The noise from the churches was a rather rude introduction to the town and we really could have done with more sleep but it was lovely to feel warm and comfortable. Following a lovely breakfast taking in the views and watching the birdlife we were ready to explore. We pottered around town which has a pleasant ambience despite much of it resembling a building site. They were putting in pavements and generally sprucing the place up and it should look good when complete. We thought the palace / church complex may be busy on a Sunday so decided to stroll up to Debra Birham Selassi Church; the oldest in Gondar. It’s a lovely old stone building with an impressive perimeter wall and a highly decorative ceiling. Nothing outstanding but worth a visit especially at only a couple of dollars a head entrance fee.
To be honest we were still feeling tired and thought we couldn’t really do Gondar’s sites justice so left them for the following day. Instead of going back to the room, where we knew we’d just fall asleep, we jumped in a tuc-tuc and went to the Dashen Brewery. So far as we know they don’t do tours of the plant but they have a huge beer garden in the grounds and it was doing roaring trade. It was a bit of a trek out of town for a beer but it seemed rude not to since we’d stood on the top of Ras Dashen a couple of days ago. Another early night – we know how to party!
Feeling much more refreshed we decided to sort out some onward travel before becoming culture vultures for the day. We couldn’t find the bus station for love nor money but luckily someone from the guesthouse was happy to go and get some tickets for us. The guesthouse also arranged for someone to take us to the bus station in the morning to make sure we caught the correct bus; just as well me thinketh! While we were on a roll we booked the internal flights we needed to get us back to Addis to catch our return flight to Entebbe. The final chore was a trip to the bank to change some dollars – now that in itself was straightforward and uneventful. However, getting in to the bank caused us to chuckle. We had to go through the usual empty your pockets and scanner wand like you get all the time here in Kampala. But, Steve wasn’t allowed to take his camera in so I said I’d wait with it outside. As soon as the camera was around my neck all was fine and I was waved into the premises. Presumably these people don’t know about female suicide bombers!!!
By now it was time to take in Gondar’s main tourist attractions and we started with the main one; Fasil Ghebhi (the Royal Enclosure) which costs Birr 100. It’s a pretty impressive site with many of the castles dating back to the 1600’s being carefully restored. We enjoyed a good hour wandering around the grounds and pottering in and out of the ruins. It did seem rather odd to find a load of castles that wouldn’t look out of place on the Northumbrian coastline in the middle of Ethiopia. Later in the day we jumped in a tuc-tuc (boy have I missed those little vehicles) to visit Fasilida’s Pool. The bathing pool was quite grand with the trees in the grounds really setting the place off. It didn’t take long to look around but since the entrance fee was included in the castle ticket it seemed daft not to pop in. As part of our $10 (probably too much) tuc-tuc tour we also went to the Kuskuan complex which has more to it than the pool. Again it consists of ruined castles set in lovely grounds full of mature trees that attract a lot of birdlife. So a hat-trick of cultural activities for the travelling SHED; that’s got to be a first!
Long Travel Day
We were up at 4.30am to get to the bus station to secure seats on the bus by 5am even though we weren’t scheduled to depart until an hour later. The guesthouse continued to provide excellent service and someone had woken up early enough to give us a cup of coffee before we left. Plus they provided us with a packed lunch since we’d be missing out on the included breakfast. Having someone to show us where the bus station was proved to be very useful and he in turn had asked someone to bag seats for us. There were loads of people legging it through the scrum once the gates were open and getting someone to reserve your seat was the norm. Believe me they earned their tip and we had great seats.
We knew the run back up to Deback would be smooth and that was the first stop so that passengers could grab some breakfast. As soon as we left town we left tarmac but we’d expected that and knew it would be take a long time to cover the next 100kms. We weren’t worried as we’d be passing through some lovely scenery and travelling through mountains ranges giving great views. Hmm, things have changed since our guide book was written in the form of Chinese road-building teams. In the end we traversed a 150km construction site or as Steve put it; “Like riding through a quarry for 10 hours.”
