. yep. it is made of one rock, completely detached from the surrounding rock. it's one monolith? yes, one monolith. inside there is a tunnel to get to the church. so it's like a fortress, isn't it? exactly. a few steps forward, we are literally in the centre of the church. so we're at the transept? yeah, exactly. the pillars are part of the structure, so it is supporting itself. right, yep. but the space is very

peaceful and very calming. echo. yeah, a lot of echo because of the shape, obviously. yeah. chanting. a big step, like a big slope. yeah. a few more steps and we'll get there and we shall see the beautiful ceremony. yep, ok. ready? 0k. let's go. so this morning in lalibela i went to this amazing service up at one of the rock churches. it was almost like being transported back in time. keep coming. always hundreds of thousands of people around me, it's quite calming, ifeel quite emotional. i didn't expect to feel that. the energy here is... quite overwhelming.

the last thing we sort of did was light a candle, that's when it hit me, really. a very spiritual setting just sort of got to me and i let me emotions go. i thought about the people i love and the people i've lost recently. i love you, brother. just said goodbye to some people. not leaving them behind, ijust — sending them on their way, releasing all the pent—up grief, i guess. that was good. good, i'm glad.

i had to give the impression that i was ok and it was good and, you know, i couldn't get my mum worried. showed it's ok to let it go, ok to show weakness. it's been an awesome week, an emotional week, i visited some amazing places. so ow become a better person. i think we made a heck of a documentary, in it. i think it will show people that a disabled person, a blind—deaf person can do incredible things. and so can other people.

and hopefully it will make them realise they don't have to let anything stop them from living their dreams. hello. if you like this are cool, showery weather, i get it is good news for you, it looks like it is going to continue for quite some time. tomorrow might be a little on the chilly side around some southern and western coasts, the breeze is going to pick up coming off the atlantic. the low pressure is very much with us today, you can see the cloud circling around the low pressure, weather fronts, cloud circling around the low pressure, weatherfronts, too, and this pattern has been stuck across

the uk for this pattern has been stuck across the ukfora this pattern has been stuck across the uk for a long time now, and for as long as this low pressure is here, the weather is not going to change. it is cool across north—western parts of europe, central and southern areas, even scandinavia at the moment in the midst of a relentless heatwave. through today, this is where the showers are around lunchtime, southern parts of the uk, into the midlands, the north—west of england, a few showers in scotland, too, it has been raining so far today across the east of northern ireland but the anticipation has been that later in the day it is going to be much brighter. and temperatures will probably get up to about 19 degrees at best. the showers will continue their journey eastwards through at best. the showers will continue theirjourney eastwards through the course of this evening. and then later on, many of us actually having some clear skies during the evening. temperatures first thing on sunday will hover from about 8 degrees in belfast to maybe 12 degrees in the very far south of the uk. so, sunday, the low pressure is still with us so it is basically like a

broken record. the weatherfronts keep marching in our direction which just means a showery day for a lot of us. here is the breeze, a south—westerly breeze around western and southern coasts. frequent cloud and southern coasts. frequent cloud and showers moving through, plenty of them across scotland, northern ireland. temperatures might get up to 20 degrees but i suspect in the breeze it is going to feel a little bit cooler than that. a little change into monday, again, lots of showers around but in different places. the thinking is probably more frequent showers in western scotla nd more frequent showers in western scotland and also northern ireland, with fewer showers in wales and england and perhaps a bit warmer. the good news is, if you want something a little bit warmer, it will be turning a bit warmer during the course of the week, but after that it looks as though things will cool off once again. that is it from me.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 11... hong kong's leadership backs down indefinitely the foreign secretary criticises jeremy corbyn for questioning whether the government has "credible evidence" that iran was behind attacks on two oil tankers in the gulf of oman. a major review of hospital food after the deaths of five patients from listeria is announced in england. lincolnshire flooding: people forced to leave their homes are still waiting to learn when they can return, after two months' rain fell in two days. and the climbdown by hong kong's leaders and just who will be britain's next prime minister?