Day 93 – What’s the capital city of …......?

Gonder to Lalibela, Seven Olives Hotel

Another train (oops, plane) trip, with the strange Ethiopian security. There were very few people traveling so they took the opportunity to peruse M’s luggage. Special interest was taken and explanations asked for of  K’s migraine nasal spray, a cable lock & finally the solar powered torch. The same staff then attended the next security check point – just to make sure they didn’t miss anything on the first round – and yes we still flew with a 2 litre bottle of water!

We arrived in Lalibela to be met on the tarmac by someone holding our names on a board – first thought was, wow that is a hotel service first. However it was an Ethiopian Airlines rep telling us that our next flight had been cancelled as we were the only people on it and we needed to check with their local office for alternative arrangements. After checking in at our hotel we picked up our new tickets for Bahar Dar, as we needed to re-route back through Addis (instead of a direct flight).

We bought our tickets for the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and headed off with a guide. It would be very difficult without a guide to find your way around as unlike other tourist attractions there aren’t any signs or arrows. It was an enjoyable trek through tunnels - although K is still walking strangely (read that to mean in agony) after the Tigray monastery rock climbing, and we also had to brave some pretty heavy rain for a while.

We made sure we engaged a licensed guide, who helped us navigate the maze of tunnels and paths that interconnected the different churches, but after talking later to other tourists we were definitely shortchanged, as we were given a lot less info and even abandoned before the last church.

The churches are incredible - either partially or completely carved out of the surrounding rock. The last church we saw, Bet Giyorgis, is arguably the most impressive, as it’s in the shape of a cross and has been carved into the ground. When M asked the guide how the churches were made, the best he could get from the guide was that “angels helped King Lalibela” – not exactly the answer we were expecting. There are 11 such churches in total, of varying sizes and states of preservation (many are now covered by large canopies). We found the whole site very reminiscent of Petra in Jordan.

On the way back we managed to collect a young boy who had the most amazing memory for capital cities of so many countries. He entertained us all the way back to the hotel so K decided to give him an Australian dollar coin, thinking he was such a studious type it would be interesting for school and maybe a nice treasure. Unfortunately he was not impressed and asked what else we could give him - not even a thank you!