Changing buses in Shire involved a score of people hassling us, shouting at us and generally being thoroughly annoying. On losing our cool someone finally actually helped us and we found the bus bound for Axum. More tedious sitting around waiting for the bus to fill and we didn’t reach Axum until after dark. We checked into Hotel Africa 14hrs after leaving Gondar only to find ourselves in a shabby room where the staff were useless and the tour operator shut. I suppose you can’t expect much for $12.50 a double room but it was worse than feared and Christmas was round the corner.
Axum
Christmas morning didn’t begin well when we struggled to find anywhere that looked like it would rustle up a decent breakfast. In fact we doubted even being able to get a coffee so slunk back to our hotel where we eventually got something. We chose to sit outside as the restaurant was drab to say the least. However sitting in slightly more salubrious surroundings comes at a price in these parts; we had a steady stream of people trying to sell us things. After the relaxed feel of Gondar it came as a bit of a surprise but actually was a reflection of what was to come. We spent a great deal of time fending off sellers, tuc-tuc drivers, wanna-be guides and beggars.
Having finished our barely edible breakfast we went to look at Axum’s obelisks; very unimpressive. They’re plonked in small field at the end of the main road making it feel like some sort of elaborate roundabout. The stated age of many of them is seriously doubtful. As for what they are for and how they got there – that’s definitely open to conjecture. We were charged $3 dollars each to take a closer look at this granite pillars even though you could see them clearly on looking over the wall. However, the entrance fee did include access to a small and pretty good little museum. To be honest the highlight for me was all small creatures calling the area home and we saw; squirrels, agama lizards, a monkey and pair of hoopoe.
Since Christmas morning breakfast had bordered on disaster we endeavoured to find ourselves somewhere nice for a meal. We strolled up the hill to Hotel Yeha whose outdoor terrace afforded good views of town and the surrounding area. The food wasn’t spectacular but we enjoyed whiling away a couple of hours in a pretty and more importantly peaceful setting.
That evening we returned to Bar and Restaurant Yohannis as it is the only place worth checking out in town. The food was very good again and this evening we got talking to the owners who turned out to be a most interesting couple. The lady is an Ethiopian ex-pat who fled to Eritrea when she was only 9 years old and that was where she eventually met her American husband. They met when she went to work in a spy/listening station (Kagnew) that the US had there for many years. What made it all the more interesting for us was we’d recently read Michela Wrong’s “I Didn’t Do It For You” that details how badly foreign nations had treated Eritrea and what went on in this base.
Another Travel Day
Another early start but this time to travel in a private car and sort of go on a mini trip along the way. There are loads of rock hewn churches dotted around the Tigrai area making stopping off worthwhile. As with much of Ethiopia’s history no one really knows much about it or even how old it is. Many of the churches are reached by vertical rock faces so being vertically challenged (me) and prone to vertigo (Steve) we skipped those.
So instead of going the direct route to Mekele our driver cut off via a rough road through the mountains. Granted it was lovely scenery but good old hindsight had us wishing we’d opted for a straight forward drop-off. Never mind, we’d organised this now so we’d make the most of it and it was good to be able to stop wherever we wanted. So our first stop was brunch at Gheralta Lodge near Hawzien. The Bradt Guide rates this place so highly that it warrants its own special highlight box but we certainly didn’t receive the “world class hospitality”. First of all the staff look at us like we’d landed from a different planet and proceeded to talk nonsense. We asked if they had a restaurant and on hearing the affirmative and promises of a menu our driver returned to town for some cheaper fodder. He’d no sooner disappeared in a cloud of dust for us to be told the set lunch would start at 12.30pm – it was only 11am! To cut a long rant short we managed to contact the driver who collected us and we all ate in a local shabby gaff. So much for a Boxing Day treat!
We continued on through yet more lovely scenery until we reached Abreha we Atseha – one of those rock hewn churches. This was the only one we’d read about that didn’t involve a hike or climb to get to it. The actual ancient (?) rock hewn bit is almost obscured by a modern extension but you could see it had been cut into the natural surroundings. The going rate for each church was, we believed, to be Birr100 a head which seemed a little steep for this particular example. However, it was the only one we were stopping at so thought we may as well poke our noses in. The priest had just unlocked the doors for another couple of tourists so we went to pay and enter. The priest wanted Birr200 each so not surprisingly we turned around and walked away. That was Tigrai’s rock hewn churches ticked off the list and once again something in Ethiopia proved to be over-hyped and over-priced.
