December 11 Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Back in Addis after a 1 hour flight. Ethiopian Airlines is great....drinks and snacks on even the short flights! Off to Zanzibar tomorrow so trying to get things done as wifi has not been great even when working the last few days.
December 10 Axum Ethiopia
Today it has been 6 months since arriving in Beijing! Where has the time gone!
Walked to the Church of Mary Zion, monastery, and the Church containing the Ark. We ended up with a guide through these, including a peek (only for special occasions) at several painting. Also the museum of many crowns of several Kings including their robes and prayer sticks. I was also able to go into the monastery, for men only. In front of this is where all the coronation ceremonies for the Kings were held in the centuries ( 3 to 6 or 7th). In each place the priest uncovers a book that is hundreds of years old, turns the pages with his bare hands and then kisses it! I am not sure if these are bibles or prayer/chanting books!
Wandered across the road to the Stela Park. This is where some Kings and nobility are buried and their tombs are marked with large stela or tomb stones. One is 33 metres high, but this has fallen over. They think during the raising. There 2 others that are still standing, 24 and 23 metres all 3 have the same carvings which are to represent castles or houses, including doors with handles and windows. The stela are made of a single piece of granite that came from a quarry about 5 km away. A couple of them you could go down into the tombs.
We then hired a tuk tuk or bejaj. If you are here and looking for a good driver and an informative one, contact Mesele at Meseleaxum1@gmail.com . He was excellent. First stop was Queen of Sheba's pool. Now used as a water reservoir. Just of the road was a stone inscribed with Geez (the original Ethiopian language and the language of all the religious books), Greek and Sabian. Just up the road a bit more, there are the tombs of King Kaleb and his son. 2 separate tombs. The one of King Kaleb they now believe was a storage area, but his son did contain the coffins of him, his wife and son. The guard here turned out to be a great guide! This was also the site of a palace, built over top of the tombs. Then to Queen of Sheba's palace. This was a bit out of the city. 54 rooms, quite the place that over looked many tomb stones in the farmers field. Most are not carved, just large stones stuck in ground.
Next to the Tomb of Bazan. This one is a tunnel carved into the rock with several tombs in the cave. Apparently Bazan was one of the 3 wise men. We made a quick stop in a park where more stela are found. None of these have been excavated. Quick coffee with a cake with chocolate and a donut. All very good. Then back to hotel.
This is a very laid back city....people not moving too fast. Very neat and the streets are even in a grid. Many of them have been cobble stoned.
Power is a problem.... we have been here almost 2 days and most of the time the power has been out. So no wifi, but even when power was on the wifi was not working!
December 9 Axum Ethiopia
Woke up this morning to heavy rain and heavy fog! Very damp feeling. Amazing how fog deadens the sound of the village! Very quiet.
A short 30 minute flight from Lalibella to Axum. At least this morning we did not have to be at the airport 2 hours ahead. We arrived about 1 1/2 hours before the flight. There was only 6 people got on the plane after quite a few got off. But once again they served snack of crackers and a drink!
We were met at airport and had a short ride into the village. The hotel is much older, 47 years, than in Lalibella, 2 years. But seems nice enough.
A quick lunch and off to the ancient capital of Yeha. The temple dates to about 7th century BC. It is currently under reconstruction by German archaeologists. The wall are double thick, and made of lime stone. The floor looks fairly intact with the column bases and the sacrifice alter drainage trenches.
A short stop at the church museum. The resident Monk showed me some of the artifacts. Amazing as he has many chat books just piled up in an old book shelf and he even pulls out a couple and shows me the pictures and writing in the books. No gloves!
Then to the palace which is believed to be an administrative offices. A huge building but without the picture of what it did look like, very difficult to tell, other than the pillars and bases in the front. The French at doing more digging and reconstruction.
