Published in "Volkswagen" magazine

Old World Dreaming

Ancient and evocative, Ethiopia is unique in every way. From the inspiring rock-hewn churches still in use today, to unusual customs and culture, this is one of Africa's unexplored gems.

Story: Keri Harvey

It's Saturday afternoon in Lalibela. Locals walk alongside their donkeys carrying the purchases of the day, and together they wind slowly along the rock-paved road that will lead them home through the mountains. The donkeys walk unattended, like pet dogs, and the owners chat animatedly amongst themselves as they amble slowly up hill and down, over and over again. Everyone is jovial and laughter fills the air and echoes across the hills, much as it always has.

At 2 630m, the air in Lalibela is thin and you find yourself gasping as you walk. But it's the wild, craggy scenery that surrounds the town and the ancient rock-hewn churches that really take your breath away. They're roughly 800 years old, weathered and worn, but still breathe life - along with the constant stream of pilgrims who visit daily.

It's said King Lalibela had the churches carved after a vision instructed him to do so. Modern estimates claim at least 40 000 master craftsmen were needed to carve the 11 subterranean main churches, though one legend insists that one of the churches - Bet Maryam - was carved in a single night, with the help of angels. In Lalibela about half the churches are freestanding monoliths, carved by digging deep trenches around the church and then hollowing out the central rock to create an interior. Others were built by using a rock face as the front facade, and then burrowing out the interior. Either way, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are to Ethiopia what the pyramids are to Egypt, shrouded in mystery in steeped in antiquity.

Not just in Lalibela but throughout Ethiopia, millions of Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims use the churches daily. Each church has a uniquely designed cross, carried by the priest, and its own individual holy book of scripture. Hand written in the Amharic language and illustrated in bright colours, these holy books are the treasure of each church. They all tell different tales that include conventional Christianity and mother Mary, peppered with their St George, and with an added sprinkling of Egyptian saints and martyrs. For most Ethiopians, religion is central to daily life and the church is a second home.

"Remember to take off your shoes before your enter", says guide Tesfa Tsegaye, as he steers us up worn stone stairs into Bete Medhane Alem, the largest of Lalibela's churches. Inside the red rock facade, it's cool and quiet and full of pilgrims all doing their own thing. To one side the priest stands blessing people with his cross, and children sleep on a colourful carpet at his feet. It's here that the 7kg solid gold Lalibela cross is kept.

While the religion may be quirky to the outsider, so is the food, language, alphabet clock and calendar - everything about Ethiopia is unusual. Right now it's 1997 in Ethiopia, since they follow a 13-month calendar of 12 months of 30 days and one of five days, during which they don't earn a salary or pay rent. Their 12-hour clock leaves you baffled and works from sunrise to sunset. So 6am actual time is 1am Ethiopian time, or the first hour after sunrise. Just as unusual is their official Amharic language and its corresponding alphabet of dancing figures. But it is the food that's truly surprising. Injera is a grey, sour flat bread with the texture of a face cloth. And onto it is piled little heaps of sauce with varying intensities of bite and burn. Using your hands, you tear off bits of bread and mop up the different sauces - sometimes meaty bits are also added.

Almost bizarrely Ethiopia still carries a lot of Italian influence, though the country was proudly never colonized. In the smallest town and tiniest restaurant are espresso machines, and pasta is sold as a staple alongside coffee beans, lentils and raw incense. Wherever you go, coffee is not far away and neither are coffee ceremonies. Because the brew is so well loved, a whole ceremony surrounds its roasting, brewing and drinking - accompanied by popcorn and burning incense.

It's noontime and hot, so we take a break from trudging between churches and enjoy a cup of coffee - so strong it makes your head spin. So where else have you been in Ethiopia, asks Tesfa, as he takes a second cup of brew. What were the best parts? So we tell him about the historic towns of Gondar and Axum, before heading out to see more of Lalibela's evocative rock churches.

Gondar's Royal Enclosure is a must see. This walled compound in the middle of town hosts a collection of six castles dating from the 17th century. There's Portuguese and Indian architecture, hinting at the different influences that have touched Ethiopia - and all the castles are spectacular. Standing in their cavernous interiors, it's easy to imagine the pageantry, pomp and ceremony that must have taken place between their walls.

Axum is in the far north of the country and home to the reserved Tigrayan people who have beautiful chisselled features and women have traditional braided hairstyles. Axum is Ethiopia's most ancient city and is said to house the Arc of the Covernant. It's also where the Queen of Sheba stayed in her day, and the ruins of her palace can still be seen - along with her enormous outdoor bath. But Axum is especially well known for its stella fields. Each different obelisk or stella represents an ancient king and tells his story. Yet these surreal looking "fields" also lend a mysterious air to the town, and at sunset there's a sense of an African Stonehenge."So that was number 11," says Tesfa as we emerge from Bet Georgias, replete with a blessing from the priest. It's hot and we stand chasing flies with our horse-tail swats, as we catch our breath on the thin mountain air. Tesfa looks fresh as the morning and smiles at us gasping like fish out of water. "There's not much air up here," he says, "but you will get used to it if you stay a while." I did notice, though, that everyone in Lalibela moves gracefully, and very slowly!

Back in Addis Ababa, the city heaves with five million people. Traffic is congested as vehicles old and new crowd the narrow roads. There are upmarket shopping areas and the tiny hole-in-the-wall shops, plus the huge Mercato or city market where you can buy anything from second hand shoes to cement. Addis is the polar opposite to the pace and peace of the north, with its wide open wild scenery.

As we walk down the street, amidst the noise and chaos we see a church in the distance with people dressed in white crowded around. The priest in colourful robes is outside, shaded under an ornate fringed umbrella, and one by one he's blessing the pilgrims - slowly and methodically, with the same grace and gentleness of the priests of Lalibela. And as we watch, we take off our shoes. It seems the most natural thing to do.