Weekend in Lalibela

So this past weekend I had my first great adventure outside of Addis!  I went with my two roommates, and fellow PULSE volunteers, Bridget and Sarah to visit Lalibela, in the highlands of Ethiopia.  Lalibela is a holy Ethiopian city that is still a place of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.

Bridget has found a really interesting video that talks a bit about Lalibela’s history, legends, and present-day state:

We flew into the Lalibela airport, which was still good 30 minute or so winding mountain ride to the town.  It was a beautiful ride and packed almost the entire way with people and animals making their way from the villages into town for the big Saturday market.

It was great to escape the city for a bit of fresh air and a bit more relaxed atmosphere.  It was truly a different feel than being in the city here.  The local homes were very neat and our hotel was a glorified version of them. 

A typical style local home

Our hotel - each building had a top and bottom floor room

The hotel definitely was a treat and lived up to its advertised promise of 24-hour hot water availability, and even had decent water pressure! 

The city is most well-known for its rock-hewn churches, carved down into the red volcanic rock in the 12^th-13^th century.  They are truly a fascinating site and now a UNESCO world heritage site.  There is a stark contrast between the very dated churches and the modern styled protective coverings above them.

There is also a beautiful contrast between the red rock and the brightly colored lichens now covering parts of them.

The most well known of the churches in the city is the church of St. George.  It is very impressive in height and is shaped like a cross from top to bottom.

Many of the churches are connected by a fascinating maze of tunnels and pathways and seemingly hidden connectors.  Luckily we had a great guide who led us through.

It also seemed like a fantasy world with giant sized steps and minituare sized doorways that made working our way around a fun challenge.

Although I did find one tunnel which was the perfect height for me!

In addition to spending two half-days touring the churches in Lalibela, we spent one very long morning making our way up the mountain to the Asheton Maryam monastery…by mule!  It was about a 7km climb and tops out at about 4,000m.  As some of you may know, I am not a fan of horse riding and equally disliked the mule ride, not surprisingly.  What was surprising was the terrain on the way up - it was even more treacherous than I had imagined it would be!  There were rocky cliffs, loose rocks, mud and all.  I was so nervous the entire way up, holding on tight to my mule, that I didn't take any photos, but I have a few pictures from my fellow travelers to share, and those that I was able to get at our stop on the way up, and while at the top.

Our early morning pick-up outside of the hotel!  Three mules and three mule men

A very rocky path ahead at this point

The view from part way up the mountain

Not all of the way up yet, but the town is looking very small in the distance below

Almost there!  After paying the first priest our entrance fee, we got to climb up these rock steps, into the dark crevice at the top to get up to the monastery

The outside of the monastery itself was not quite as impressive as the views going up

Inside the dim monastery, a very cool priest wore Bridget's sunglasses to protect his eyes from the flash as he showed us some of the monastery's treasures

There was a large crowd of locals outside, as a church meeting was wrapping up

They really enjoyed being able to look at themselves after they'd been in a photo

Here's my mule on the descent...having a nice easy ride as I trekked my own way down on my own two feet

After the stressful ride to the top, which I did complete!, I decided it would be best for me to walk the rest of the way down along with the mule men, and our guide.  Unfortunately it did rain most of the way down, making what was difficult to navigate on the way up even muddier and slipperier on the way down!  Very thankfully, with a bit of assistance, I made it all of the way down safely, without falling.  Back safely to our hotel we were able to take a nice view back up to where we were.

Zoomed in a bit closer on where we went...

Zoomed in even further.  It was the white rock face here, where we had climbed to

It was a fantastic weekend get-a-way, and impossible to capture all of the striking views we saw, but if you want to see more of the trip, I’ve posted the photos here: Lalibela Pictures