Sometimes You Need to Go Down To Go Up . . .

At the orphanage
see all photos »

By Dan

. . . to Heaven, that is. Continuing our tour of Ethiopia’s Historical Circuit, our next stop was Lalibela, which is perhaps the star attraction of the circuit. That’s because Lalibela has eleven spectacular churches that essentially sit in holes in the ground, having been carved out of hard volcanic rock in the 12^th Century. King Lalibela made quite a name for himself, and presumably got to Heaven, thanks to this truly amazing work. But, let me back up.

When we confirmed our 9:10 am flight from Gondar to Lalibela, we were told to check in by 7:30 am. That seemed a little silly, since it’s a tiny little airport, ours was the only flight, and it just isn’t that complicated. Our guide, Negah, said that an 8 am arrival would be perfectly adequate. When we reached the airport at 8, the Ethiopian Air folks were shocked, asked where we had been, and told us that check in had been at 7 am. After a lot of grumbling, they did manage to check us in and, surprise surprise, there were no undue consequences. Proving that it’s a very cozy little airport, when I inadvertently left Grayson’s Swiss Army knife in his carry-on daypack, and it was discovered going through security, I merely walked out on the tarmac with the security woman and stuck it in his checked bag. Just not complicated. The plane did arrive early, and left about 8:45, though, so we made a mental note not to mess around with Ethiopian Air in the future.

Exterior of St. George's church
see all photos »

The 35 minute flight saved us two days of bus riding, as we skirted the Simien Mountains and their various 12,000 foot plus peaks. The scenery was gorgeous, and Christina and I reiterated our mutual promise to return for a trekking excursion some day. At Lalibela Airport, we checked out the high, dry escarpment surrounding us – this is not a very fertile-looking place. The 45 minute bus ride into town was fun for two reasons. Outside the bus, we looked out at great views down into the valley as we climbed up the escarpment, and we saw throngs of people walking in to the Saturday market in Lalibela carrying all sorts of items for sale. Inside the bus, we had some fascinating conversations with fellow passengers. There are a lot of Ethio-Americans who are coming back to Ethiopia as visitors, returnees, and/or investors. A couple from Dallas was with us, along with their 30ish daughter who hadn’t been to Ethiopia since the family left 25 years ago, and her African-American husband making his first visit to Africa. All of them had interesting perspectives on Ethiopia. Meanwhile, Christina was sitting with Tomeru, a guy who also coincidentally was from Dallas, and was visiting for the first time since moving to the US 8 years ago.

St. George's church
see all photos »

As I explained in the opening of today’s entry, Lalibela’s claim to fame is its rock-hewn churches, which have garnered it a UNESCO World Heritage Site classification and recognition as one of the most important religious/historical sites in Christendom. But how many of you have heard of it?? The story is that in the 12^th Century, King Lalibela wanted to create a new Jerusalem in Ethiopia, so he picked a spot and had his people start digging. The volcanic rock here is really hard, unlike the stuff we saw in Cappadocia or some of the other places we’ve visited, so it seems all the more amazing. Legend has it that after workers toiled all day chipping away with hammers and chisels, angels would pitch in to work all night. From a more or less flat-topped piece of rock, the workers dug down 15-30 meters on all sides, leaving a cross-shaped piece of rock surrounded by what looks like a moat, and then dug out the insides of the rock to leave a lovely church.

Cool priest
see all photos »

We first visited the Northwestern Group, which consists of six separate churches done in the aforementioned style, all of which are connected with tunnels and/or other passages running between them. Each of the churches we visited had an ornately carved ceiling (usually vaulted in shape), carefully carved windows in the shape of one or another style of cross, upper-level galleries, interior rooms, pillars, etc. Many had interior bas-relief carvings, and there were terrific paintings of Biblical scenes and others important in Ethiopian Orthodoxy on ceilings and walls. The corners were perfect 90 degree angles, and there was absolutely nothing in the churches themselves to suggest that people cut corners and used the “but we’re carving this out of rock” excuse. One of our favorites was Bet Maryam (Saint Mary’s), which has a long column carefully wrapped in a long piece of cotton cloth. Apparently, the column is covered with writing in Hebrew, Greek, and Ge’ez (church Ethiopian) explaining what will happen at the Last Judgment. However, nobody is allowed to see it, and when the cloth gets a little tired, they put a new layer of wrap over the existing layers.

village on the way to Kristos church
see all photos »

The last stop was Bet Giyorgis. The story goes that Emperor Lalibela was feeling pretty good about all of the churches he had dug/built, but was visited one day by Saint George (Giyorgis), who is probably the most important saint in Ethiopian Orthodoxy, who questioned where his church was. Thoroughly embarrassed, Lalibela promised to build him the best of all, and Bet Giyorgis is spectacular.

Almost as cool as the churches themselves were the people we interacted with along the way. Our guide Anteneh really knew his stuff, and it was fun to see his enthusiasm for the whole area. At the beginning, he explained that we’d have to take our shoes off a lot of places, and as a way to create a little additional employment, it would be nice for us to have a “shoe-man” along, who would watch our shoes while we were inside and move them from place to place. That sounded like a fine plan to us, and we ended up with an absolutely delightful man who was eager to please, helpful almost to a fault (no, Abby did not want to have him tie her shoes for her!), and a real addition. And we probably threw off the whole local economy and seriously overpaid when we gave him about $2 at the end of his 3 hours.

