June 28 2008

We got up a little after 4:00 and ate a quick breakfast of granola and
coffee in our room then took off for the airport. What an experience. We
got there two hours in advance of departure for a domestic flight. The
term 'cluster fuck' comes mind, pardon my French! The overhead monitor
read "for Lalibela Proceed to gate". Since we know you can't believe
everything you read, I asked an employee who instructed me to get in the
line on the right. As we got in line, about half the line was getting out
of line to get into the line on the left. Keep in mine they are pushing
carts loaded with luggage and everyone is moving around trying to get out
of line or into line depending on where they are going. There is no
signage, only one man telling people where to go. This is the same man who
is also trying to direct traffic between the front of the two lines and
the counter. He is monitoring when there is an open window for someone to
precede to the counter to get checked in. Oy! He closes off our line and
no one is allowed to proceed to the counter. Mr. B got impatient at one
point and asked what the heck was going on. The man asked where we were
going and informed us we had plenty of time. It turns out that the line on
the left was for people who had earlier flights than ours so they got to
go first. Very interesting. Bottom line after about 35-40 minutes of
standing in line we got checked in.

We flew on a Fokker 50, a small plane for about 50 passengers I would
guess. Didn't Snoopy fly a Fokker? We made two stops on our way to
Lalibela, the flight taking about 2.5 hours altogether. The scenery from
the plane was beautiful but we were not able to capture it with the
camera. The two towns where we stopped were lush green from the sky with
what looked like lots of farm land and flowing rivers and huge lakes. When
we flew into Lalibela, it was a totally different story. It is quite
mountainous there at 8547 ft. It was arid with little vegetation. All the
river beds were dry or had only a trickle of water. The landscape was a
gray/ brown with sand and rock. This was a volcanic region in the past. As
a matter of fact the churches we had traveled to see were carved from
compressed volcanic ash. It is a very isolated and sparsely populated
area.

The rainy season was late here. Farmers had planted crops but the rains
didn't come and now the crops are withering after one or two brief
rainfalls. The livestock (goats, sheep and cattle) are all gaunt from
hunger. It breaks your heart to see the plight of farmers when there is no
irrigation and the weather is unpredictable. We were met at the airport by
a van that took four tourists and two locals up to Lalibela. We climbed
the entire 25 minute trip. We saw small villages of about 20-25 huts made
of straw roofs that must be replaced about every five years and mud walls
as we climbed to Lalibela. Occasionally we would see a home with a
corrugated metal roof. Lalibela has experienced a lot of growth in recent
years and the government has instituted a planned community whereby each
house must have the same floor plan so there was one area before the
center of town that had numerous homes that were identical.

As we drove towards Lalibela we saw lots of people on foot heading to
town. These were rural farmers heading to the weekly Saturday market. Most
men and some women carry sticks that are about 4-5 ft. long. They are
carried across the shoulders so they can rest their hands on each end as
they walk or if they are carrying a large load such as a sack of grain or
a eucalyptus tree the stick can be used to stabilize the load. Because of
the poverty no one owns a car so transport is either by foot or donkey. We
saw lots of men carrying a single eucalyptus tree. These are the frames
for the roofs of houses. Lalibela was very arid and very dusty.

Our hotel was on the far side of town. It consisted of six two storey
structures that were modeled after the traditional homes in this region.
They are round stone structures with a straw roof. The family lives in the
upper storey and the livestock lives in the lower storey. Our hotel had
twelve rooms in the six structures with no livestock! Our room was on the
second floor, had an entry way, a large bedroom with curved walls and a
glass wall with a balcony that overlooked the town and vista. We had a
large bathroom with sink, toilet and fancy shower. The floors in the
bedroom were laminate wood and tile in the bath area.

Our bed was made of bamboo as was all the furniture. We had instructions
to not put any toilet paper in the toilet, a common practice in developing
countries. I assume this is due to lack of infrastructure to handle it. A
receptacle was placed near the toilet for paper.

Our guide Fikru whom we had hired over the Internet met us at our hotel.
It was about 10:30 so he suggested since today was market day that we go
see it. We were delighted as we have avoided the market in Addis due to
safety issues. Fikru assured us we need not have any worries about safety
here. The population is about 10,000 here and it is very much a rural
community. We walked to the market where 100's if not 1000's of locals had
come to market. Some come from as far away as 25 km. The market was on a
hillside and divided into sections: chili peppers, livestock, grains,
spices, weavings, shoes, etc.

