Yemereha Hotel Lalibela

Our final stop in the North was Lalibela - home to multiple rock-hewn churches that rival Jordan's Petra and one of the highlights of any trip to Ethiopia. Probably moreso than any of the other towns we'd been to thus far in the country, the blend of the old and the modern was striking - though Lalibela seems to have much more of the "old" - tons of donkeys on the road, women carrying firewood for miles for only dollars a day, traditional "tukol ...

... tout de l'érosion ce qui donne un petit cote Palais des congres fort sympathique. La décoration intérieure, typique de l'église éthiopienne, laisse un peu à désirer, le saint des saints invariablement recouvert d'un rideau rougeâtre ignoble, peu de peintures donc des reproductions papier fluorescentes de scènes de la bible inconnues de l'église catholique traditionnelle avec des histoires farfelues rejetant la mythologie grecque à la brève de comptoir (le saint ...

... I'm sleeping now) and at the time I did not have the energy for that much hiking and camping.  I started asking other travellers, which there aren't that many of here, if they'd be interested in doing a 2 day trek with me but I had no luck finding anyone.  I decided to do a one day trip and return to Gonder in the early evening.  I was driven into the mountains with a guide, we hiked around for  a few hours, saw a group of gelada baboons along ...

... Caspian Terns) some kids tried to steel our extra diesel from the truck, not nice. The viewpoint from which we looked at the lake was directly above a new recreational area. It consisted of a concrete slab, on which the layout of walls were still visible. Old PVC tiles stuck to the floor. This must have been a place where the Dergue had their parties and planning. After the overthrow of their regime the place probably got ...

... over naturen. Det er bare et af mange dilemmaer man møder i Etiopien. Landet har været kristen siden det 4. århundrede, hvor den ortodoks kirke kom forbi. Næsten samtidig blev islam introduceret. I dag er de to religioner næsten lige store. I Lake Tana er en række små øer, hvor der er bygget klostre. Klostrenes små kirker kan alle fremvise typisk etiopiske malerier ...

Waiting...We were told to be at the Lalibela airport 2 hours before our flight, only to find that it was delayed 1/2 hr. Since this is the only flight of the day, there's no reason to rush, right? More realistically, it was delayed 45 min or an hour. This was to be the start of a series of 3 short little flights to bring us back to Addis Ababa ( Lalibela to Gonder, Gonder to Bahir Dar, and Bahir Dar to Addis). In between flights we ...

... much) we agreed to see his home and meet his family, but we really didn't need coffee. Being inside someone's home is something I don't think I will ever forget. To my amazement, the woman who had invited us earlier was this man's wife! There were many children present as well, but I think many were friends and neighbors. Being extremely hospitable, the man laid out goat skins for us to sit on while the mother stared to boil water ...

... hot dry air outside. They were also very dark and it would take some time for our eyes to adjust before we could see anything. One of the things that amazed me most is that these are not just historical buildings - they are used everyday for church services! We had to wait for one to finish before we could explore inside. There are great swaths of fabric draped around and carpets on the floor. Carvings in the ceiling and ...

... like new! We wished Mafiz luck in his future, paid him the 300 Birr guiding fee for the day, plus a tip, and went on our way. After a delicious freshly squeezed mango and strawberry juice at the Seven Olives Hotel, we walked back to our hotel, but not without buying a few souvenirs to take home. We haven't actually been buying anything during our journey, but that's due mainly to the fact that we're driving for the better part of the day. We're not ...

After a very scary bumpy plane ride - which we decided was more bumpy that going by bus! we arrived in Lalibela for a 30 minute minibus journey (fixed at 40 birr/2 pounds per person) to the Asheton Hotel, where we spend about an hour feeling sick after the journey! Lalibela was not as large or touristy as expected with only a few restuarants and hotels etc. We ended up walking to St Georges church on the first day and were shouted at ...