李明熙、Kimberlogic：亂雜有章的亞的斯亞貝巴

Injera and churches in Lalibela／Kimberlogic

After hiking and camping in the Danakil Depression for a few days, arriving in Lalibela felt like arriving at a resort. It was a 25-minute drive from the airport to the middle of the town, where our hotel was located. The town is set high in the mountains at 2,600 meters and almost every hotel is situated on a cliff that offers amazing views of the landscape. High mountains with very flat plateaus and deep valleys with small settlements dot the landscape with one major dirt road winding through.

Ethiopian Airlines has made travel around the country easy and affordable for everyone.

This was the third place we visited in Ethiopia, and each time we took a small flight from Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian Airlines has made travel around the country easy and affordable for everyone. Taking flights in Ethiopia is very hassle-free, it is almost like just getting on a bus. Flights in many countries around the world can be expensive, but we found out that if you fly to Ethiopia with Ethiopian Airlines, you can receive discounted domestic flights with them, and they are the number one airline here.

The afternoon we arrived at our hotel, we decided to just relax and explore the town the following day. We ended up speaking to the hotel’s Food and Beverage manager about Ethiopian national food —— injera. Injera is made primarily from the grain, teff, which grows rampantly throughout Ethiopia and is high in protein and nutrients. The end-product looks like a large, thin, spongy pancake and is eaten at every meal.

The manager brought us into the hotel’s kitchen and let us try to make our own injera.

The manager brought us into the hotel’s kitchen and let us try to make our own injera. Traditionally, only women make the injera, but we had a competition that night to see whose was the best —— an Ethiopian man and a Ethiopian woman and me and Ming Hay. The Ethiopian woman’s was perfect and the man’s wasn’t too good. I think mine was much better than Ming Hay’s, but overall, the Ethiopians both did better than us.

We had a fun night of cooking, a bonfire and tasting Tej.

After a fun night of cooking, a bonfire and tasting Tej, which is a type of homemade honey wine. The next morning, we set out to explore what makes Lalibela so popular among tourists and locals —— the rock hewn churches from the 11th century. It is believed that in the 11th century, King Lalibela ordered these 11 churches to be carved out of the soft, pink volcanic rock. It is believed that these churches took 23 years to build, but archeologists have other theories as to how long and when they were constructed, but nothing has been proven.

  

It is believed that in the 11th century, King Lalibela ordered these 11 churches to be carved out of the soft, pink volcanic rock.

Either way, these churches are magnificent. Bet Giyorgis, or St. George’s church, is the most visited and probably the most impressive because it was constructed from the top down. It is a free standing structure and the rock around it was dug deep and wide enough that it sits in its own hole.

Other churches are carved into the side of cliffs, but all have impressive windows and drainage systems. The really incredible thing about all of these churches is that they are still used for regular services every day, they are not just museums.

Our other travels throughout Ethiopia left me thinking that older people would have a lot of trouble to visit this country, but our stop in Lalibela proved my notion wrong. There were many older tourists here and with the elevated hospitality of the hotels and the ease of the small town, it makes travel for tourists of all ages accessible.