Monday, December 7th - Gondar to Lalibella, Ethiopia

I was up early this morning.  My alarm was set for 5:45 but I was awake before that as the church screaming started at 5:30 - or at least that was the first I had heard it.  It is amazingly loud and the church is blocks away, and it's not a pleasant sound to listen to as it's a very harsh sound.  Luckily I had to be up anyway so that just got me going a bit sooner.

We were down on the patio having breakfast at 6:30 and traffic was heavy on the street: pedestrians, donkeys, sheep, tuk-tuks, mini-vans and trucks mainly.  Our van arrived about 6:45 and they started loading luggage.  By 6:50 they were ready to go.  The drive to the airport was further than I had expected and took about half an hour.  We drove through the town and then into the countryside up and down some windy roads before arriving at the airport.  It too has a castle-like structure.  A lot of their buildings and street decorations have the same theme which is neat.

We went through scanning as we entered the airport, checked in and then sat in the main lounge for quite some time until our flight to Lalibella was called.  Then we went through screening again to get to the boarding gate.  After sitting there for some time they came to tell us that our flight was delayed due to mechanical problems and the plane was currently in Addis being repaired.  The flight from Addis is an hour so we will be here for some time yet.  However, that let's me get some blogging done.

Since I don't have much to say about today yet, let me say that despite the late night music and the incredibly early and loud morning church callings, I definitely prefer Gondar to Bahir Dar.  While the falls were nice in Bahir Dar, the lake tour and the monasteries were rather long and repetitive.  The sights in Gondar are more spectacular but really only take a day in total.   The people in Gondar are friendly but they aren't demanding and pushy like those in Bahir Dar.  No one tried to rip us off and no one was bothering us everywhere we went.  When we entered the castle area they asked if we wanted a guide and we said no, we just wanted to wander around.  No one said anything or bothered us at all.  In Bahir Dar they never seemed to stop hassling you and, if they did, someone else was there immediately with another great story on how their deal was best.  If I had to do it again I would skip Bahir Dar completely and spend more time in the other areas.  Randy would say spend more time here and he would go off trekking in the Siemen Mountains, which a lot of people were doing.  That might not be my idea of a good time but it would probably be hassle free.  It will be interesting to see what our next two stops, Lalibella and Axum, are like.  Some other tourists told us that the further north you get the less hassles you get so hopefully that's true.

Well, travelling is always interesting and today was no exception.  We were at the airport by 7:30 for our 9:30 flight which we thought was way to early since there are only a couple of flights a day out of this airport.  However, we obeyed the rules and were here as instructed.  The flight to Addis left first and then finally our flight was called so we went through security to the boarding lounge.  We sat there for a while and finally someone came to tell us that there were mechanical difficulties with the plane and it was still in Addis.  The flight from there is about an hour so we knew we had a bit of a wait, but the lounge was reasonably comfortable and there were only a few of us so we had lots of room to spread out so we were all quite content.  Then they came to tell us that the flight would not go until about noon so they gave us a voucher for some food and sent us all up to the restaurant.  So at about 11 a.m. we were eating again.  Then they called our flight again and we went back through security to eventually board our flight and depart at about 12:30. 

The flight itself was less than 30 minutes and yet we had waited at the airport for five hours.  However, we both agreed that it was more pleasant sitting in the airport lounge waiting for the flight than it would have been riding in a minibus all the way to Lalibella. Besides, the scenery from the air was amazing.  There were many different shades of green and gold in the fields below so it really did look like a patch work quilt at times.  In other places it looked like someone was doodling.  Each family homestead had trees around it and they were in circles and ovals and all different shapes.  It looked like someone had taken a green marker and just drawn squiggles on the earth.  And of course everywhere you looked there were hills or mountains in the scene.  In some of the views there were high peaks and deep gorges.  There were lots of river beds and some were quite wide but the water running through them was just a thin ribbon.  In some areas it looked quite green and fertile and in others quite dry and brown.  When we were landing it was hard to figure out exactly where the airport was and how we were going to get down between the hills in time.  As it turned out, the land came up to meet us and we landed much quicker than I expected.  The airport is obviously up on a plateau.

We were met by our hotel representative as soon as we entered the airport, which was really nice.  Once we had our luggage he took us out to a mini van and off we went.  It was about a half hour drive into the the city and our hotel, and the scenery was amazing.  We climbed up the side of a hill that looked down into a deep valley and way beyond and also up the hill to a monastery right at the top.  We were up about 2,400 metres and the views in every direction and around every curve were amazing.

Our hotel seems very nice.  It is several storeys high so we get great views.  I have a corner unit with two balconies.  I appreciated the views during the day but may not appreciate the two windows when the sun comes in tomorrow morning and wakes me up earlier than I want to be up.

We had a welcome coffee downstairs on the patio.  Yes, I even drink an occasional coffee over here.  I don't think it's going to become habit forming though as their coffee smells and tastes quite different (I think) and it comes with popcorn.  Anyway, while we were having our coffee a nice young man was trying to convince us that he should be our tour guide.  After the experiences of the past few days I was not exactly agreeing to anything right away and maybe wasn't even polite about it.  However, we finally agreed to his price and decided we would go off and see some of the sights today with the sights being the famous 12th century rock-hewn churches.  It had clouded over a bit so we decided to take our jackets just in case, and it was a good thing we did as it started raining soon after we got there.  We managed to keep quite dry though.