From there it wasn’t long before we were back on tarmac and bombing along to Mekele. Mekele itself is a large industrial, dirty, dusty town with nothing to offer tourists; so why were we here?! That turned out to be the million dollar question. In fact we’d booked and paid a deposit for a 4D/3N tour of the Danakil Depression. This hot, volcanic, sub-altitude area of the planet looked and sounded amazing. It’s certainly not the safest place in the world to visit and that’s not just down to natural forces. However, a number of tour agencies now operate in the area and they all offer protection so we decided to take the gamble. What we hadn’t banked on (although Steve had had an inkling) was the sheer ineptitude of the tour operator we’d booked with. Again to cut a major rant short; they weren’t expecting us, lied about the permit issue and generally tried to have us believe a mound of twaddle. We chose to cut our losses and asked for our money back which was returned with surprisingly little resistance i.e. they knew they were in the wrong. DON’T EVER THNK ABOUT USING ETHIOPIA TOURS AND TRAVEL!!!!!
Steve, in particular, was very disappointed as this was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip. He’d planned the whole thing with his usual great care only for some numpty to let us down. Added to which we had flights from Lalibela to Addis booked and a hotels booked too. All of this had to change – more hassle and more expense. Before leaving the office Steve made sure they gave us a free lift down to Lalibela to make up for our inconvenience. It was no skin off their noses as they knew a van was going anyway but at least they agreed.
So that left us stuck in another ramshackle hotel for the night; the Atse Yohannis Hotel which cost Birr350 B&B with the only redeeming feature that the sheets were clean. It did have a bar and restaurant showing the Premier League so at least we could fill our time watching football. The only thing that went well for Steve that day was that City beat Liverpool.
Yet Another Travel Day!
To summarise; we spent 3 out of 4 days on the road to look at some concrete pillars and not go on our tour. Today our travel companions were a couple of Italians who shared our scepticism of Ethiopia’s sights and wonders. Their Lonely Planet raved about things as much as our Bradt Guide and we concluded that the world needs a different style of travel writing. We reckon Carl Pilkington would be the ideal author!
It took us 8hrs to reach Lalibela that on first view looked like yet another dusty town. The hotel (Top 12) we’d made reservations with for 3 nights hence was full, so we cancelled that and went next door. Hotel Cliff Edge had excellent rooms with spanking bathrooms and private balconies over-looking the Great Rift Valley. The only downside was the small slightly shabby restaurant plonked out the back on the edge of their car park. It basically only serves as a place to serve the included breakfast so we had to find somewhere for dinner and it was already dark. We eventually found Ben Abebe Restaurant which again gets rave reviews but we didn’t take to it. The building is a ridiculous waste of materials and space for the few tables it houses. The tourist sheep were all in there so we ended up perched on a coffee table in the reception area. The waiting staff were excellent, literally running up and down the central spiral ramp; however, the food was bland and disappointing.
Lalibela
Steve spent the morning trying to alter / resurrect our travel plans while I attempted to drown dust and dirt out of our clothes. Steve returned having been partially successful and had gleaned some interesting information in the process. The Ethiopia Tours and Travels company who failed to fulfil their promise of our Danakil Depression tour are truly useless. Some people who had managed to get on to one of their trips basically wished they hadn’t. Promised transfers didn’t happen, there were 38 in the group, conditions were so unhygienic that over have the group fell ill and there wasn’t a guide with them up the volcano in the dark. To top it all, only 30 permits had been secured so 8 people couldn’t go up the volcano. This is the ultimate highlight of the trip to look into a 120 year old permanent lava lake. If we’d rushed to catch up with a group as the tour operator had wanted us to do then we would have surely suffered the same fate. Opting to get our money back was certainly as astute decision.
