Blogs from Ethiopia, Africa - page 51

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Africa » Ethiopia » Amhara Region » Lalibela November 4th 2009

More Amazing Churches, More Amazing Dad Dancing Natala La'ab Monastery Wednesday Morning. Some of us go for a short drive to the Natala La'ab Monastery(?), built into a cave near Lalibela. Our first stop is a religious school near the monastery. The teacher, who we are told is 83 years old, has a class of about 10 boys (no girls) who are training to be priests. The boys are all chanting different passages from the bible and the priest seems to be able to hear each individual and pick out their mistakes. The boys show complete respect for the teacher - {just like being in the UK really!!}. In the monastery some of the religious ceremonies are explained to us and we are shown the hand-written bible which is 600 years old ... read more
Showing Off Some Of The Religious Relics
St George's Church
Drinking Tej

Africa » Ethiopia » Amhara Region » Lalibela November 3rd 2009

Lalibela - Underwear, Churches and Cool Priests Security Alert Today is a bad day for the women. We have to leave the hotel by 5a.m. to get the early flight to Lalibela. Everyone - even me(!) - makes it on time. Our bus is on time and we get to the airport on time! It's all good. At the airport, though, we have to go through bag scans and body scans twice. The second scanner seems to be set a bit too sensitively, though, as all the women set the scanners off because of the metal in their bras. Eventually, after the women have walked through the scanner several times and had other searches, we get through. The first conversation of the day is inevitably a detailed discussion about the design of bras and underwear in ... read more
The Coffee Ceremony
Lalibela Churches, Carved Out Of The Rockface
Exploring Lalibela's Churches

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa November 2nd 2009

Museums, Monuments, Cathedrals and the Pink School Museums All the group is here now - the last 3 people arrived during the night. We are supposed to meet at 9a.m. for a tour of Addis Ababa but there is no bus yet. We wait in the hotel reception while Baty organises a bus. The film "Zulu" is showing on the TV in reception - seems an odd choice for Ethiopian TV to show! Eventually a bus arrives and we get taken on our tour of Addis Ababa. As a "Baty Bonus" we taken to the National Museum. Quite a few of us went there yesterday so we form a splinter group and head for the Enthomological Museum which is housed in the former palace of Haile Selassie. The museum is interestingly laid out according to the ... read more
Prayers Outside St George's Cathedral
The Holy Trinity Cathedral
In The Market

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa November 1st 2009

Sevastapol At breakfast on Sunday we are joined by 2 more members of the tour group who have just arrived from the airport. Matt has not slept in over 24 hours but still decides to join us for a stroll around Addis Ababa. Jane votes for sleep. Nick and I have both read Philip Marsden's book, "The Barefoot Emperor" about Emperor Tewderos. We are both very keen to find the replica of Sevastapol - this is the cannon he built and then had transported (by building all the necessary roads) to his mountain fortress at Maqdala. We think that the cannon itself is still at Maqdala because no-one has ever tried to move it but there is a replica on a traffic island somewhere on Churchill Avenue. Unfortunately the rest of the group don't know me ... read more
"OK. We've Spent Most Of The Country's Resources On The Military"
With Lucy
Ethiopian Red Wine

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa October 31st 2009

Hotel Awraris On first appearance the hotel seems a bit shabby but it's just about what I expected. The hotels I'll be staying in are described as "mid-range" but that is mid-range by Ethiopian standards. The room seems to be clean and the staff here are really friendly. I have one of those showers where you can never be sure if you're going to get wet or get electrocuted when you stand under it. But I have hot water and I have electricity at the moment - it's all good!! The hotel staff assure me that the the couple of museums I want to visit will be open tomorrow (Sunday) so I decide I ought to try and catch up on some sleep. I sleep for a couple of hours and awake in the early evening. ... read more
The Porter/Guard At The Awraris

Africa » Ethiopia » Addis Ababa Region » Addis Ababa October 30th 2009

Flying to Addis Ababa The first day, getting from home to Addis Ababa, was always going to be a long one. But it's even longer than it needs to be because of the choices I have taken. The cheapest flight my travel agent could find was with Emirates so I have flown further East than I needed to in order to spend some time waiting in Dubai before coming back West to Addis Ababa. Secondly I've broken my journey a couple of times within the UK. I've stopped off in London for a couple of hours to have lunch with Martyn and then got to Gatwick early enough to check in my bag and sneak out to go and share a pint with one of my travelling "buddies" who lives very near Gatwick. The flight with ... read more
The Hotel Awraris In Addis Ababa
I'm Glad The Tour Company Didn't Book The Holiday Hotel For Me

Africa » Ethiopia October 24th 2009

I've made a book on Blurb.com with photos and commentary of my trip to Ethiopia in April. Blurb are currently having a photobook competition so I've decided to enter the book in the Travel section. The short list is determined by public vote so I need people to log on and vote for this book before November 9th. Click here to vote for Undiscovered Ethiopia. If you're not already registered with blurb.com, you'll need to do so but this will only take a few seconds - you only need to input your email address, a username and password. The link above will also allow you to preview the whole book and also purchase a copy if you're interested. Book description Mention Ethiopia and inevitably the images conjured up are of drought, dese... read more

Africa » Ethiopia October 23rd 2009

Ethiopia I booked my trip to Ethiopia on the same day as I decided to quit work. It’s one of those places I’ve always wanted to visit. So as soon as my holidays aren’t constrained to school holidays I can go to Ethiopia at what I think will be the best time of year. It should be the end of their rainy season now so I was expecting it be hot and sunny but still very green. Most people of my age will remember the horrific TV pictures of the famine of 1984/85 which lead to Live Aid and that may be the first image of Ethiopia that comes to mind. I’ve flown over Ethiopia and had to spend some time changing planes at Addis Ababa airport and was amazed at how green the whole ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia October 21st 2009

I got back to Israel few weeks ago. I spent the first 10 days almost isolated and asleep, taking antibiotics to treat a blood infection caused by beg bugs, now I've started waking up and still can't answer this question. Ethiopia was the most complex country I have visited. It's amazingly beautiful, It has interesting and important culture and history, It drained my energies. I can't place the finger on what exactly was so difficult. I think that it was a mix of not feeling well most of the time, being hassled by people whenever I walked the streets, having unexpected problems with the food and seeing this amazing country being so neglected. It made me so sad I had closed myself to everyone. I still can't open up. I think that one of the basic ... read more

Africa » Ethiopia October 16th 2009

Few nations, if any, can boast the historic splendour of Ethiopia, evidence of whose extraordinary past is everywhere, from its rock-hewn churches, still places of living worship, to its ancient historical traditions and magnificent cultures. Ethiopia, is a nation of surprises, full of diversity and contrast, from the ancient to the modern. Legend has it that Emperor Menelik I, the son of the Queen of Sheba and king Solomon, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum, where he settled and established one of the world’s longest known, uninterrupted monarchical dynasties. This is only one example of Ethiopia’s magnificent history, which encompasses legend and tradition, mystery and fact, from a powerful and religious ancient civilization. The well -trodden path through Ethiopia’s famous and fascinating historic places takes you through a scenically magnificent world o ... read more
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