Ethiopia – Blue Nile and Lalibela

Epiphany – My understanding of the word was that it meant a sudden revelation or realization. As it happens, this is definition n. 3 of the Oxford Dictionary. The word originates with the baptism of Christ. And what better place to celebrate such an occasion than in Ethiopia, a country that embraced Christianity before Europe!

The rich tapestry of the country’s history is woven with fascinating facts and legends: the often-told tale of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; the journey of the Ark of the Covenant; the growth of the ancient Axumite Kingdom; the birth of Christianity; the subsequent rise of Islam; the story of King Lalibela; and the castes of Gondar. Recorded history dates back more than 4000 years and ancient contact with Greece, Persia and Egypt nurtured and strengthened the culture of northern Ethiopia creating the Axumite kingdom that dominated the vital crossroads of Africa and Asia for nearly a thousand years. From the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, intellectual culture continued to flourish with the establishment of monasteries, with the writing of successive royal chronicles, and with the translation of texts into ge’ez. Imperial splendor grew in tandem with these developments and eventually gravitated towards the beautiful fortress city of Gondar. At the same time, the Islamic mercantile culture of Ethiopia rose alongside that of the Christians. The city of Harar is a good example of this alternative side of Ethiopia’s vast and diverse heritage and occupies a proud place along the historic route.

These were some of the places Explore would take us on our 14-day Blue Nile and Lalibela tour. From my notes …

“It is Africa and I am glad to be back in this fertile land. …… the muezzin woke us up around 6:30 this morning with his call to prayer …… you are no longer in Kansas We got a taxi to take us to the Mercato – the market. Billed as the largest in East Africa – certainly bigger than anything I’ve ever seen in East Africa. We knew we’d better get a guide, so our driver came with us and a guy in red volunteered to take us. We had to guide him a bit as we wanted to go to the food areas: spices galore and what scents. All the women in this section with lots of giggles breaking out with me encouraging them to smile and not being afraid of my camera. They washed my shoes, I thought they would polish them, but the guy used hand soap and a sponge. One of the things I love about Africa: expecting the unexpected. It’s a wild place and we walked around 2 hours. Many co Interesting things: baskets, sponge mattresses, shawls, metal trim, bolts of beautiful material colors, and really more shoes than a nation needs. Ann said there must be a lot of places to go because there are more shoes for sale than she had ever seen. I loved walking around and sharing smiles … the people are very friendly and eager to say hello.

It was time for dinner and we went to a very traditional restaurant. It was built like a traditional hut with a center post and struts rising from the walls to the center.

Beautiful paintings on the panels (between the struts) of Ethiopians doing traditional tasks. And they had some paintings on smaller pieces of that Egyptian papyrus paper to cover the lamps. The tables (large hollow woven baskets) are covered with a lid and a cloth. They remove the cloth and leave the drinks. Then a guy appears with warm water, soap, and a tin bowl. You must wash your hands! They move the drinks to a small side table when the food arrives. It was a large tin plate about 60 cm wide. They put a piece of “injera” (their word for local bread) and then they place the dishes you order on the “bread”. The food (or “wat”) was chicken (a little spicy) and lamb (a little spicy) and a little vegetable which I liked. Then, he takes rolled pieces of the “injera” and picks up some of the fillings or “wat”, tosses it into his mouth in the hope that the shirt will be lost on the way to his mouth. And when you get to the end, you eat the bottom layer of injera and the food that has been soaked! When you’re done, they return with the water, soap, and bowl so you can wash again. With 2 Sprites, the cost was $ 7. And when we somehow finished, the taxis knew when they showed up at the door to take us back to the hotel. All the first day.

My head spins. And now as I write this I am listening to the local version of Stand by Me, Green Green Grass of Home and If Loving You is Wrong coming from the lobby bar band live. Saturday night in Addis. There is nothing better than this.

In Bahir Dar we went for a walk to see the Blue Nile and the Tississat falls. The falls are not what they were when the government built a dam about 6 years ago. The neighboring town not only lost its tourist attraction and its water supply, the town doesn’t even have electricity! Shameful. Afternoon boat ride on Lake Tana to see a 13th century church built on one of the islands. Charming. The next city was Gondar, which does not mean much to all of you, but it was the main stop for many of us, as that is where we were going to experience Timkat, the celebration of the epiphany of Christ. Each church has a replica of the Ark of the Covenant and these replicas are assembled by the chief priests of each church. A parade goes to the main “bathroom” of the city and the “tabots” are housed in tents; priests and large crowds spend the night nearby praying and celebrating. Then the “tabots” parade back through the city to each church, but everyone in the pools jumps out to swim; there are songs and dances; Some people will take a bottle of holy water home with them in case they get sick later in the year; This holy water will help them get better. Leftover communion bread is burned and the ashes saved to give people a teaspoon at a time next year … it is so exciting to be a part of it.

