Lalibela is a town of around 40,000 people, pretty well set up for tourism and quite charming. Almost immediately we saw that the big entertainment around town (and around most of Ethiopia) seems to be table football – not sure how all those tables got here?!?
We spent a day and a half visiting quite a few churches, my favourite was Bete Giyorgis (St George Church), the ‘poster child’ for Lalibela and you can see why!
There is not a particular beauty about the churches here but it is incredibly impressive how they have been ‘cut’ out of the rock! Some are partly cut out and some fully. And even though there are a few carvings and paintings in some of them, that for me, is not the attraction.
I found the atmosphere around the churches very intriguing, though. People here are so religious – orthodox Christians for the most part. They do not pass or enter a church – new or old – without kissing touching their forehead on the wall and/or floor. And sitting in and around the churches just filled me with a sense of peace – even as a non-believer.
Many of the churches have been built high up in the mountains – mainly to be closer to God apparently. And it means that the views are stunning when trying to reach them. Made ‘friends’ with this donkey which was carrying sand to the top for some construction work on that particular church!
On our last night in Lalibela we had a nice sunset dinner at a Scottish owned restaurant – Ben Abeba – which was in a crazy looking building, a little Picasso-like! When I asked the lady how come she decided to come to Ethiopia, she said ‘I had a few too many glasses of red wine and woke up here’ – am thinking there’s a lot more to that story!
The next day it was time for a road trip. Our assigned driver for the tour, Lauga, is pretty amazing, his English is not great but we still manage to have some good and fun conversations – and he is a very safe driver, most importantly.
I must admit that I slept a lot of the trip – mosquitos had made sleep almost impossible, but did manage to experience daily life as we whizzed through towns and villages.
There are people walking everywhere, at the side or in the road – same with loads of sheep, goats, cows and donkeys – even a few camels here and there. Lauga has to be careful not hitting any of them as he would have to pay the owner for the animal.
We also saw lots of abandoned vehicles following accidents – every time that happened Lauga expressed his disapproval with a quiet ‘cccraaaazy drivers’ comment! Makes me chuckle each time! Haha!
BETINA IN AFRICA 