It is just over 1 hours drive out to the site. The country side is beautiful. Many mountains which are apparently old volcanoes around. The farmers are thrashing the grain, many by hand, not the cattle walking over it. And they are separating the grain from the chaff by natural wind or using hand fans. There are many large white bags along the roadside, I am guessing they contain the grain. The fields are very small and terraced with rock walls. The houses, many round are surrounded by tall rock fences. It looks like the house and barn are within the enclosures!
December 8 Lalibella Ethiopia
Our guide, Alweya was waiting for us at 9 am to take us through the remaining churches. We saw 6 yesterday afternoon, only 5 more today.
The first is probably the most impressive, St George's. This church is in the shape of a cross, with a Latin and Greek crosses carved on the roof. This is 3 stories high, although no floors. This is to represent Noah's ark. There is an area at the back that represents Mt Ararat. The carving is amazing as this is 1 rock! Decorations, crosses even the water spouts on roof!
There is a maze of trails in the cut rock to the various churches. At one point a tunnel that was completely black. I could not see a thing.... it made no difference whether my eyes were open or closed!
After this a climb straight up on some stairs to another church, we are now in paradise!
The last church is carved into the rock, but still attached at the roof. This is made like the library at Petra. King Lalibella has built all of these churches as the ability of the people to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land has been cut off. They can now make a pilgrimage here. It seems that many do. In each church there has been people praying.
December 7 Lalibella Ethiopia
Awake very early to the sound of the church chanting again.....it started about 5.30 am and very loud!
We had to get up early anyway as flying to Lalibella this morning. 9.30 flight and you are required to be there 2 hours ahead. It was a 30 minute drive to airport. Then due to some mechanical problems the flight was 3 hours late, so we left about 12.30. The flight takes 25 minutes! A lot of waiting... but still much better than sitting for 3 or 4 hours, on windy roads, in a cramped bus!
Arrived at hotel, and received a free coffee..... traditional! Looking very good so far!
After some discussion with potential guide, we headed off to see some of the churches in the area. More churches! But these are so different. There are 12 churches in this area, all carved from solid rock!
We saw 1 group of 3 types this afternoon. The area has 5 of the largest monolithic churches in the world! It is difficult to describe. The first one has to be 30 feet tall. Considered cutting into the rock, from the top, shaping and carving the outside, pillars included, down to the base and then carving the inside, pillars included. They have also carved in the decorations and reliefs from solid rock! The churches are connected with tunnels through the rock. Amazing! And the pictures do not do them justice!
The earliest date to mid 13th century, when King Lalibella had 11 built in 23 years. Lalibella, The Virgin, Mary, The Cross, and ...... were in the first group we saw this afternoon. The guide is very good, but definitely information overload!
On the way back to the hotel we passed by some 300 year old dwellings. These are 2 story stone buildings with a thatched roof. The ground floor is for the animals and the upper floor for the people.
We walked to the churches from the hotel and along the way there had to be at least 6 kids talking to us all the way! Most were very young but some were in grade 10. They just wanted to talk, but a few did ask for pens or candy. It is a bit overwhelming but not a problem, they all have huge smiles. Of course there is many 'hellos' from the really young ones.
December 6 Gondar Ethiopia
Awake early, 5 am to the sound of singing coming from the local church. Same singing could also be heard from another church!
Off for coffee at 6.30!
Headed off to the walled castle area. 12 castles date back to 17 and 18 centuries. Some are in pretty good shape. Each king ad to build his own castle. Great place as spent a couple of hours wandering around the area. It was also nice as very little noise from the city got in, and not many people around.
Headed back to hotel for lunch and while there it started to rain with lots of thunder. It actually poured rain for a while. One of the herders ended up sitting on the patio and left his sheep across the road in the rain!
After it stopped caught a tuk tuk for Fasil's bath. This a King's swimming pool.
There is a fairly large house is built in the middle of a large pool. A very nice site. The site is now used for a large festival is January.
Also over morning coffee we have been watching a group of 6 or 7 Romanians kite boarding off the beach in front of hotel. Great to watch but they are getting lots of scraps on the rocks!
