Fourth stop, Lalibela

When we learned about the program change to two trips we decided to make the most of it and SEE Ethiopia on our first trip over. It meant leaving the kids for a longer time and purchasing tickets to the unknown, but we are now the proud parents of an Ethiopian child and thought it wise to know a bit more about Ethiopia. So we planned to visit Harar, Sophie's home town, and Lalibela. Addis you get to see by default because that is where you have to come for court and embassy, and Awasa kinda just got thrown into the mix once we were here. All in all we feel like we have seen a lot of Ethiopia in our 15 days here. The beauty of this country is impossible to describe and pictures do not do it justice. The people are so very beautiful and the experiences hard to describe.

This past weekend we visited Lalibela. We actually were there on Saturday and Sunday (by chance) and we were so thankful our trip landed on those days. Turns out that Saturday is the local market and on Sunday the locals come from near and far to worship at the sites were had come to see. Very cool to experience both.

Describing Lalibela is a bit like describing the Grand Canyon to someone who has never seen it. It is a town located in the middle of nowhere perched on the top of magnificent mountains. The airplane lands in a valley where all that exists is the Lalibela airport. You then are transported by bus up the mountains to the town. The drive there is amazing and breathtaking.

I couldn't help but think multiple times that guard rails were a really great invention and someone should introduce them to Ethiopia.

As the van continued to climb and climb we kept passing hundreds of people, donkeys, goats, and cows all on their way somewhere. Where in the world could this steady stream of people be headed? Their loads were impressive and hard to fathom as they continued walking on and on up the hill. It was exhausting to watch them and very humbling feeling as we whized by in our van.









Once we arrived at our hotel we were able to look out over the valley to see the Saturday market that they had spent the whole morning walking to.





And still people streamed in up the mountainside for as far as the eye could see. Those are people, not ants, dotting the picture below carrying unbelievable loads up the side of the mountain for their weekly market.





We watched in amazement from our balcony until there was a knock on our door saying our guide had arrived and he was ready take us to the market. Not at all what we were planing on, but after a "short cut" down and up the valley we were there, standing in the middle of thousands of people all milling about buying and selling their goods. It really was cool. Our guide was wonderful and ket pointing out all the different products that people had hauled from far and wide to sell.

























An amazing beginning to our day in Lalibela.