North to Lalibella

This past weekend my three Canadian colleagues and I took off Friday morning and flew an hour north to Lalibella.

We took a bumpy 20 minute ride up the mountain from the airport and arrived at the spectacular Mountainside Hotel which looked out to the valley below and the distant mountains.

We got settled in and then picked up our guide and headed further up the mountain through the city of Lalibella which was the capitol of the region in the 12th century.  It is here that King Lalibella built a series of 11 stone churches which were carved out of the volcanic rock. 

The workers dug down into the rock until they had created a solid rectangle.  The then proceeded to carve the structure from the outside in eventually forming windows and doors on the outside and rooms with columns within.

Here you see me with Lucas, Andrew, and Dominic who are all emergency room physicians from Toronto and are also teaching at Tikur Anbessa.

We were fortunate to be at the churches during the beginning of the Lenten season and many people were gathering for daily mass.

We returned to the hotel and then walked to a nearby restaurant which was perched on a nearby hill side.

We arrived just as the sun was setting.

 

The temperature dropped and the wind picked up during the meal and our hosts provided us with blankets.

We then walked back to the hotel in the dark to get ready for an early flight to Aksum in the morning.