Epiphany: My understanding of the word was that it meant a sudden revelation or realization. As it happens, this is Oxford Dictionary definition #3. The word originates with the baptism of Christ. And where better to celebrate such an occasion than in Ethiopia, a country that embraced Christianity before Europe!
The rich tapestry of the country’s history is woven with fascinating facts and legends: the oft-told story of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba; the journey of the Ark of the Covenant; the growth of the former Axumite Kingdom; the birth of Christianity; the subsequent rise of Islam; the story of King Lalibela; and the castes of Gondar. Recorded history stretches back over 4000 years and ancient contact with Greece, Persia and Egypt nurtured and strengthened the culture of Northern Ethiopia creating the Axumite kingdom which dominated the vital crossroads of Africa and Asia for almost a thousand years. From the 13th to the 16th century, intellectual culture continued to flourish with the establishment of monasteries, the writing of successive royal chronicles, and the translation of texts into Ge’ez. Imperial splendor grew in tandem with these developments and eventually gravitated towards the beautiful fortress city of Gondar. At the same time, the Islamic merchant culture of Ethiopia arose alongside that of the Christians. The city of Harar is a good example of this alternate thread of Ethiopia’s vast and diverse heritage and occupies a prime position along the historical route.
And these were some of the places Explore would take us on our 14-day Blue Nile and Lalibela tour. From my notes……
“It’s Africa and I’m glad to be back in this rich soil… the muezzin woke us up around 6:30 in the morning with his call to prayer… you’re not in Kansas anymore We caught a taxi to take us al Mercato, the market. Billed as the biggest in East Africa, certainly bigger than anything I’ve seen in East Africa. We knew we’d better get a guide, so our driver went with us. And a guy in red came up volunteered to drive us we had to direct him a bit as we wanted to go to the food areas spices galore and what aromas all the women in this section with lots of laughter erupting with me encouraging them to smile and not be afraid of my camera. They washed my shoes, I thought they would shine them, but the guy used hand soap and a sponge. One of the things I love about Africa: expecting the unexpected. It’s a wild place and we hiked for about 2 hours. Many interesting things for sale: ces ties, sponge mattresses, shawls, metal pipes, bolts of beautiful colored material, and really more shoes than a nation needs. Ann said there must be lots of places to go because there are more shoes for sale than she’s ever seen. I loved wandering around and sharing smiles…the people are so friendly and eager to say hi.
Dinner time arrived and we went to a very traditional restaurant. It was built like a traditional cabin with a center post and struts running up from the walls toward the center.
Beautiful paintings on the panels (between the struts) of Ethiopians doing traditional tasks. And they had some paintings on smaller pieces of that Egyptian papyrus paper to cover the lamps. The tables (large hollow woven baskets) are covered with a lid and a tablecloth. They take your cloth and leave you the drinks. Then a guy shows up with warm soapy water and a tin bowl. You have to wash your hands! They move the drinks to a small side table when the food arrives. It was a large tin dish about 2 feet wide. They put a piece of “injera” (their word for local bread) and then place the dishes you order on the “bread”. The food (or “wat”) was chicken (a bit spicy) and lamb (a bit spicy) and some sticky veg which I liked. Then you take rolled pieces of the “injera” and scoop up some of the fillings or “wat” and toss them into your mouth in the hope that you will lose your shirt on the way to your mouth. And when you go to extremes, you eat the bottom layer of injera and the food that has been soaked in it! When you’re done, they come back with the water, soap, and bowl so you can wash again. With 2 Sprites, the cost was $7. And when we were done somehow, the taxis knew it when they showed up at the door to take us to the hotel. All the first day.
My head spins. And now, as I write this, I’m listening to the local version of Stand by Me, Green Green Grass of Home and If Loving You is Wrong by the live band in the lobby bar. Saturday night in Addis. There is nothing better than this.
In Bahir Dar we took a walk to see the Blue Nile and the Tississat Falls. The falls are no longer what they used to be, as the government built a dam about 6 years ago. The neighboring town not only lost its tourist attraction and its water supply, the town doesn’t even have electricity! Shameful. Afternoon boat ride on Lake Tana to see a 13th century church built on one of the islands. Charming. The next town was Gondar, which doesn’t mean much to all of you, but it was the main stop for many of us as it is where we were going to experience Timkat, the celebration of the epiphany of Christ. Each church has a replica of the Ark of the Covenant and these replicas are assembled by the head priests of each church. A parade heads to the town’s main “bathroom” and the “tabots” are housed in tents; the priests and large crowds spend the night nearby praying and celebrating, the next day from 4 am the bath water is consecrated and then there is a religious service and communion. The “tabots” are then paraded back through town to each church, but everyone in the pools jumps in for a swim; there is singing and dancing; Some people take home a bottle of holy water in case they get sick later in the year; this holy water will help them improve. Leftover bread from communion is burned and the ashes are saved to give people a teaspoon at a time next year… very exciting to be a part of this.
