Tag: ethiopia

My two days in Lalibela have been a blur of churches after churches. There are at least 11 ancient churches in the town — most of which are carved out of the rock — dating back to the 12th century. I also enjoyed a long, bumpy drive yesterday out to the cave church of Yimrhane Kristos and an early morning hike today up to the monastery of Asheton Maryam. Lalibela is at an altitude of 2600 meters and Asheton Maryam is up at 3200 meters. So I was gasping a fair bit while Destaw — a church deacon and great tour guide — waited for me.

This afternoon I went back to the main group of churches to listen to part of the Good Friday celebration. To an outsider there didn’t seem to be a lot of formal organization to the event. The priests and deacons recited and chanted while occasionally some in the crowd joined in or responded. Much of the time people sat and listened, prayed, read, or even talked amongst themselves while the chanting echoed round the tunnels and rock walls of the churches.

As a faranji — or foreigner — one can’t simply blend in with the crowd on the street or in the church courtyard so my day was also filled with lots of questions about where I’m from, whether this was my first time in Ethiopia, what I do for a living, and so on.

I took a lot of photos and may be posting too many of them. Unfortunately the interiors of the churches were crowded and dimly lit with fluorescent bulbs so there aren’t many interior photos that came out. Hope you enjoy the ones that did.

 

 

 

The direct flight from Toronto to Addis Ababa was nearly 14 hours. After spending one day in a groggy haze of tired jet-lag and another rebuilding my bike and then ironically stashing it away, I left Addis for a week of classic non-bike touring. My friend from school days in Nigeria, Steven Olson of Ethio Guzo, had arranged a whirlwind tour of northern Ethiopia for me to catch some of the historical and religious sites that define the country before we go biking later in the month.

The first stop was Bahir Dar where I was able to visit a church and a monastery on Lake Tana and then take a hike to the nearby Blue Nile Falls. Lake Tana is commonly considered the source of the Blue Nile, although my guide for the visit to the monastery asserted that the river passed through the lake from a source further upstream.

The second stop was the old imperial capital of Gondar where I got a look around the impressive castles built in the 1600s by emperor Fasilides and his sons and grandsons. Unfortunately, during World War II the Italian army occupied the castles and British bombardment destroyed much of the structures. However, what remains is still impressive. I was also able to visit the old Debre Birhan Selassie church and take in some liturgical reading.

This is Holy Week — the week leading up to Easter — so there have been many people at the churches and the monastery praying and reading. So far this religious experience has been the highlight for me. It’s not often in the US that we get to see an active religious tradition with such ancient and deeply felt roots. My next stop will continue on this theme with a visit to the old churches of Lalibela.

Next week I’ll be back in Addis and then start some actual bike touring in western Ethiopia with Steven.

Note: unfortunately my laptop is showing signs of a failing hard drive so it may be a little while before I’m able to post the next update.

Thanks for following along.