The race to Lalibela begins! We left the hotel at 6:30 am, and so did most of the other groups. Everyone is heading to Timkat. Visitors and Ethiopians alike.
And everyone is worried about their hotel rooms. Bigger groups have a much better chance of actually keeping their reservations. Solo travelers or small groups, or those who arrive last today run a very real risk of having no where to stay. Hotels are apparently ruthless and since there are way more people than rooms, they have no problem giving away rooms, changing hundreds of dollars for a coat closet to sleep in, or randomly doubling up guests into the same rooms.
Pee pee stops (what our driver called them today) are a necessity here. Side of the road, "women to the left, men to the right of the caravan!" kind of thing. The nice thing is that everyone is very casual about such things, and has traveled so much that it is no big deal. You just have to watch for the prickly bush that might grab your pants right off.
Our driver today is Bray, which means light. He's the driver in car five. We got out for our pit stop and he said he could twist, too. So the twisting event from the other day has made it's way from Besel to Bray. The three of us practiced a little bit. Kudos to my mom for teaching me the proper twisting technique so many years ago. Who knew that it would come in handy in Ethiopia?
The journey here was eight hours of bouncing along a dirt road, covered in gravel, big holes, and scary drop offs. Everyone was exhausted and somewhat jarred after the drive, but we arrived in Lalibela and had rooms in a very decent hotel. We had to drop the bags and run to see our first churches so we could participate in the processional.
I should back up and explain Lalibela. I saw pictures of these churches in a book many years ago, when it didn't even register that where they were or what they were. Then I saw them again in another book, when it didn't register that I could go to Ethiopia. Then I saw them again, and I thought, "I can go see those."
King Lalibela has some mythic properties assigned to him. There are two popular explanations for his building of the churches. One is he was poisoned by his brother, who was then the king, and fell into a deep sleep during which he was transported to heaven by an angel and shown the rock churches, which he was ordered to recreate on Earth. Another story has him going into exile in Jerusalem, and he was so inspired that he created a "new" Jerusalem here.
The churches are called rock-hewn, or monolithic, churches. They are around 900 years old, and carved down into the hills or rock here. The tops of the churches are level with the ground. They are ringed with walkways, stairs and courtyards and baptismal baths.
One book I read said "The churches breathe."
I personally think they hum. There was chanting as we entered the first church, Bet Medhane Alem, and they took the ark (every church in Ethiopia has a replica inside it) for the processional today. It was covered, so no, I didn't get to see even a replica. This church is the largest, with 36 pillars on the outside and 36 supporting ones inside. These pillars aren't added on, they were carved out of one piece of rock (except for the ones that have deteriorated, those have obvious repairs in them). There are three empty graves inside, signifying Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The inside is cathedral-like, the church measures 11.5 meters in height.
The local guide here hired a shoe-minder. This is exactly what it sounds like. It is a person, in this case a young woman named Elita, who helps people off with their shoes as they go into the church, then brings them to the exit of the church, so they are waiting and ready to go when you come out. I'm not sure how much she got paid, but she deserves a lot. Our guide started sniggering at one point and he looked at me and said, "I hate feet!" I said that I wasn't so fond of them myself, especially in the context of twenty pairs of shoes stinking everything up.
It is quite slippery without the shoes on, of course, because the rock is very warn and slick and dangerous if you are wearing socks.
There are a lot of rambunctious young men here, and they hang around the churches, try to "help" you on the steps, chat you up, sell you things you do not want, etc. They cling.
We saw the second church, Bet Maryam, which is thought to have been the first church here. The outside has symbols that look like swastikas - but they are the reverse of the Nazi symbol because they are the original Indian symbol. It is thought that Christians, to avoid being killed by Muslims, wouldn't wear the cross, because they would be easily identified. Instead,they wore this symbol, to signify to those in the know that they were Christians, but to confuse the Muslims.
It is tight quarters, but the original paintings inside are pretty spectacular. The Star of David and the symbol of Lalibela are clear, as are many other decorations. In the center of the altar area is a pillar covered in cloth. It is said to have the alpha and omega symbols on it and reputedly, the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew, Ge'ez, and Greek on it. The pillar reportedly glowed until it was covered in the 16th century and hasn't been seen since.
We then threw ourselves on the mercy of the processional craziness. This is where they bring all the arks from the churches to a small park-like setting across from our hotel. It was blazing hot and it seemed like every person in Ethiopia was there. There was singing, dancing, horn blowing, people chattering and laughing. It was a crush of people.
After dinner, we went to see a little bit of the Vigil. They have brought the Arks to the area where the blessing will be tomorrow, and they are housed in tents. The faithful will sit outside the tents tonight, under the stars, and just sit with the Arks until the morning. There are priests speaking and singing, people were sitting and listening, with candles lit. It might be the best part of Timkat. So peaceful and reflective. It will continue when the clergy arrive tonight between ten and midnight. I can hear the speeches and singing from my hotel room as I type this.
The Timkat festival celebrates Epiphany. The baptism of Jesus. So there will be a water blessing, and many of the devoted will be jumping into the pool early tomorrow morning. I hope I have good seats.
