Ethiopia is a land with many unique faces –
Life – One of the oldest sites of human existence with the remains of Lucy, our oldest ancestor, being excavated here.
Religion – Ethiopia was the first empire to adopt Christianity as a state religion and is also home to the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa.
Culture – The Country with the most number of World Heritage Sites in Africa. Ethiopia has also probably shaped the World’s culture because of one major contribution – coffee
But you already know all this.
To get a glimpse into the beliefs, culture and history of Ethiopia, it’s necessary to journey to a tiny little town in the Northern part of the Country – Axum. Axum, once the Capital of Ethiopia, is a perfect example of how remnants of ages long gone are still preserved in monuments and traditions of modern day Ethiopians.
1. The Arc of the Covenant
Legend has it that Moses descended from Mount Sinai after his little chat with God with a bunch of rules; 10 to be precise. These commandments were stored in a case also known as the Arc of the Covenant. Legend has it that the Arc of the Covenant has been preserved to this very day and lies in the repository of St. Mary of Zion in Axum. Only one designated priest is allowed to enter this Chapel and this extraordinary claim will remain as another one of life’s unsolved mysteries.
2. Traditional Coffee Ceremony
The coffee ceremony is a ritualized form of brewing and drinking coffee in Ethiopia. Green coffee beans are roasted over hot coals causing aromatic coffee smoke to be produced. Next the beans are ground into a fine powder and boiled in a special container. After a torturous ten minute wait, the aromatic coffee if finally poured out into tiny cup and handed to the participants of this ceremony. One tiny sip, and coffee anywhere else in the World will never be the same again.
3. Stelae Fields
Before Christianity arrived, the Ethiopians believed in Pagan Gods and also believed that their dead were to be buried under huge stelae or obelisks to guarantee good fortune in the after life. Many of the 20 odd metre long stelae were carved out of single pieces of stone and transported from the quarry and erected at the burial site; which is an engineering miracle for that age. The Stellae carved out for the Kings were extremely intricate while all the peasants got was an oval rock in the mud. The 1700-year-old Obelisk of Aksum was broken into 3 parts packaged and shipped to Rome during Mussolini’s attempts at colonizing Ethiopia (which didn’t last too long). After a UN directive in 1947, it was finally returned to Ethiopia in 2005.
4. Queen Sheeba’s Palace
The Queen of Sheeba remains a mystery at large to the World. According to Ethiopian legend, she visited King Solomon in Jerusalem somewhere about the 6th Century B.C. and bore him a son, Menelik I, who went on to become the first Emperor of Ethiopia. What remains in Aksum is an excavated palace assumed to belong to Queen Sheeba due to the artifacts found at the site.
5. Ancient Manuscripts
Most Countries put 200 year old artifacts into temperature and humidity controlled chambers and charge visitors a whopping entrance fee to peer at them through thick glass walls. Not Ethiopia. Here 900-year-old manuscripts lie around in Churches and bookshelves gathering dust with occasional undiscerning monks and even tour guides leafing through them like it were the morning newspaper.
6. Yeha Monastery
Built in the 6th Century A.D., this is one of the oldest structures in East Africa. Yeha monastery is surrounded on all sides by hills and definitely sits on prime real estate. A lot of excavation work has been done to piece together the monastery. Adjacent to the monastery is a relatively new (and by that I mean only 50 years old) Church holding Ethiopian artifacts.
7. Black Jesus
Modern day Jesus is white. This is highly improbable given the location of Biblical events – the Middle East. If he did exist, Jesus would be, at the very least, a nice brown tan. Perhaps even black. And paintings within the St. Mary of Zion Cathedral have tackled this very point. 2 identical paintings adjacent to each other have one fundamental difference. Any guesses?
Seated at 2630m, Lalibela is a small town in Northern Ethiopia. It is considered a sacred place for Ethiopians and is a site of pilgrimage. Named after King Lalibela who ruled Ethiopia at the end of the 12th century, Lalibela translates to “person who loves honey”. Locals claim the King was given his name when bees surrounded his mother after he was born. Lalibela is a World Heritage Site and is famous the World over for its rock hewn Churches.