Each vendor had spread their goods on a tarp and the tarps overlapped or
at least touched in most cases. This meant stepping over tarps to wind our
way through the market. We were terrified that we would stumble and land
in someone's lap. Fortunately it didn't happen. I noticed that sometimes a
few grains or leaves as the case with spice would fall into the dirt. The
vendor would carefully retrieve the goods from the dirt so that nothing
was wasted. We saw sorghum, barley, tef, ginger, coffee, hops, onion,
potatoes, eggs, etc. One of our favorite vendors was selling sandals made
from tires for the soles and inner tubes for the straps. When we figure
out how to post photos Ron has a great one of a man with a huge knife
making a repair on one of the sandals. The livestock area had donkeys,
cattle, goats, sheep and chickens.

Donkeys were seen a lot here. They are the beasts of burden for sure. They
can be seen everywhere here carrying what most often appear to be sacks of
grain. We also saw men carrying sacks of grain on their shoulder. We saw
some that were stamped USAID with an American flag.

We were surrounded by high mountains here but what surprised us was how
hazy it was. We never saw a clear blue sky which I had anticipated given
that we were in a rural area far way from big city pollution. I am not
sure if the pollution is this widespread or if it has to do with the
climate but I haven't seen clear skies or vistas since being in Ethiopia.

After the market we went back to our hotel and had lunch. We assumed that
Lalibela would be much cooler since it was at a higher altitude but it
actually was warmer there. Our lunch was traditional Ethiopian: injera,
sautéed greens, potatoes, lentils in a sauce, sautéed cabbage, beans made
into a soupy sauce, goat meat that we did not eat as it was very chewy
although it had been cut into tiny pieces. We rested until 2:00.
Throughout Ethiopia businesses and shops often close between 12-2. We took
a hired car to the churches as it was all up hill (remember we are now at
8500 ft), we were going to be on our feet all afternoon and it was a long
walk to the entry point. The entry fee $40 for the two of us and this fee
now supports the 11 churches which are still in use by the way. Fikru
explained that the Orthodox Christian church has incorporated some Judaic
practices into their beliefs. He cited not eating pork and separation of
men and women in the religious services as examples as well as the use of
a Semitic language in the services. About 45% of Ethiopians are Orthodox
Christians and Fikru said he thought about 40% were observant. I would
concur seeing how often and how many Ethiopians attend church throughout
the week and almost every conversation with an Ethiopian will eventually
come around to religion, Orthodox Christian religion that is.

Lalibela was the capital of the Zagwe dynasty in the 12th and 13th
centuries which is when the churches are thought to have been constructed.
Scholars claim it would have taken 40,000 workers to have built the
churches whereas legend has it that the angels did much of the work in the
night after the workers left for the day. The churches are remarkable for
three reasons: many are not carved into the rock but freed entirely from
it unlike most of Petra in Jordan; because the buildings are so refined;
and because there are so many within a small area. Because some of the
churches were being damaged from the environment (mostly rain) several are
now protected by huge structures that form an umbrella over them thanks to
UNESCO. Our guide was disparaging of the structures as they take away from
the aesthetics of the churches.

The first church we saw was Beit (House or place of) Medhane Alem (Savior
of the World) and it is said to be the largest rock hewn church in the
world. It measures 33.5 m by 23.5 m and is over 11.5 m high. A meter is 39
inches. The interior consist of a barrel vaulted nave and four aisles.
There are three empty graves in one corner and are said to have been
prepared symbolically for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Pierced stone panels
fill the windows, each decorated with different central crosses. We were
surprised the see the Hindu swastika as one of the crosses in the
decorations here. Obviously there must have been some exposure to each
other's cultures at some point. We also saw the six pointed star of David
in the decoration of one of the churches. Outside one of the churches was
a 'pool' of water. A pool had been excavated and the water level was
about six feet below the edge of the pool. . Fikru said the pool is about
15 ft. deep. This was a fertility pool, still used today. It was filled
with tall reeds. grasses and algae. Fikru said they simply move the reeds
aside, lower the person with a rope tied around their waist and totally
submerse the person into the water. Used to be only women were submersed
but now knowing that men can be infertile, both sexes are submersed.
Within a year, the 'dunkee' will conceive.
I won't describe all the churches but one of my favorites was Beit Maryam,
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was one of the most highly decorated.
There is a bas relief carving of St George fighting the dragon. St. George
is a very important saint in Ethiopia. The ceilings and walls are painted
in very early frescoes, and the columns, capital and arches are covered in
beautifully carved details such as birds, animals, and foliage, including
a curious two headed eagle and two fighting bulls, one white and one
black, thought to represent good and evil.

My other favorite was Beit Giyorgis (St George) and it is considered a
masterpiece. Standing on the brow of its compound you have little doubt
that it is a real jewel. It is the most visually perfect church of all, a
15m high three tiered plinth in the shape of Greek cross. It is well
preserved and lacks the scaffolding that covers some of the other
churches. Inside the light flows in from the windows and illuminates the
ceilings large carved crosses-beauty in simplicity (Lonely Planet).

