Holy City of Lalibela, Ethiopia

We returned to Gondar after the Simien trek and caught a flight to our last stop in Ethiopia. Lalibela was named after a king who commissioned extraordinary underground granite Rock-Hewn churches with the intention of creating a new Jerusalem for those who could not make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was a small town with a 30 meter wide round-about as its city centre. But its 11 Ethiopian Orthodox churches were complexly linked together via tunnels and gates, required a certified green jacket guide to manoeuvre through. We searched for such a person turn out to be a bit of a farce since everyone had green jacket if you asked.

The churches were carved downward into volcanic rock formation which meant the roof was at ground level. Insides were vibrant coloured paintings of various bible tales and icons. Majority of the churches are still in use today. In fact later in the night, a fellow traveller told us there will be some sort of ceremonial gathering tomorrow morning from 9AM to 11AM around the Bete Medhane Alem church area.

The next day we found out the gathering was to celebrate St. Mary's birthday. We arrived shortly after 9AM, there was already a large crowd dressed in their white robes. At first, priests chanted over the loud speakers at a high point next to the church as the worshippers listened on and prayed. We tried to get a little higher up view without disturbing the crowd, but ended up almost running into the priest precession coming down to bless the people below. The ceremony went on with more chanting, drumming and even dancing (actually just synchronized rocking back and forth) ! It was fascinating to people watch at a religious event like this one.

Lalibela may be rich in history and culture, but it is a very impoverished town. Our hotel was probably on route to one of the aid stations. We saw a constant flow of people and donkeys carrying large bags marked "wheat - USA Aid". Most people wore no shoes as they walked through the dusty road and children ran around the neighbourhood with torn clothes.