St George’s rock hewn church

En route for the airport we visited St George’s church, the most spectacular monolith of all the churches. It’s impressive from above as the roof with its cross is uncovered by protective coverings. (All the others are suffering weather damage so huge structures cover them). We have been blown away by Lalibela - not just the rock hewn churches, but also, its spectacular setting with views across ranges of escarpments away into the distance.

From there we headed down the rough road to the airport, and eventually arrived in Addis. The minibus that met us took us for a drive to the largest market in Africa, but Nagusse insisted we didn’t leave the vehicle, or indeed even have the windows open. It was streets and streets of small huts, and people sitting in the road selling everything. It was quite organised in that all the car repairs, tyre sellers etc were in one street, and all the men on their sewing machines were grouped together, as were household goods shops, mattresses stacked up, plastic shoes, glittery boxes, spices, food, quat (cat, Kat?). It was hectic and so crowded there was no room for vehicles, what with the masses of people dashing about, donkeys, goats, motorbikes, chaps dashing about carrying heavy loads, and people trying to shop in the melee.

We had a quick stop at a place to buy coffee beans - after all, coffee originated here, then we said goodbye to Nagusse at the hotel. We had a room for a few hours, and now are waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport. I’m not looking forward to their strange triple security - first to get into the airport area we have to provide the boarding pass, passport etc, then put ourselves through the scanners which are far more sensitive than UK ones as I and my meccano in my leg set bleeping. This means I have the inevitable bra pulling and crotch patting before I am through. However taking bottles of water, litre cartons of oil etc are not a problem. Then it happens again to get into departures.

I can recommend Ethiopia as an adventure, cultural and historical destination, but if you require good roads, good hotels, showers that work, relaxation, WiFi and reliable electricity, it’s not for you. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it - it’s certainly one of the most beautiful and interesting African countries and we’ve been to 10 or more.

I’m looking forward to catching up with your journals - there’s not been time or reliable enough WiFi.