A fabulous journey through the Rift Valley to the next town (Debark) where we were to stay for 2 nights. Good restaurant here – 2 of the best meals of the trip. The day between the 2 nights in this paradise was spent in the Simien Mountains. As we drove through the area, they looked like photographs I had seen of the Grand Canyon. Very beautiful. For the hikers there was a day of hiking and for the rest of us we had lunch in a meadow with 1 horse, 2 dozen goats and 6 small children staring at us greedily and trying to sell us their woolen hats. I think we had a better time reading and writing postcards. Oh yeah, we also saw a herd of about 100 baboons digging for roots.

A very long journey the next day to the city of Axum, home of the Queen of Sheba. Many stories about her and her romance with King Solomon and the son Menelik produced. Did she exist? Well, theorists and archaeologists are well into their investigations and the feeling is that she did and her kingdom spread from Yemen to Ethiopia and southern Egypt. Axum is considered the birthplace of Christianity and here is the Ark of the Covenant, jealously guarded by a hermit. Only the eyes of the high priests have seen the royal Ark as it remains guarded, wrapped, and locked in a building on the grounds of the Church of Saint Mary of Zion.

Lalibela has the following and it was wonderful. Just to think that people carved 11 of these churches into the stone hillside. You can spend 2-3 days wandering the city visiting the churches … St George’s church (which they went to on the Amazing Race for fans of reality TV) was amazing. The reason that particular church was built was that King Lalibela had built 22 other churches in the area to honor all kinds of saints. Then Saint George (the patron saint of Ethiopia) came to visit him on his horse and he was very sad. He asked King Lalibela why no church had been built to honor Saint George. The king quickly realized his mistake and had this majestic one built. The church of Biet Giorgis is carved in the shape of a Greek cross and is accessed through a passage that was also carved out of the rock. Another church that you can visit, by mule, is the Ashatan Maryam Church, where you are rewarded with stunning views of the highlands. Our guides in each town told us all kinds of fables like this one that is told here about the paintings, etc., which are also found inside the churches. Very funny.

Our last stop with Explore was Harar and it is truly an “old” city. Probably one of my favorites as far as it is so alive. Like going back in time … before almost everything we know !!! We took a walking tour this morning and everything is considered useful here … everything is recycled, just one example is car tires turning into rubber sandals. The ladies were all smiles in the market and the children ran after us constantly calling us “Ferengi” foreigners. In the markets here you can buy filigree jewelery, shawls and mats, as well as many food products such as spices and cereals. This old walled city with 87 mosques and 300 shrines has only 5 gates and the explorer Richard Burton sneaked into the forbidden Muslim stronghold in 1854 by dressing up as an Arab merchant. Many consider it the fourth holiest city in the Islamic world. Mosques are filled with whispers of prayer and the click of the rosary.

The eastern part of the country is predominantly Muslim, but you know what? In Ethiopia, being a Christian or Muslim is irrelevant because people have great religious tolerance and respect. Muslims, for example, do not demand to build a mosque in Axum because they understand that Axum is a Christian holy city. In fact, we saw a funeral procession of a Muslim person while we were in Axum and the cemetery was quite far from the city.

Omo Valley was next when we hired a driver and land cruiser to take us south. We had just a few days to taste some tribal villages: Dorze, Tsemay Mursi and Konso. Lonely Planet writes: “The people of Omo may lack any form of advanced material culture, but they have developed art forms that allow them not only great artistic expression, but also serve important social and cosmetic purposes. The practice developed of body painting and scarification by the tribes is one of the most ornate and extravagant seen anywhere in the world. For most Omo tribes, scarification serves as a distinction for brave warriors; men cannot scarify themselves to themselves until they have killed at least one enemy. In women, elevated skin texture is considered highly desirable and is said to have sensual value to men. ” There is a fee to visit the villages and a fee for photos, but you won’t see traditional cultures anywhere else in the country. As Lonely Planet put it “Some travelers may be disappointed or even shocked by the seemingly mercenary nature of the different towns, or the apparent voyeurism of the encounter. Tourism can even help preserve groups and their traditions by helping them financially.”

And finally, for those of you who need your coffee every day, it was first grown here in Ethiopia! They even have a special ceremony to serve it … and sometimes it even comes with popcorn.

So let’s go back to what I said at the beginning: expect the unexpected and you will love this wild place!

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