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Published: September 28th 2008
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030 - Africa - Lalibela
09/15/08 - 09/20/08
Historic Ethiopia
Imagine walking along rural Ethiopia a few centuries ago, flanked by green fields and farmlands, mountains in the distance, small stones digging in to your bare feet. You stop and have a vision of a church that doesn't exist. A church built out of rock. Not only that, but built out of one piece of rock, and built from the top down, by removing the earth, not adding to it. And not just one church, but a community of churches, each one carved out of rock, and each one unparalleled in it's architectural and structural attributes. Where Cambodia has Angkor Wat, India the Taj, and Egypt the pyramids, Ethiopia has Lalibela: home of the largest rock-hewn churches in the world.
After much thought and deliberation, Lakis (my dad) decided to stay in Addis Ababa with his brother, Aris, while Mary (my mom), Hannah and I took off for Bahir Dar and Lalibella. The initial plan was to only visit Lalibela, but the price difference in flights was minimal, so we included Bahir Dar on the docket. Since there were only three of us on this sub-trip, and
Mary being a tad more willing to 'rough it' than Lakis, we decided to do this trip in true 'Do It Like The Locals' style: packing light, no reservations (except flights), and no itinerary. Of the three of us, Mary was by far the best at this type of travel. Not only did she speak the language (Amharic), but was fearless in wandering around town, conversing with locals, and going off the tourist path. I can't tell you how many times we got special treatment because the person we were dealing with was so happy to be speaking with a white 'sister'!
To this day, I'm still amazed and proud of my parent's heritage in Ethiopia. Although I have a trace of African blood in me (1/8th to be exact!), I am much more affiliated with a European and American background. Many times during this trip I asked my parents about what drew their hearts to Ethiopia. What was 'it' that made them so happy here? My mom would say, 'Don't you feel it, it's Africa?'. No, not really, I would reply with a smile, and we would leave it at that.
Bahir Dar is located on Lake
Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Filled with palm trees and friendly people, this is the region of the Amhara, the “true” Ethiopian people where it is believed that civilization began. We hired a boat and driver and took a tour of the numerous Orthodox monasteries located on islands inside Lake Tana. The priests and monks live a spiritual and simple life, sharing their clothes and food, and having few possessions of their own. Their religious energy is contagious, however, and we left the monasteries feeling inspired by their devotion.
After a delicious lunch of kitfo and wat (traditional Ethiopian food) we hired a car and driver and went towards “Tis Abay”, translated “Smoking Nile” to see the Blue Nile Falls. In the summer time the falls dry out, but this was the rainy season so there was an abundance of water. We hiked through the mountainside, across an ancient bridge and took in some breathtaking views.
On the way back to the hotel, we picked up a young girl who needed to be in Bahir Dar in the morning to begin her classes but had no means of transportation. We
agreed to give her a lift and hadn't driven a mile when we were stopped by a group of people asking us to give a ride to three young children, ranging from 4-15 years of age, whose father had recently committed suicide. They hopped aboard and told us their heartbreaking story. The mood was somber as we spoke of their new future, but a round of sugar cane for the entire car helped lighten everyone's spirits.
Leaving Bahir Dar we flew in to Lalibela. Unfortunately, we hadn't calculated our expenses properly and had used up all of our 'emergency' cash earlier on the trip. By the way, Ethiopia has only one working ATM in the entire country (only in Addis Ababa) and no one accepts credit cards! So, here we are in Lalibela and I work out a tight budget that will allow us to stay in a low-end accommodation, eat simple meals, and see the churches before returning to Addis with only the lint left in our pockets. Luckily, Mary met a hotel owner that agreed to let us stay at his hotel if we agreed to wire him the money once we got back to Addis Ababa.
He said that he completely trusted his 'sister' and didn't think twice about it! Talk about special treatment! The accomodation was called Tukul Village named after the traditional two-story round tukul houses; definitely the nicest place in Lalibela and we didn't have to pinch pennies during our stay.
Being an engineer, albeit not a structural engineer, it is difficult to fathom what it must have taken to carve out the churches of Lalibela. To think that the buildings were carved from the top down without any modern tools, no earth movers, bulldozers, not even dynamite, but simple hammers and chisels is truly phenomenal. We hired a guide and took a tour of the eleven churches around the city over a span of two days. Our guide was thorough and told us the history of the churches while pointing out the impressive architecture. At one point we took a claustrophobic pitch black tunnel from one church to another in order to feel what it is like to go through hell to heaven!
One of our favorite experiences of the whole trip, however, occurred after our church tour ended and we wandered off the beaten path through a primitive village
surrounding Lalibela. Mary was our official ambassador to the locals as everyone stopped what they were doing to converse with us. Smiles appeared from ear to ear as the villagers were able to speak with a white person fluent in their language for one of the first times in their life. They were exuberant that Hannah and I were engaged to be married and urged us to have many children and return to Ethiopia to show our kids the country! We were touched by their kindness and vowed to return with a bigger family.
Hannah and I would later recount that of all the countries we have visited so far, the people of Ethiopia have the least amount of money and the most amount of love. It was during this experience that I finally understood the heart of Ethiopia: the humble, respectful, kindhearted people that inhabit this developing country. Yes mom, I feel it now!
We say goodbye to my parents for a few days while checking out the pyramids of Giza on our way to Athens. Next stop: Cairo, Egypt!
Did you check out the separate photo collage, Faces of Ethiopia, yet? If not, click
here.
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Blair
non-member comment
Roughing it.
Great story Nico as usual. I can't believe your mom is more capable of roughing it than your dad!! Mr. Big game hunter, fisherman, and all around tough guy and his sweet little wife is more adventurous!! Tell your dad he'll never live that one down here at work.