Getting there
Plane
An hour’s flight away from Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines monopolizing this route and all domestic flights within the country. It is not uncommon for passengers to be assigned to the jump seat next to the pilot if the flight has been over booked. Since Lalibela is located on a set of rolling hills, the airport is an hour’s drive away from the town. Most hotels offer a free shuttle service to and from the airport. The view along the road is amazing.
Bus
A 2 day bus ride from Addis Ababa with an overnight stop along the way gets you to Lalibela. Don’t expect 4-lane expressways.
See
Rock Hewn Churches
A 3-day pass will allow you to explore these ancient wonders though if you’re stretched for time, a day will probably suffice. Churches open between 8 am and 5:30 pm and are closed for lunch between 1 pm and 2 pm. Lunch hour equates to the caretaker locking up the Church and disappearing. In other words, don’t bust a gut trying to get back at 2pm.
Starting off at the museum, you get a glimpse of a few paintings, crowns, etc. It’s quite remarkable how no one seems to give two hoots about these ancient artifacts and they are just stashed away in a dilapidated glass-door cupboard.
Walking out of the museum you get introduced to the first Church and the largest one – Bet Medhane Alem (Saviour of the World). Feast your eyes on the largest rock hewn Church in the World. Photography might be a trickier task. The huge ugly UNESCO scaffolding makes it impossible to get a decent shot. It’s quite amazing how this massive monolith was carved out of sheer stone in the 12th Century.
Within his lifetime, King Lalibela not only completed this Church but built 10 other similar structures segregated into 3 sections. Scholars estimate that 40,000 labourers would be required to complete the construction pf all Churches within Lalibela’s lifetime. This has created a rift in the academic circles where one group claims that these Churches were built over several centuries while the other group claims Lalibela built them all. The locals claim that the angels built the Churches.
The most remarkable of all these structures is the last Church and definitely the most famous one. An imposing Church stands right in the middle of a small mountain. Bete Giyorgis was built for Saint George, the patron saint of Ethiopia and this iconic Church has remained unfazed by the wind or rain for over 900 years.
A long, dark, narrow underground passage between 2 Churches in the South-Western group of Churches depicts the ‘Way to Heaven’ and represents the path that man has to follow in order to get to heaven. Stumbling through this passage without light and without the end in sight leaves you convinced that the path to Heaven is definitely not for the faint hearted (or the claustrophobic).
Eat
Seven Olives Hotel
Set right in the heart of Lalibela and walking distance from the rock-hewn Churches, this restaurant provides a perfect way to cool your heels while waiting for the Churches to re-open. The roof of the hotel is thatched and consists of intricate concentric colorful circles. You would not get a stronger feel of Ethiopia anywhere else. The hotel also boasts of a curio store outside. The rooms at this hotel are unimpressive.
Lal Hotel
Reasonable food available here though there’s nothing to write home about. They do have traditional music and dance after 7 pm which is the highlight of the evening. Ethiopian dancers are renowned for their intense shoulder movements and watching this brought a new sense of admiration for this inimitable dance form. Apart from watching s coffee ceremony, getting a glimpse of the traditional Ethiopian dance is a must to get a taste of Ethiopian culture.
John Cafeteria
Tiny restaurant right in the middle of Lalibela. Excellent, cheap coffee available here if you can condition yourself to ignore the dirt, flies and mud.
Sleep
Although most hotels do have a website and email, hotels don’t support online bookings and definitely aren’t on the ball when it comes to replyin g to emails. All hotels have a booth at the airport allowing you to choose a hotel on arrival. The price of all hotels includes a free shuttle to and from the airport. This is your chance to mess with uncertainty. Just rock up and wing it. You’ll survive.
Lal Hotel
Situated right in the middle of Lalibela, this hotel provides clean and decent accommodation. Priced at 30 USD per night, the hotel can’t be classified under the budget category although the rooms do have a budget feel to it. Bathrooms do not have hot water. The hotel staff were very friendly and helped organize transport (a 25 seat bus for 3 of us) and a guide to take us around Lalibela. Bargaining skills as always come in handy.
Mountain View Hotel
The view from this hotel is fabulous. Pretty isolated from the rest of Lalibela, the glass walls of the hotel give you a breath taking view of the valley below and the horizon marked by greenish brown rolling hills. Definitely the place to stay if you can afford it.
