On our way to Lalibela, the place of the rock hewn churches, we were again confronted with detours, road constructions and dust eating. The Chinese are everywhere in Africa, constructing new roads. We saw them in Malawi, Kenya and now in Ethiopia. We also realised that we have made this trip a little bit too early; in five years time the whole road from Cairo to Cape town will be tarmac. Never mind, we just continued. The views were excellent although we had again our regular traffic jams due to the cattle.
On Saturday 24 May we reached Lalibela after a climb of more than 2 KM. The views were stunning. On top of the plateau again Chinese to fix the road, but compared to what we have been through we could only comment that the road was not too bad. The last 20 K were even tarmac. That was the airport road. People who are flying in have no idea what an achievement it was to arrive in Lalibela by road.
Lalibela, also known as the second Jerusalem of Africa, was the capital of Ethiopia in the 12th and 13th centuries. King Lalibela had either a vision, or had been in Jerusalem, history is not clear about that, that he wanted to create a new Jerusalem for all Ethiopians to visit. It is very isolated ( it took us 2 days) and on 2630meters high. Nowadays it is a World Heritage Site. And we have to agree, it is very impressive. It is the centre for pilgrimage for many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
In total there are about 11 churches which are connected by tunnels. Unfortunately most tunnels are closed now, but the one we have seen was quite scary and pitch-black. Every rock hewn church has a priest and every church has its own cross. Some had a very nice interior with paintings, others were just impressive as such. You see us in front of Bet Giyorgis, the masterpiece, a church in the shape of a cross. Around the church there are many caves for pilgrims. We were a bit shocked when we saw three mummified corpses of pilgrims from the 16th century. The guide told us all about the special meanings of the crosses and the drawings and so on. It was a very interesting tour, well worth the trip.
On Saturday 24 May we reached Lalibela after a climb of more than 2 KM. The views were stunning. On top of the plateau again Chinese to fix the road, but compared to what we have been through we could only comment that the road was not too bad. The last 20 K were even tarmac. That was the airport road. People who are flying in have no idea what an achievement it was to arrive in Lalibela by road.
Lalibela, also known as the second Jerusalem of Africa, was the capital of Ethiopia in the 12th and 13th centuries. King Lalibela had either a vision, or had been in Jerusalem, history is not clear about that, that he wanted to create a new Jerusalem for all Ethiopians to visit. It is very isolated ( it took us 2 days) and on 2630meters high. Nowadays it is a World Heritage Site. And we have to agree, it is very impressive. It is the centre for pilgrimage for many Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
In total there are about 11 churches which are connected by tunnels. Unfortunately most tunnels are closed now, but the one we have seen was quite scary and pitch-black. Every rock hewn church has a priest and every church has its own cross. Some had a very nice interior with paintings, others were just impressive as such. You see us in front of Bet Giyorgis, the masterpiece, a church in the shape of a cross. Around the church there are many caves for pilgrims. We were a bit shocked when we saw three mummified corpses of pilgrims from the 16th century. The guide told us all about the special meanings of the crosses and the drawings and so on. It was a very interesting tour, well worth the trip.
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