So that brings us to current destination – Lalibela; as dismal, dishevelled, dirty and dusty as we initially thought. Some may describe it as vibrant since it was market day but Steve couldn’t get past how much it resembled a set for Monty Python’s Life of Brian. To top it all we found out the wonder, some old churches, would set us back a staggering $50 a head. Before embarking on our cultural exploits we needed to fortify ourselves with a bite of lunch. Now you would think in the one place in the whole of Ethiopia that attracts over 90% of tourists that would be easy. Nope! We ended up walking all the way down through town and Hotel Lal looked like the best option. It had a nice enough restaurant but the staff were typically useless, the menu was uninspiring and the food only okay. Hey ho!
It was time to take in the wonders but first of all we wondered where the ticket office was. Eventually someone pointed it out and to be fair there was a signboard but it was hidden in the shrubbery. We handed over 100 of our hard earned dollars and stole ourselves to be hassled by guides and shoe-bearers. I’m relieved to report that once you’ve said aye or nay to an official guide you’re left to your own devices. It’s good that they’ve got rid of this annoyance but did it warrant at $30 price hike? At one point we even had time and space to sit down and simply scan our eyes over one of the churches. They are impressive structures and as with many things it’s amazing what was achieved without the aid of modern tools, machinery and equipment.
The churches were impressive things and worth visiting but they do not warrant the extortionate entrance fee. They try to make it sound better by saying it’s a 4 or 5 day pass but there isn’t enough to fill that amount of time. True to Ethiopian confusion when it comes to numbers we really don’t know if the pass lasts for 4 or 5 days! The first cluster we visited is in a much smaller area than we’d anticipated. Angkor Wat / Machu Picchu it is not!! The main church was dominated by pillars both in and out but other than that was quite plain. One of the smaller annex churches had a nicely decorated ceiling and the outer walls had alcoves / hermit caves carved into them. Getting down to the base of the buildings gave a real sense of size and they obviously took much effort to excavate these things. We decided to save the second cluster for the following day – got to spin these highlights out.
That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in the poshest place in town Mountain View Lodge. Oh yes, and they just happened to have DSTV so we could watch City grind out 3 points against Crystal Palace – strange how Steve’s planning works out at times! Yet again the menu was uninspiring (I only ordered a bowl of soup) and the service wasn’t very good but we had to pay for the privilege. A common Ethiopian theme.
The following morning saw a repeat of the previous day with us sorting out onward travel and organising our belongings. Then it was time for our second round of sightseeing in Lalibela. We popped back to the cluster of churches we visited the previous day as we’d missed a bit. We found a little church hacked into the rock and no other tourists. Even more surprising was the friendly welcome we got from the priest. It didn’t have any significant features to describe but it felt genuinely old and authentic.
From there we strolled over to Bet Giyogis (St. George’s Church) which is the only one outside the northern and southern clusters. This is also the only one that does not have a modern roof detracting from it and hence is featured on all the promotional material. We did rather enjoy looking at this one as its setting was superior too with views looking down the valley. This one hasn’t been restored like many of the others and it was lovely to see the palette of orange/yellow lichens decorating the exterior walls. Again this is a church that had been dug out of the rock giving it a sunken look.
The last stint was the southern cluster which according tour map was just down the road. We couldn’t see it and as with all the sites here there were no signboards and no arrows or clues as to where to go. To find places it’s best to observe where tour groups with guides have been or are going to. We thought that with such a steep entrance fee (have I mentioned that?!) they could at least have provided; signs to say which church you’re looking at, some basic information, a simple leaflet/map, lighting in the tunnels and a new uniform for the ticket guards. There is very little evidence to show how or where the money is being spent making the whole experience feel almost like one big scam.
