Merry Christmas! It’s Christmas Day and all through Africa not a creature was stirring not a hyena. Well, that’s probably not true. But today we woke up bright and early to travel to Aksum to catch a flight. The bus trip was 4 hours and extremely scenic the entire way through the mountains, on dirt roads and past lots of little towns where people would see us and wave. Aksum is the city where the arc of the covenant is kept, although private from the public. We caught our fligjt which was really short to Lalibella. We all planned to try and sleep either on the bus ride or the plane ride but there is just too much to see we didn’t want to close our eyes. The terrain seen from the plane going over the mountains looked like a different planet. It was spectacular.
Once we arrived in Lalibella our escort and tour guide met us to take us to our hotel and the main center of town. BecUse the terrain is so mountainous the only flat area for planes to land is about 40 minute away. When we got to the hotel and the main town of Lalibella the views were incredible. This was nothing what I expected.... it was better. And pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. The best part was our hotel was noted to have hot water. A HOT SHOWER! The beds were like a wooden board but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. We only dropped off our belongings before hitting the road and beginning the day. We started at a beautiful outdoor restaurant for lunch over looking the market. We try to stick to the traditional Ethiopian food but some of us are starting to fade so we mix it up. We received our beautiful white Ethiopian scarfs to wrap around ourselves for the churches. Some of the girls taught us how to lay them over ourselves properly which was nice since we looked a little incompetent like we were wrapping toilet paper around us.
The churches we went to, on Christmas even more was called Medehanealem, St Mary and Betemeskal. We walked through their extremely busy market down the mountainside to start at our first church They are orthodox Christian in this country and built all their churches hidden into the ground so they are not visible to the lay person from the main roads. This was because the Muslims would destroy many of their churches back in their history so this way they could continue to practice discreetly. When you walk into the churches it is required to take off your shoes. It is incredible how they were able to excavate these outstanding structures from their bare hands and simple tools. The detail is incredible. My socks FYI I will be throwing away after the trip. The views from the churches are absolutely incredible as they all are situated on the mountain tops. The ground is level with the churches roofs, so as you stand above them you look out into the entire area which spans miles. And in the African sun with their brilliant blue sky it just is breathtaking.
Inside the churches is carpeted and man was it PACKED. I’m talking shoulder to shoulder walking next to people going up to their alter to kneal to the ground, kiss the ground and pray. They’ll touch the portraits and then touch their faces either asking for blessings or forgiveness. It was like Times Square in New Year’s Eve. Outside the churches they have a pool for baptizing used historically (they now baptize inside the church) and another pool for fertility. In the mornings women will come nude and climb into the fertility pool to bless them with a child. Mom don’t get any ideas.....the water was brown green and there have to be different ways. Haha
After all the sightseeing we went back to the market where thankfully the bus came to the bottom to pick us all up. Damn Americans, we can’t handle all this walking in the African sun. Well we have been up all day and were pretty tired. Our guide dropped us off at the hotel and told us to rest before dinner at the hotel, which would be in an hour and a half. So naturally some of us went to rest down the street at this AMAZING restaurant overlooking the mountainside to have happy hour and watch the sunset. We call it the Lion King bar. And let me tell you, it was UNBELIEVABLE. The best sunset I have ever seen and it lasted so long. The sky morphed continuously into different colors as the sun set and we stood in awe taking it all in. At this point we were pretty beat, went back to the hotel and ate dinner before heading up to bed. I was so tired I could barely chew so I got a simple chicken and rice, ate a few bites and went to the room.
I spoke too soon about the hot water. Although it’s hot, it trickles out and takes a very long time to take an effective shower. But I’ll take it. The water just runs on to the floor where there’s a drain but the drain doesn’t work well so let’s just say if you go to the bathroom In the middle of the night hold on! I roomed with our anesthesiologist on the trip who is just awesome. We stayed up and talked a bit before drifting off to sleep. We don’t have to be out till 9 tomorrow so WHAT A TREAT! I get to sleep in!
Once we arrived in Lalibella our escort and tour guide met us to take us to our hotel and the main center of town. BecUse the terrain is so mountainous the only flat area for planes to land is about 40 minute away. When we got to the hotel and the main town of Lalibella the views were incredible. This was nothing what I expected.... it was better. And pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. The best part was our hotel was noted to have hot water. A HOT SHOWER! The beds were like a wooden board but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. We only dropped off our belongings before hitting the road and beginning the day. We started at a beautiful outdoor restaurant for lunch over looking the market. We try to stick to the traditional Ethiopian food but some of us are starting to fade so we mix it up. We received our beautiful white Ethiopian scarfs to wrap around ourselves for the churches. Some of the girls taught us how to lay them over ourselves properly which was nice since we looked a little incompetent like we were wrapping toilet paper around us.
The churches we went to, on Christmas even more was called Medehanealem, St Mary and Betemeskal. We walked through their extremely busy market down the mountainside to start at our first church They are orthodox Christian in this country and built all their churches hidden into the ground so they are not visible to the lay person from the main roads. This was because the Muslims would destroy many of their churches back in their history so this way they could continue to practice discreetly. When you walk into the churches it is required to take off your shoes. It is incredible how they were able to excavate these outstanding structures from their bare hands and simple tools. The detail is incredible. My socks FYI I will be throwing away after the trip. The views from the churches are absolutely incredible as they all are situated on the mountain tops. The ground is level with the churches roofs, so as you stand above them you look out into the entire area which spans miles. And in the African sun with their brilliant blue sky it just is breathtaking.
Inside the churches is carpeted and man was it PACKED. I’m talking shoulder to shoulder walking next to people going up to their alter to kneal to the ground, kiss the ground and pray. They’ll touch the portraits and then touch their faces either asking for blessings or forgiveness. It was like Times Square in New Year’s Eve. Outside the churches they have a pool for baptizing used historically (they now baptize inside the church) and another pool for fertility. In the mornings women will come nude and climb into the fertility pool to bless them with a child. Mom don’t get any ideas.....the water was brown green and there have to be different ways. Haha
After all the sightseeing we went back to the market where thankfully the bus came to the bottom to pick us all up. Damn Americans, we can’t handle all this walking in the African sun. Well we have been up all day and were pretty tired. Our guide dropped us off at the hotel and told us to rest before dinner at the hotel, which would be in an hour and a half. So naturally some of us went to rest down the street at this AMAZING restaurant overlooking the mountainside to have happy hour and watch the sunset. We call it the Lion King bar. And let me tell you, it was UNBELIEVABLE. The best sunset I have ever seen and it lasted so long. The sky morphed continuously into different colors as the sun set and we stood in awe taking it all in. At this point we were pretty beat, went back to the hotel and ate dinner before heading up to bed. I was so tired I could barely chew so I got a simple chicken and rice, ate a few bites and went to the room.
I spoke too soon about the hot water. Although it’s hot, it trickles out and takes a very long time to take an effective shower. But I’ll take it. The water just runs on to the floor where there’s a drain but the drain doesn’t work well so let’s just say if you go to the bathroom In the middle of the night hold on! I roomed with our anesthesiologist on the trip who is just awesome. We stayed up and talked a bit before drifting off to sleep. We don’t have to be out till 9 tomorrow so WHAT A TREAT! I get to sleep in!
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