Thursday, 17 April 2003
Yesterday evening we noticed that the water supply was down which we realized still was the fact this morning. As we weren’t prepared for this, our morning toilette was a bit scanty. Later we met our tour organizer “Gebru” at the café “Le Notre”. He was timely and gave us a lift to the airport.
To be absolutely sure getting on the plane we were recommended to show up in check-in two hours in advance. Therefore we had breakfast and lots of spare time to examine the big new airport terminal. I feel competent to praise their well-cleaned toilets, as I had to use them often due to my bad stomach.
The flight to Lalibela was only an hour and we flew with a very nice Fokker 50 propeller plane. The plane was full and we enjoyed the service while looking at the spectacular view of ravines from above. When landed we were a bit surprised both of the warmer temperature and the fact that the small Lalibela airport actually was new built and very neat.
A driver as agreed with Gebru picked us up and the drive by minibus to Lalibela was quite exciting. For the first time we were really on the countryside and saw farmers plow the fields using two oxen, small mud huts and shepherds holding their indispensable stick over their shoulders.
The city of Lalibela was very small with gravel roads, mud huts, cottages and more modern hotel buildings. It was very much as I expected Africa to be, but I didn’t expect the mixture of housing. This was probably because Lalibela holds the major tourist attractions in the country. Here they had electricity and running water, a local grocery, and a photo shop and telephony service. None of it was of European standard, but it was present!
We decided to stay at the “Seven Olives Hotel” a government driven mid- to low class hotel with private baths and hot shower. The price for each person was 234,95 birr ($35) even though we shared two double rooms. As “Lonely Planet” says: “it’s wildly overpriced”.
We had barely checked in to the hotel before a local guide offered his assistance. He showed us his license and emphasized that he would provide top class service for us during our visit. His thorough effort had a reason as he asked for 50 Birr each for guiding us this afternoon and the following morning. This was exclusive the 100 Birr fee to access the churches.
Paying 300 Birr ($35) in total to see the churches seem wildly overpriced and we discussed serious to skip the guide. After tough negotiations we ended at 40 Birr each as we figured out that our knowledge about the place and history was very limited. He quickly introduced his helper, who had the difficult task to carry our boots from entrance to exit of each church. He expected to receive 10-20 Birr for his two-hour service, but we decided that 10 Birr could do – it’s still a days pay in Addis Ababa.
One must just admit that their really know how to “milk” the tourists here. It’s just a pity that the people who need the money don’t gain from it. On our way to the churches we saw a lot of beggars. It was both little children hailing “Hello!” to deformed and invalid persons who looked scary to us. It defiantly best to keep your good health when living in 3rd world countries. We gave to some, but had to admit that we aren’t able to help all.
Another companion were the vast number for flies that literately were facing us in the 30-degree hot city. Constantly we used our caps as a fan to get rid of them and had to do without the visor. Sunglasses and sun block is absolutely required here. We also realized that we were in the really dry season as it was so incredible dry that one could almost taste the sand. In real the flies wasn’t a problem to us when looking at flies around the slovenly kids whose bottoms wasn’t wiped. Water is a limited resource for many. The kids eyes and ears were full of flies just as seen on TV. Nevertheless they were so cure, smiling and very “talkative”.
The first church was the largest of the 11 churches on our schedule. All the churches was carved out of the volcanic rock during 23 years of work under command of King Lalibela in the twelve hundreds. Actually his is said to have built it all only with a little help from angels. The area is called “New Jerusalem” as it is a copy of the sacred monuments in Jerusalem completed with the River of Jordan, yet here it has no water at this time.
The Italians restored more of the churches during the 1950’s and the largest church is has got an unsightly roof of steel plates to protect against corrosion. The UNESCO program for sights worthy of preservation paid the roof.
Inside the churches it was cold and very dark. The only decoration was carpets, paintings and the ubiquitous priest who represented each church and it’s special designed cross to the tourists. It seemed at bit far-fetched especially when the priests wear sunglasses to avoid the camera flash.
It was very fascinating to explore these 20-meter high stone churches. When we had been visiting several we began to recognize the common style. We ended the tour by visiting the famous “Noah’s Arc” church. On our trip back we walked through the most primitive part of town, watching the monk’s place and the mud huts. We met a lot of kids in their school dress that were sponsored by a relief agency. The kids were very teasing and cute. They asked if we could spare a pen for their schooling but unfortunately we did not have any.
Back in the hotel we got a hot shower and I had my time with a bad stomach. It really hurt, but I felt optimistic, as I had no fever. We joined our guide to a small outdoor restaurant and during our conversation he told me, that he had his own website and a laptop from where he control his tour organizing company. One sees a lot of contrasts in this country.
In the restaurant Jørgen and Jesper ordered the local dish “Injera”, which is a ½ meter wide brown pancake filled with different dipping. That could be made of onions, eggs, minced meat, spinach and more. It’s eaten by hand and you simply tear off a piece of pancake and dip it well. I had my hands washed and tried apiece. The pancake tasted a lot like buckwheat and was very filling. Here it’s used morning, noon and evening. I decided to go for the spaghetti to spare my stomach and decided to hit the bed early in the evening.
The others walked with the guide to a small pub to get a beer and sense the local feeling. They were invited to the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, saw the local dance and were invited into the dance. It was quite late before they returned to bed in very cheerful mood.