And everyone is worried about their hotel rooms. Bigger groups have a much better chance of actually keeping their reservations. Solo travelers or small groups, or those who arrive last today run a very real risk of having no where to stay. Hotels are apparently ruthless and since there are way more people than rooms, they have no problem giving away rooms, changing hundreds of dollars for a coat closet to sleep in, or randomly doubling up guests into the same rooms.
Pee pee stops (what our driver called them today) are a necessity here. Side of the road, "women to the left, men to the right of the caravan!" kind of thing. The nice thing is that everyone is very casual about such things, and has traveled so much that it is no big deal. You just have to watch for the prickly bush that might grab your pants right off.
Our driver today is Bray, which means light. He's the driver in car five. We got out for our pit stop and he said he could twist, too. So the twisting event from the other day has made it's way from Besel to Bray. The three of us practiced a little bit. Kudos to my mom for teaching me the proper twisting technique so many years ago. Who knew that it would come in handy in Ethiopia?
The journey here was eight hours of bouncing along a dirt road, covered in gravel, big holes, and scary drop offs. Everyone was exhausted and somewhat jarred after the drive, but we arrived in Lalibela and had rooms in a very decent hotel. We had to drop the bags and run to see our first churches so we could participate in the processional.
I should back up and explain Lalibela. I saw pictures of these churches in a book many years ago, when it didn't even register that where they were or what they were. Then I saw them again in another book, when it didn't register that I could go to Ethiopia. Then I saw them again, and I thought, "I can go see those."
King Lalibela has some mythic properties assigned to him. There are two popular explanations for his building of the churches. One is he was poisoned by his brother, who was then the king, and fell into a deep sleep during which he was transported to heaven by an angel and shown the rock churches, which he was ordered to recreate on Earth. Another story has him going into exile in Jerusalem, and he was so inspired that he created a "new" Jerusalem here.
The churches are called rock-hewn, or monolithic, churches. They are around 900 years old, and carved down into the hills or rock here. The tops of the churches are level with the ground. They are ringed with walkways, stairs and courtyards and baptismal baths.
One book I read said "The churches breathe."
I personally think they hum. There was chanting as we entered the first church, Bet Medhane Alem, and they took the ark (every church in Ethiopia has a replica inside it) for the processional today. It was covered, so no, I didn't get to see even a replica. This church is the largest, with 36 pillars on the outside and 36 supporting ones inside. These pillars aren't added on, they were carved out of one piece of rock (except for the ones that have deteriorated, those have obvious repairs in them). There are three empty graves inside, signifying Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The inside is cathedral-like, the church measures 11.5 meters in height.
The local guide here hired a shoe-minder. This is exactly what it sounds like. It is a person, in this case a young woman named Elita, who helps people off with their shoes as they go into the church, then brings them to the exit of the church, so they are waiting and ready to go when you come out. I'm not sure how much she got paid, but she deserves a lot. Our guide started sniggering at one point and he looked at me and said, "I hate feet!" I said that I wasn't so fond of them myself, especially in the context of twenty pairs of shoes stinking everything up.
It is quite slippery without the shoes on, of course, because the rock is very warn and slick and dangerous if you are wearing socks.
There are a lot of rambunctious young men here, and they hang around the churches, try to "help" you on the steps, chat you up, sell you things you do not want, etc. They cling.
We saw the second church, Bet Maryam, which is thought to have been the first church here. The outside has symbols that look like swastikas - but they are the reverse of the Nazi symbol because they are the original Indian symbol. It is thought that Christians, to avoid being killed by Muslims, wouldn't wear the cross, because they would be easily identified. Instead,they wore this symbol, to signify to those in the know that they were Christians, but to confuse the Muslims.
It is tight quarters, but the original paintings inside are pretty spectacular. The Star of David and the symbol of Lalibela are clear, as are many other decorations. In the center of the altar area is a pillar covered in cloth. It is said to have the alpha and omega symbols on it and reputedly, the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew, Ge'ez, and Greek on it. The pillar reportedly glowed until it was covered in the 16th century and hasn't been seen since.
We then threw ourselves on the mercy of the processional craziness. This is where they bring all the arks from the churches to a small park-like setting across from our hotel. It was blazing hot and it seemed like every person in Ethiopia was there. There was singing, dancing, horn blowing, people chattering and laughing. It was a crush of people.
After dinner, we went to see a little bit of the Vigil. They have brought the Arks to the area where the blessing will be tomorrow, and they are housed in tents. The faithful will sit outside the tents tonight, under the stars, and just sit with the Arks until the morning. There are priests speaking and singing, people were sitting and listening, with candles lit. It might be the best part of Timkat. So peaceful and reflective. It will continue when the clergy arrive tonight between ten and midnight. I can hear the speeches and singing from my hotel room as I type this.
The Timkat festival celebrates Epiphany. The baptism of Jesus. So there will be a water blessing, and many of the devoted will be jumping into the pool early tomorrow morning. I hope I have good seats.
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