In the 12th century King Lalibella, who had travelled extensively and had completed a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, decided to build a second or new Jerusalem in Ethiopia.  The Muslims prohibited Ethiopians from going north to Jerusalem so he thought he would build a place where Ethiopians could go, and to this day it is still know for its pilgrimages.  He also renamed different rivers and mountains and locations in the area to reflect biblical references.  For example, there is a Jordan River and a Mt. Sinai here.  I'm not sure how or why he decided to rock hewn churches but that's what he did.

The Church of the Saviour of the World is the largest monolithic church in the world, which means it is a free-standing church carved totally from one rock and you can then walk all around it and there is nothing above it.  There are only 5 in the world and 4 are in Ethiopia at this complex.  This was the first church we visited and it really was amazing.  Think about building a church and starting from the top and working down through a solid piece of rock and leaving the rock roof intact.  The workers had to use a chisel and hammer and first go straight down the outside dimensions of the building and build a very deep trench.  In this case they then had to carve out pillars to surround the church.  The rock they did not need was simply carted away and soon became another hill in the town.  When it came to doing the inside of the church they had to start with the doors and windows and then go in through those openings and gradually start hollowing out the middle.  It's unfathomable even when you see it so I can imagine how confusing this description is to read.  This church is 11 metres high and has 72 pillars in total with 38 inside and 34 outside the church.  Some of the external pillars have deteriorated from wind and rain and earthquakes and have been replaced with brick ones.  With all the pillars on the outside the building looks almost like some of the famous Greek buildings.  

On the inside there are high arches.between the pillars and of course a rock ceiling.  There are five internal aisles past four pillars but I could not count how many pillars deep the church was because part way up the aisle there is a curtain to separate the Holy of Holies, where only priests are allowed, from the rest of the church but it was very big.  The pillars and arches do have chiseled decorations on them though and in some places there are crests and other symbols carved into the rock.  The main aisle of any Ethiopian Orthodox church must run in an east/west direction so the builders also had to take that into consideration.  The windows all have shapes that are significant such as a Greek cross or Latin cross or a key shape.  Most of the churches also stood on a high platform so you had to climb stairs to get in.   Outside in the walkway between the church and the solid rock it was chiseled from there are various windows, doors and passage ways.  All had a purpose but I don't remember many of them.

The churches are still used today and this was a special day.  The Lalibela cross was on display, which simply meant that a monk or priest turned around and held it up for a few minutes so we could see it and take a picture.  He looked very regal in his white gowns so it was a nice picture.  The cross is over 7 kg of solid gold (I think).  There was a bell in one corner to call the people to church.  (In one place we saw what was used for the original call to church and it was simply a large piece of basalt which was hit with smaller basalt stones.  It was amazing how loud and bell like it sounded.)  There are carpets on the floor, probably for warmth and because the floor get worn down in places, also probably because you have to take your shoes off as you enter so it's easier to walk on - not cleaner by any means, but softer.  A large picture of Jesus looked more Buddha-ish or Hindu with the hand gestures but that may have just been my imagination.  There were a couple of empty tombstones in one corner, and this was the case in many of the churches.  I know longer remember whether they were all just indicative of someone's grave or if someone was actually buried there at some point.  There was just too much information to take in.

After we left the church we went through a tunnel or walkway about three feet wide and seven feet high that was cut through the rock around the outside.  This led us to three churches, including the first one that King Lalibela built, St. Mary's Church.  The Orthodox religion is similar to the Catholic religion in that Mary plays a key role so the King had to first build a church to her before he could build the others.  Mary's church is another monolithic church.  To the right of it (as we came out of the rock) was the Church of the Cross and to the left the Church of the Virgin.  Neither of those was monolithic but rather cave churches as they were built into the rock.  Outside between these churches there were various size pools that were baptismal pools for adults, children, ladies wanting some fertility assistance, etc.  

Mary's church had three sets of windows at the end: three square ones at the top to represent the holy trinity, one cross in the middle to represent Christ, and three different crosses at the bottom to represent the three crosses at Calvary.  The two at the right had a symbol above noting they went to heaven and the one on the left had a symbol below noting he went to hell.  In case you're wondering, Lalibella wrote a book about the churches while he was alive and that's supposedly how they know what everything means, although I still think a lot of the information is being questioned.

Mary's church was more ornate than the first one we saw.  There were frescoes and bas relief on the ceilings, pillars, arches and walls.  These were mainly just designs and crests that had to be interpreted for us.  There was one pillar covered in cloth and that is supposedly where Lalibella made notes about his designs for the churches.  The other two churches were much smaller and less ornate.  I actually don't remember anything remarkable about either of them except that in Calvary / Golgotha it is a double church and I was only allowed in the Calvary part as Golgotha is for males only. I think it is the one that includes the tomb of Lalibella and the Selassie Chapel.  At least they were supposed to be somewhere and I don't remember seeing them.

I should mention that it was pouring rain while we were at the first church.  Luckily some of these churches are now covered by canopies to preserve them from the elements and the rain didn't last too long.  By the time we made it to the other churches it was not raining but the paths were wet and the stone was definitely slippery.  Our guide had to keep helping me up and down stairs and over rocks because I am just not that sure on my feet.