Christmas amid pilgrims

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The atmosphere in Lalibela was incredible, with the population of the sleepy village swelled by an estimated 20,000 pilgrims, who were visiting one of the major Christian sites in Ethiopia for Christmas.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I went for a walk to the market and ended up walking past the major church of Bet Maryam, where people were securing a sleeping space for the night. As darkness fell, I went back to the church for a few minutes to soak in the atmosphere - a sea of white-clothed pigrims. I asked one person how many people he thought were there. He paused for a moment, the replied "Oh, many thousands!"

On Christmas day, I joined a group of four young British (three of them medical students) to visit the churches. Our guide was not particularly good, rushed us from church to church and didn't tell us as much nformation as we gleaned from the guidebooks. Bet Giorgis was as impressive as it looked in photos - you get a real sense of how it was dug out from the rock in the 12th Century. Bet Medhane Alem (the largest rock hewn church in the world), along with neighbouring Bet Maryam are sheltered by huge canopies, erected by UNESCO.


The following day was much quieter - most of the pilgrims has departed - and the five of us explored the Eastern Churches, without a guide. It was much nicer being able to take time to sit and reflect.

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