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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“In the name of the Father, Son and Holy vomit!” |
Lalibela is one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world. It is approx 700km north of Addis Ababa and has a population of less than 10,000. The churches were constructed in the reign of King Lalibela (circa 12th/13th Century) and are carved out of the rock. Some of the churches are completely free standing from the rock and others are partly carved (you cannot walk all the way around the outside). The rock is predominantly sandstone although some churches are carved from a mixture of sandstone and granite.
We visited 13 churches in the town with our expert guide Abebe. There are another 20 churches dotted around the surrounding mountains but we did not have time to visit them. Beta in Amharic means Church and we were fortunate to visit amongst others Beta Maryam, Beta Emmanuel, Beta Giorgyis and Beta Medane.
Our tour started at 7:00am where we entered the largest church to see the end of Sunday mass. This was a truly inspiring and emotional experience. 100's of people were worshipping whilst we discreetly watched. The main religion here is Christian Orthodox and we really felt that we were Christian denominations can be so arrogant about the way they practice but the Christianity we have seen here has given much food for thought and is so far removed from the Christian practice you find in the UK. The style of the churches and of worshipping feels so ancient; you can feel the undercurrents of Judaism as well as links to Islam.
By 12:00pm we were ready for lunch so Abebe invited us to his home and we shared fasting food with him before seeing a further 4 churches in the afternoon. Due to a lack of time Becs and I decided to briskly walk 2km straight after lunch to a book exchange (the first one we had seen). Unfortunately, this brief burst of activity after a heavy lunch in the midday sun disagreed with Becs and during a visit to Beta Emmanuel she felt unwell.
Whilst I explained to Abebe that it was nothing to do with his excellent food and continued to be inspired by the celestial beauty of the church Becs sat outside and tried to compose herself.
Alas it did not work and Becs projectile vomited outside one of the most holiest places in the world; but our plucky sandal-watcher still proceeded to chat her up and try to extort some money out of her with the usual sob story as the carrots and peas tumbled out.
Needless to say we took Becs back to the hotel (4pm) and 24hrs later she was fine.
Whilst in Lalibela we visited the Merkato (market) which was fascinating. We saw salt, grain, chilli, honey and tej (home made wine) being prepared and sold as well as fabrics, pottery, cows and donkeys. We also bumped into Chris and Leanne (from Melbourne) who were staying at the same hotel (Blue Lal -highly recommended) and who we had met in the Simen Mountains.
Whilst we chatted to them on the cobbled street approximately 20 Ethiopians gathered round concerned that they might miss something. Still this is nothing new as one villager was intrigued that I too, a faranji could also open my fly and go for a pee just like he could. His stare lasted 5mins which induced stage fright and the contents of my full bladder evaporated.
previous travel blog entry
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