Throughout the tour we saw carved cavities in the walls of the rock
surrounding the churches (not in the church's walls but opposite the
walls). These were used for burials at one time or as housing for hermits.
At St. George's there were skeletal remains in one of these cavities. It
is said that St George in full armor visited King Lalibela and was quite
upset that none of the churches had been dedicated to him. King Lalibela
promised to make amends by building the most beautiful church of all.

After seeing six of the 11 churches we returned to our hotel, planning to
see the rest on Sunday before we departed for Addis. Ron went to the room
and I went looking for an artist I had read about in one of our books.
Tegegne Yirdaw is a self taught artist and has a small gallery just up the
road from our hotel. It was easy to find him. I actually ran into on the
street. He asked if I was looking for the gallery. Word travels fast in
these parts where there is so little income. He was a delightful,
articulate young man of 36 years, married with a 7 year old son. His
gallery is a small shed of corrugated metal with a dirt floor. He had
about 12-15 small paintings on the walls. He does lovely sepia and
watercolor paintings of the churches, priests and one of two landscapes. I
chose a small painting of Adam's Gate that I had seen earlier that day at
one of the churches. The cost was $20. He gave me one of his ink drawings
as a gift. He does wonderful drawings and I encouraged him to display them
also. His resources are obviously limited as he was drawing on both sides
of the paper. As we left his gallery he showed me a structure that was
being built next door. It had two concrete floors and a few concrete beams
to support the second floor. Not much else. He told me this was to be his
future gallery and home and that he had been building it for six years.
Again I am reminded of our blessings and wealth by comparison to the rest
of the world.

From a Library of Congress Report: Ethiopia is one of the poorest
countries in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of roughly
US$6 billion, a per capita annual income of about US$100, and chronic
trade deficits in the early 2000s.

We ate at the hotel for dinner and lo and behold our meal was identical to
lunch except there were no lentils. We did have fresh baked white bread
that was delicious. I had a sleepless night, unable to get comfortable in
our bed. The next morning we went to breakfast and right afterwards I
experienced the dreaded traveler's diarrhea. I am blessed because we have
been traveling in developing countries for ten years and I have only had
this problem three times: in Mexico in the late 90's, in Thailand (food
poisoning) in 2005 and then Sunday in Ethiopia. Frankly I can't complain
and am grateful that it has only happened three times. I chewed a couple
of Pepto Bismol tablets, my first line of defense (never leave home
without it is our motto). If the problem persists, we have Immodium,
guaranteed to stop any action for three to seven days! I resist taking it
except in dire cases. We also have Cipro, an antibiotic. That we take if
we use Immodium in case there is a nasty bug still active in the
intestinal track.

I sent Ron off with Fikru to see the remaining churches and I sat on the
balcony with the binoculars watching the fantastic birds in the area. Oh
my, what a treat! I saw red finches, cordon bleus, cliff chats, white
winged cliff chats, a brilliant parrot, and a bright yellow bird that I
can't identify without a book. There were some beautiful doves also.
Another bird whose tail was longer that its body and had a rather smart
looking tufted head. My favorite was a brilliant blue green bird that
looked like a starling with orange eyes. I must get a book on Ethiopian
birds. I read that this country is a favorite with birders and I can see
why.

While I was on the balcony I saw a woman drying some grain on a tarp about
4 x 6 ft. She lives right below our hotel and my balcony overlooks her
yard. I assume they dry grain to prevent mold or mildew but I'm not sure.
She went into her hut and a bird or two started having a feast. Not our
idea of sanitary. After birding from the balcony I rested until Ron
returned before lunch. As soon as I lay down, the church loudspeaker came
on. Every church here has a loudspeaker and they blast the sermon(?) for
all to hear within in miles! Unfortunately after the sermon some woman was
'chanting' and she was one of those people who don't understand
amplification so she screeched into the microphone and to add to my misery
she had no voice for chanting. She would chant for a few seconds then stop
for a few seconds and then start again. This went on for well over 30
minutes. My choices were to listen to this with the doors open as there
were no windows or shut the doors and be hot. I listened. Oy! We declined
lunch fearful it would be more of the same. By the way, breakfast was a
plain omelet with toast and coffee. After my stomach ailments, I decided
to not eat anything until I got off the plane in Addis.

Our plane was late but we had a call via the hotel so we left around 1:30
for the airport. The plane didn't leave until 4:30 so we had a lot of
reading time at the airport. The trip home was quick as it was a direct
flight taking maybe 90 minutes. On the way from the airport we stopped to
have a quick bite of supper so we wouldn't have to go back out. Derge
waited for us while we ate. I was in bed by 9:00 and asleep within
minutes. I slept until 6:00 and felt recovered from my episode. The two
tour books we have say if you see nothing else in Ethiopia see Lalibela.
We are so thankful that we went to the expense to see this most wonderful
sight, a real treasure.