-- Log 15 --

Lalibela – Eighth Wonder of the World

Although this was a seasonal road, it was in pretty good condition, and we drove slowly, taking each obstacle one at a time. All went well until we started to drive thought the low-lying areas, which were very muddy! Oh, beautiful mud again! We put all that we had learnt on Mount Elgin to good use, stopping, checking, planning and then going though the obstacles. All went well until we got over confident!!! We had been through some really bad patches, when we came to a stretch of about 500 m, flat, and it appeared not too big a problem! As it turned out it became a VERY big problem! MR W got stuck in the mud – BIG time!

No amount of digging, pulling, yanking, would release her. One of the locals, an absolutely brilliant man, came to our assistance, then the village arrived, with the folk that have a lot to say, but do not want to do too much. The standard question came up – “How much money do you have?” – standard answer “None!” For a fee of
1 000 Birr they will get us out!! No thanks! We stuck with our local, and kept digging!
We even tried two oxen (much to their disgust) still MR W would not budge! That night we slept in the car, as we could not get the tent up! The next morning, at 5.30 a.m. our local was back to continue with the operation with a few trusted friends in tow. The women of the village (this is a poor village – people were dressed in rags!) brought us food! They really were good to us. After much digging etc MR W still did not move! We came to the conclusion that only another vehicle would be able to tow us out. We asked if other vehicles used the road, and they said yes, but only one, once a week. It looked like we would have to spend a week in the mud before the vehicle arrived! We got down to some serious praying that night and the next morning at about 9.00, along came the taxi – a Toyota pick-up! Soon we were out of the mud and on our way. We paid our trusty local for all this efforts, and followed the taxi out of the area. (sorry no pic’s no sense of humour at the time) We were 16 kms from Lalibela, but were told that the road was ‘cut’ – closed, so we would have to go back!!!! We followed the taxi out to a town of Dilbe, and from there we were on a decent murrum road – built by the Chinese! Finally we arrived at Lalibela.

Roha Hotel – Lalibela – 30/07/02 – 01/08/02 – N12.011.815 E039.02.588 – 7 979 ft amsl – US$ 12.50 pn

The Lalibela churches are without a doubt awesome – they are cut out of soft red volcanic rock, and their sheer size and architecture leaves one speechless.

The creation of the churches is ascribed to one of the last kings of the Zagwe dynasty, Lalibela, who reined about 1200 AD. Included in the Ethiopian folklore are stories of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, many Old Testament stories and the tale of Saint George and the dragon.

There are three types of rock churches, built up cave churches (ordinary structures built inside a natural cave), Rock hewn cave churches (cut inwards from a cliff face) and rock hewn monolithic churches, which are cut in one piece from the rock and separated from it all around by a trench.


Bet Maryam (The House of Mary)

The shrine dedicated to the compassionate Mother of God always attracts women seeking relief from their daily plights and sorrows.



The cistern is believed also to help childless women, who have to remain in the water for one night while the priest stand at the edge singing prayers.


Bet Giorgis – a monolithic church – dedicated to Saint George
Legend says that when King Lalibela had almost completed the churches, he was reproached by St George for not having constructed a house for him. Lalibela promised the saint the most beautiful church, and St George apparently supervised the execution of the work in person, at least the monks today still show the hoof-marks of his horse to the visitor.



Façade of Bet Emanuel (The House of Emanuel)

The church offers an almost classic example of Axumite style, a monolithic structure, carefully sculptured from a block 18 X 12 X 12 m. In the outside walls there are chambers and cavities for sacred bees – it is said that the honey has special healing powers.

In some of the chambers are the graves of monks and pilgrims who wanted to be buried in the holy city.



The façade of Bet Gabriel-Rufa’el (The house of Gabriel and Raphael or the House of the Archangels)

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