With Antoneh between churches
see all photos »

Each church had a resident priest, who sat guarding the special treasures of that church and answering questions that the guides can’t. They seem to be pretty mystical, but clearly their word is the gospel, as the guides definitely don’t roll their eyes or question anything. Part of each church visit was the priest posing with the special stuff of the church, which was usually a beautiful silver cross that was 800+ years old and a gift from some special person. Since these guys hang out in dark stone churches all day and have tourists taking flash photos of them with their stuff, they have gotten smart and whip out their sunglasses as they pose. An incredibly dignified old Ethiopian man in the white robes and turban, displaying a special cross or two and wearing his RayBans, never failed to make us chuckle inside.

Inside St. Mary's church
see all photos »

This being a holy place, and one where folks with fatter wallets tend to gather, we did have to walk the gauntlet of beggars a few times. It was certainly unsettling, since there were all sorts of maladies and deformities on display. The kids kept asking why we don’t see the same sorts of things at home, and it was sad to explain that simple medicines and surgeries will solve many, many things, but the money just isn’t here to pay for them. Of course, we have continued to be hit by various attempted scams, as well, many of which are so long-standing that they’re described in the guidebooks. Since flat out asking for money is a bit simplistic, one popular one is for kids to ask for school notebooks. Thinking that to be a good way to help, the cooperative tourist buys the kid the notebook, which the kid promptly returns to the store for cash. We were hit up a couple of times and by the time the third kid came up to us, we asked, “let me guess, you need a notebook.” I know it isn’t kind to make light of these kids’ predicament, but the guidebooks strongly discourage giving anything to these kids, as it will encourage them to beg. Instead, tourists wanting to give something are asked to donate “money for meals” at one of the several charities available throughout Ethiopia. Envelopes for this purpose are provided at most major hotels.

Mystery column
see all photos »

For our second Lalibela tour, we opted to get out of town and visit Yemrehanna Kristos Church. To do that, we drove about 35 km on a rough gravel road, and then another 12 km on a really rough dirt/rock road (memories of the road to Faucherie). Along the way, we drove down another steep escarpment, through more wild and gorgeous country, and saw about 3 other vehicles the whole way. This is way off the beaten path, and apparently there are some weeks when no tourists make the trip out to see it. When the road finally ended, way up a narrow gorge, we spent another 20 minutes hiking up a path, before arriving at a wide mouthed cave. Behind an ugly wall that was built about 20 years ago after a priest stole the jewels, we found a gorgeous church built in the 11^th Century (i.e., even before those of Lalibela). We couldn’t stop marveling at this beautiful piece of art/architecture, built when the knuckleheads in Europe were just starting to crawl out of the Dark Ages, in a little cave about as far from anywhere as you can imagine. Apparently, the king who built it didn’t want to be bothered!

Yemreanna Kristos church
see all photos »

Yemrehanna Kristos Church is also believed to be an auspicious place at which to die, so the sick would come here, say some prayers, go behind the church into the deeper recesses of the cave, stop eating, and starve to death. It’s thought that 10,000 may have died there, and we looked out over a bizarre pile of skeletons and random bones that my two favorite ghouls thought was the coolest thing imaginable. Grayson even managed to stub his toe on a skull poking out of the ground. No comment. . . .

dead pilgrims outside Kristos church
see all photos »

We’re not finished with the Lalibela story. Having talked with Anteneh about charity efforts, etc., he invited us to visit the orphanage that he helps to support. He is one of a group of 50 people in Lalibela who contribute about $2.50, $5.00 or $10.00 a month, according to their financial situation, and the money goes to support an orphanage. Fourteen boys between the ages of 7 and 15 share 6 beds in 2 rooms. A woman comes in to prepare a simple breakfast and dinner for the kids. The sponsors teach class twice a week, where they focus on morality issues and the other things that kids ordinarily would get from their families. Other than that, the kids are on their own. The building in which they live can only be described as really, really grim. They all go to school, and we were absolutely amazed at their positive attitudes, charm, and apparent grasp of appropriate priorities. Several of the boys expressed their wish to become doctors and help the people of their country. Considering the incredibly rough environment in which they live, and challenges they face, it was really moving. The whole visit through all four of us for a bit of a loop, as we all dealt with the experience in different ways. If any of our generous readers would like to make a contribution or sponsor one or more of the kids, let us know and we’d be happy to provide you with more information.  You can contact the group directly at Lalibelalove_hope2000@yahoo.com.

looking at skull outside Kristos church
see all photos »

Last stop on the Lalibela tour, and probably appropriate after the stop at the orphanage, was a traditional Ethiopian tej bar. Tej is referred to as a honey wine, and is made from fermented honey, barley and malt.

It was, well, interesting. The kids had a non-alcoholic version, which tasted like orange juice (sort of), and Christina and I went for the hard stuff, which tasted like fermented honey, barley and malt (sort of!). I don’t think that BevMo needs to start stocking it any time soon, but it was a fun thing to experience, especially in a sort of funky, dimly lit bar with cool Ethiopian music playing and very quality atmosphere. A good way to wrap up our Lalibela experience.