Anyway using our instinct we tracked down the last clump of rocks but ended up going in via the back door. That was fine as we’d nicely lost the tour groups or so we thought until we realised we were the only tourists there. Strange. Anyway we pottered around and had a good look at the first hunk of carved rock in peace and quiet. As we left the short tunnel leading to the next church the guide slammed the door behind us. Stranger still. The next building was under scaffolding so we only gave it a cursory glance. Then another ticket fella started shouting at us from the top of the rock face and indicated which way we should go. We complied only to find ourselves in a long, pitch black tunnel and our headlamp could barely penetrate the dark. We inched our way along and I had just said I wasn’t happy when we heard the door in front of us slammed shut. At this point it felt like we were going to get trapped in there. And, why were all the doors shutting?
We managed to find a way out but realised we’d lost the wonder! Not to be defeated we headed off in the general direction of where we though the last couple of churches should be. It took a few attempts but we finally tracked them down. One was a cave with a modern front and hardly worth the bother. However, we did discover that the place was shutting up for 2hrs for lunch time. How
on earth were we supposed to know that? It meant we didn’t get to go into the last church but we did get to look down upon it. To be honest the bulk of them were decidedly more interesting and impressive from outside. In conclusion; good to see but unless you’re really into your history and / or churches they are not worth going out of your way for. Indisputably NOT worth $50 and really there ought to be a tourist boycott until basic improvements are made and facilities provided.
We bumped into our Italian travel companions and they told us that Unique restaurant was pretty good. It turned out to be a traditional mud hut with just one lady cooking, serving and collecting money. The menu was limited but quite varied and although the service was extremely slow the food was actually worth waiting for. As for settling the bill; it’s best to calculate it yourself as she can’t! To be fair she at least owns up to being useless with numbers and is quick to laugh at herself. It’s worth a visit, and subsequent wait, if just for her friendly welcome.
Being glutens for punishment we went back to Mountain View Lodge for more football fun. However, the welcome, service and menu shenanigans had somehow or other managed to deteriorate so we walked out. One of the few places left to try was Bluelal Hotel that also advertised a restaurant. It turned out to be pretty good and the manager was very welcoming and chatty. Unfortunately they didn’t have DSTV but he pointed us to a shack we’d spied earlier in the day. It cost us Birr10 a head to sit on a wobbly plank only to watch LFC lose again.
For today’s entertainment, since we were churched out, we organised a guide for a half day trek. The aim was Asheton Monastery located at 4000m and considering town is at 2600m that sounded like a good walk. In actual fact 3hrs after setting off we were back at the hotel and somewhat irked that the morning’s stroll had set us back $30. Not only can you not trust / believe anything to do with numbers from an Ethiopian but the guide book author obviously spent too long here. The monastery is at a mere 3000m and there was no way we were forking out another $10 each to have a peep inside.
The walk did produce a slight highlight of the trip when Steve asked how our $50 church fee was spent. This prompted an informative rant from our guide as to the greed of the church and how corrupt the local bishop is. It appears that all the proceeds are simple pocketed by the head priest who is in the process of building himself a swish gaff. The only money he has spent has been spent on building hotels and buying a fleet of airport taxis so he and his family can generate more money. To say the locals (not to mention tourists) are not happy is a massive understatement.
As we were looking down on Lalibela he pointed out a new suburb of town (including school) that was built with UNESCO and World Bank money. Apparently these people used to live cheek to jowl with the 3 church sites but were accumulating too much rubbish and pollution and generally damaging the structures. The money also stretched to paying for the protective roofing. In other words not a cent of entrance fees has been spent by the church on preserving the site or aiding the local community. I for one am incensed that $100 of my cash has lined the priest’s pocket.
Apparently the locals have had huge fights with the bishop and it sounds like he’s living on borrowed time. When the local community heard he was about to be presented with a gift of a new car there were loud shouts for him to be shot. Rather drastic but it clearly illustrates the mood of the people. They see hundreds of tourists coming through naively handing over their cash and yet conditions never improve. Steve and I are not alone in feeling the injustice and we were told a committee has now been formed. They’re hoping that in the New Year (ours in Jan or theirs in Sept I don’t know) the region will change to a federal state giving the government power over the clergy. The greedy bishop can then be ousted and the local community can work out how best to organise their affairs. We wish them every success and hope that Lalibela can become the prosperous town and pleasant tourist attraction it ought to be.