The only African Country not to be colonized, Ethiopia is a mystical land where ancient traditions and customs have been preserved to the present day. Stepping into the land of burnt faces (yep – that’s what ‘Ethiopia’ means) you quickly realize that despite Addis being the largest city in East Africa there’s something that separates this big city from any other big city. Addis still retains the exotic flavors of Ethiopia.
Tomoca
Breakfast would call for a caffeine fix and this would take you to a tiny little café well know among the locals for its excellent brew. The smell of the coffee here is guaranteed to convert non-believers and a sip will have them hooked for life. Try and not let your jaw hit the floor when you’re charged only 5 Birr (16 Birr = 1 USD) for a macchiato.
St. George’s Cathedral
St. George is a popular lager brewed in Ethiopia. Incidentally, there’s a Church bearing the same name as well. St. George’s Cathedral is octagonal with 3 main sections. The outermost is for worshippers with the men’s section separated from the women’s section. The mid section is meant for the distribution of communion on Sundays while the central portion is the ‘holy of holies’ meant only for priests and deacons. The walls of the ‘holy of holies’ boast of paintings of famous Ethiopian artists. The Church was burnt down by the Italians in the early 20th Century and subsequently restored.
Holy Trinity Cathedral
The Holy Trinity Cathedral is memorable for its numerous, beautiful stained glass windows all around the Church. Depicting scenes from the Bible these works of art look stunning at mid-day when the interior of the Church is illuminated only with the sun streaming through these stained glass mosaics. The Church is decorated on the outside with intricately carved figures of Angels and adorned with 2 gigantic domes. The crypt of the Church holds the tombs of Emperor Haile Selaise and his wife Empress Menan Asfaw that are set within huge granite stones armed with gigantic lion paws at the bottom.
Addis Ababa Restaurant
Hidden right next to the Piazza is the Addis Ababa Restaurant. Not much to look at from the outside, one you walk through the doors it feel like you’ve travelled back in time to what could possibly have been the 1950s. The ambience is as authentic as it gets and trying the home brewed ‘tej’ or honey wine is a must. If you’re a fan of Ethiopian food, this place is just what the doctor ordered. If not, you’ll be on a diet of bread and butter during your entire stay in Ethiopia. McDonalds has yet to chalk out an entry strategy.
Merkato
Branded the largest open-air market in Africa, this market doesn’t have much to offer (for the regular tourist). As you can imagine, it is a huge market targeting ordinary citizens with regular boring stuff ranging from furniture, to PUAM shoes (make no mistake) to 5$ fake jeans. Of course holding onto your wallet with one hand and your cell phone with the other to deter pickpockets doesn’t give too much room to improvise on the shopping front. Walking through the narrow dusty streets is quite interesting but not as revelatory as expected.
National Museum
The museum is renowned for its Lucy exhibit. “Lucy” was found in Ethiopia and is the 4 million old fossilized remains of one of the earliest primates to walk upright on 2 feet. This museum’s collection ranges from a stereotypical broken pottery exhibit, to a relatively more thought provoking sketch of an early man. The lack of a museum coffee shop is conspicuous.
Ethnological Museum
All taxi drivers will tell you that this museum does not exist. Don’t believe them. Fight with them if necessary and get a ride to Addis Ababa University. Hidden in the midst of this old campus and housed within none other than Emperor Haile Selassie’s palace is the Ethnological museum. Segmented based on the stages of life, this museum sets out to introduce the various tribes of Ethiopia by describing tribal stories relating to birth, then working its way through adulthood, marriage and finally culminating in death. There is a section which may as well be classified the ‘looted by the British’ section since it only contains pictures of artifacts (you guessed it) looted by the British.
Habesha
Once you’re done with exploring the city during the day, there’s no better way to kick back and relax than with a glass of tej at Habesha. Located in the centre of Addis, the restaurant offers seating under a massive tent. Don’t let the Ethiopian version of Stevie Wonder distract you from the food. The injera and ribs here are awe-inspiring and leave you with no doubt as to why this place is branded the best Ethiopian restaurant in Addis.