A fabulous drive through the Rift Valley to the next town (Debark) where we would stay for 2 nights. Good restaurant here – 2 of the best meals of the trip. The day between the 2 nights in this paradise was spent in the Simien Mountains. As we drove through the area they looked like pictures I had seen of the Grand Canyon. Very beautiful. For the hikers there was a day of walking and for the rest of us we had lunch in a paddock with 1 horse, 2 dozen goats and 6 small children all staring at us and trying to sell us their woolen hats. I think we had a better time reading and writing postcards. Oh yeah, we also saw a herd of about 100 baboons digging for roots.
A very long journey the next day to the city of Axum, home of the Queen of Sheba. Many stories about her and her romance with King Solomon and the son she had, Menelik. Did she exist? Well, theorists and archaeologists are well into their research and the feeling is that she did it and her kingdom stretched from Yemen to Ethiopia and southern Egypt. Axum is considered the birthplace of Christianity and here is the Ark of the Covenant closely guarded by a hermit. Only the eyes of the highest priests have seen the royal Ark as it remains guarded, wrapped, and locked in a building on the grounds of St. Mary of Zion Church.
Lalibela is next door and it was wonderful. Just to think that people carved 11 of these churches out of the stone hillside. You can spend 2-3 days wandering around the city visiting the churches… St George’s Church (the one they went to on the Amazing Race for fans of reality TV shows) was amazing. The reason why that particular church was built was that King Lalibela had built around 22 other churches in the area to honor all kinds of saints. Then Saint George (the patron saint of Ethiopia) came down on his horse to visit and he was very sad. He asked King Lalibela why no church had been built to honor Saint George himself. The king quickly realized his mistake and had this majestic building built. The Biet Giorgis church is carved in the shape of a Greek cross and is accessed through a passageway that was also carved out of the rock. Another church you can visit, by mule, is the Ashatan Maryam Church, where you are rewarded with stunning views of the highlands. All sorts of fables like this one told here were told to us by our guides in each town about the paintings etc which are also inside the churches. Very funny.
Our last stop with Explore was Harar and it really is an “old” city. Probably one of my favorites insofar as it’s so alive. Like going back in time… before almost everything we know! We did a walking tour this morning and everything here is considered useful…everything is recycled, just one example being car tires that are turned into rubber sandals. The ladies were all smiles in the market and the children were running after us constantly calling us “ferengi” foreigners. In the markets here you can buy filigree jewelry, shawls and mats, as well as many foods such as spices and grains. This ancient walled city of 87 mosques and 300 shrines has just 5 gates and explorer Richard Burton broke into the banned Muslim fortress in 1854 by dressing as an Arab trader. It is considered by many to be the fourth holiest city in the Islamic world. The mosques are filled with the whispers of prayer and the clicking of rosary beads.
The eastern part of the country is predominantly Muslim, but you know what? In Ethiopia, being a Christian or a Muslim is irrelevant because people have a lot of tolerance and religious respect. Muslims, for example, do not demand to build a mosque in Axum because they understand that Axum is a holy Christian city. In fact, we saw a funeral procession of a Muslim person while we were in Axum and the cemetery was quite far from the city.
Omo Valley was next as we hired a driver and land cruiser to take us south. We only had a few days to taste a few tribal villages: Dorze, Tsemay Mursi and Konso. Lonely Planet writes: “The Omo people may lack any form of advanced material culture, but they have developed art forms that allow them not only great artistic expression, but also serve important social and cosmetic purposes. The practice of painting body and scarification developed by the tribes is one of the most ornate and extravagant seen anywhere in the world.For most Omo tribes, scarification serves as a distinction for brave warriors;men cannot scarify themselves until they have killed at least one enemy. women, enhanced skin texture is considered highly desirable, and is said to have sensual value to men.” There is a fee to visit the villages and a fee for photos, but you will not see the traditional cultures anywhere else in the country. As Lonely Planet put it: “Some travelers may be disappointed or even shocked by the seemingly mercenary nature of the different peoples, or the seeming voyeurism of the encounter. Tourism can even help preserve the groups and their traditions by helping them financially.”
And finally, for those of you who need your coffee every day, it was first grown here in Ethiopia! They even have a special ceremony to serve it…and sometimes it even comes with popcorn.
So let’s go back to what I said at the beginning: expect the unexpected and you will love this wild place.