Bet Giyorgis Rock-Hewn Church, Lalibela
Discovering Ethiopia’s great history – Over Easter 2011, we followed what has become known as the “Northern Historical Circuit”. This term subsumes unparalleled highlights: Bahir Dar and the Monasteries of Lake Tana, the Royal Palaces of Gonder, the Stelae in Axum & the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela – Here you find a selection of 26 pictures from Ethiopia Continue Reading →
Fasilida’s Casstle, Fasil Ghebbi, the Royal Enclosure, Gonder, Ethiopia
We visited Ethiopia twice in 2010-2011. Both times we travelled during the busy season (Christmas and Easter) and spent about two weeks in the country each time. This is not our preferred time and tempo. Nevertheless we felt a lot less rushed than most other tourists. Especially large groups on buses go at a merciless pace! Continue Reading →
In Addis Abeba
Our 15 hours in Addis was packed with an incredible amount of activities and experiences. At least one hour was killed by fighting with a cab driver, who we thought was overcharging us. We had agreed on a price, then a girl joined us and she was also expected to pay the same price. Only when the police did not seem interested in the story of the driver did the matter slowly settle. Continue Reading →
Surroundings of Lalibela, Ethiopia, Africa
Travelling to Genata Maryam took us through stunning landscape. Crossing the oasis-like River Jordan was only one of the highlights! Together with a German family, we rented a taxi to this rock-hewn church an hour’s drive outside Lalibela. Continue Reading →
Women using Umbrellas against the sun, Lalibela, Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s most visited tourist destination, we expected Lalibela to be a pretty developed place. Wrong again! We were taken aback by the squalor and slum like dwellings that line the road up to the “city center”. Only the two mile road that connects the hotels down the hill up to the “town center” is paved with large cobble stones. Everywhere else, only muddy trails! Between the wooden shacks, you find a few stalls selling textiles and men sewing raggedy clothes on ancient Singer machines. Children enjoy chasing each other around the ditches running along the road. Continue Reading →
Market in Lalibela, Ethiopia
Lalibela’s Friday market offered a nice break from churches spotting. Cramped with stalls selling vegetables, fruits and clothes – it was huge. Nearly everyone was selling red onions, some merchants only a handful, some seating next to a small hill, some skillfully stacking them, others just spilling them on the ground. Continue Reading →
Bet Giyorgis Rock-Hewn Church, Lalibela, Ethiopia
Our dream image of Lalibela on Easter Sunday? Swaying among white-clad worshippers and chanting priests. Reality hit hard! Worshippers, having fasted for three days, covered every inch of the churches’ floor, sleeping off their hunger and thirst. Wrapped into their large white shawls they looked like corpses. So Sunday evening there was no way to get in. The churches may look huge from the outside, the inside is very compartmentalized and some parts are strictly reserved for priests. Continue Reading →
Cattle Market, Aksum, Ethiopia
Endless caravans of farmers with their goats, cows, sheep and what not were passing by the Queen of Sheba Pool. Some walking with only one animal, others had small herds. To control the goats more easily, many were tied together around one leg, making them to move rather awkwardly. We quickly figured that it must cattle market day and joined the procession. Continue Reading →
Mai Shum, Queen of Sheba’s Swimming Pool, Aksum, Ethiopia
One morning we hung out at the Queen of Sheba Swimming Pool. Not that the very queen ever did her laps here. The huge basin full of rain water has always served the locals for washing clothes and bodies, as an elderly woman perfectly described through gestures. Continue Reading →
The Great Stele, Main Stelae Field, Aksum, Ethiopia
What has put Axum on the tourist radar goes beyond Christian times. Superbly carved Stelae from those times still point 35 meters into the sky. Then they marked the tombs of royalty and nobility. Continue Reading →
