Tukul Village Lalibela

... 8217;s Highlights

• Rock-Hewn churches were amazing
  
• Great view from the restaurant
  patio at Heaven Guest House – besides Sakura’s very hairy lamb
  stir-fry which she got replaced with a cabbage roll
  
• Christophe playing foosball with
  the kids on the streets
  

... de la pierre qui les entoure. Vu l'absence totale d'écrits d'époque, on raconte que le site a été construit par des anges. Mais en fait on imagine assez facilement la galère des milliers d'ouvriers qui ont du creuser à coup de pioche cette chère lubie. Certaines églises ressemblent à des temples grecs, d'autres à des grottes enfouies, reliées par des passages souterrains ténébreux. L'UNESCO a eu la gentillesse de construire des toits artificiels pour préserver ...

... many became skilled craftsmen and it's believed that the Falashas may have provided the labot for the Royal Enclosure's castles.  From 1985-1991 many Falashas were sent to Israel and very few remain in Ethiopia today. Gonder is also the jumping off point for treks in the Simien Mountains.  Most people do 3-4 day treks and normally this would be perfect for me, however, since I've been in Ethiopia I haven't been sleeping much at all (thanks to some ...

... but we still made it to Woldiya after a steep climb into Dessie, where we got lost and could not even find a restaurant for lunch. The pictures will give you some idea of the landscape of the South Wollo region. We passed a number of burned out tanks (still there from the fight against the Dergue in the early nineties) and stopped for lunch in Hayk which means lake in Amharic and when we went to see the lake (Pink backed ...

... er nu ikke meget blåt over vandet, men nærmer brunligt grumset. I en anden sammenhæng kalder Loney Planet farven for "engelsk the". Det er meget godt ramt. En af udflugter går til et vandfald. Tidligere har det været meget stort, men et kraftværk gør nu krav på en del af vandet. Det er rigtig fornuftigt at udnytte vandet til energi, men ærgerligt at det går så hårdt ...

... the 3rd load of passengers who were scheduled for a flight to Addis that day. An announcement tells them that their flight has been re-scheduled for tomorrow morning. How far can this delay push passengers to future flights? We hear a plane, passes are taken, and luggage is carted out. Everyone is on pins and needles waiting to board when another announcement tells us that we will not be flying this evening because of 'sunset time ...

... Wandering further we met a man on the street who asked us where we were from. This was very common in this little town, but we were amazed after we said 'Canada' that the children started to shout 'Toronto' and 'Ottawa'. I was amazed at the level of education! This man apparently has a brother who is living in Canada. He to wanted to welcome us to Ethiopia and have us to his home for coffee. After much convincing (2 was just ...

... and share all they had. They would even follow in Jesus' footsteps and wash their guests feet before entering the churches. Following in this tradition, there was a man who walked with us from church to church to take off our shoes before we entered, and help put them on when we came out. I have to admit that I was very touched by this simple gesture. Inside these remarkable buildings the air was cool in comparison to ...

... while we were inside the churches. Most of these shoe-minders are high school students (but why aren't they in school?) and all have been registered and wear an official "shoe-keeper" identification card around their necks. There is no way around not employing a shoe-keeper; everyone has to do it. After the tour, we went to pick up Matt's sandals that were being mended in town. A new rubber tire sole had been nailed the the old one and now they were ...

Flew to Lalibela, a historic town with churches carved right into the rock!! Eleven churches with the most dramatic being St Georges Church carved out of solid rock in the shape of a cross!! The scenery surrounding the town is also spectacular looking like what I imagine Arizona to look like. Now it is off to Gondar.