Northern Ethiopia

 The lineage of Ethiopia's emperors is said to date back to biblical times, descending from the house of Solomon. The first ruler, Menelik I is claimed to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This line of emperors lasted until 1935 when Ethiopia was invaded by Italy. In 1941 the British evicted the Italians and restored Haile Selassie to the throne where he remained until being overthrown in a military coup in 1974.

Our trip north explores some of the centres of the various dynasties, the oldest of which is Aksum, sadly still too dangerous to explore. Instead, after a short and easy flight, we disembark in Gondar, the Ethiopian capital back in the 17th century, its buildings displaying a mix of Islamic and Portuguese influence. We are joined on the trip by Trudy's niece Colly.

Unlike most African countries, Christianity did not arrive courtesy of European missionaries, it arrived directly from the Holy Land back in the 4th century.

Gondar Castle

After visiting the various royal palaces of Gondar we pick up our driver and head out on a road journey to Bahir Dar, the regional capital of Amhara on the shores of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile and our ultimate objective.

The Nile's first waterfall

This is about as close as I can get

The region is awash with weapons

Sunset over Lake Tana

In addition to a rewarding Blue Nile hike through remote villages, we pass villagers going about their daily routine driving goods-laden donkey convoys and goat and cattle herds to market. We explore 12th century island monasteries and churches, all still active and unchanged in over 1,000 years.

Unchanged since the time of Jesus!!

Before the days of the printing press there were few bibles and even fewer people who could read them. Instead the stories of Christianity, both old and new testament, were depicted as amazing iconic paintings emblazoned on all the church interior walls.

The wind picks up across Lake Tana as our rickety wooden boat is tossed around like an empty Coke can. I watch as the colour drains from my fellow passengers keeping one eye on the deadly Nile croc and the other on the ever present - equally deadly - hippo dotted around the shore line. It takes one and half hours to reach the monastery island and we are so glad to get our feet on stable and safe(r) ground.

12th and 16th century Icons

Please God, do we have to go back on that boat?

Bahir Dar has a nice feel to it. We leave feeling relaxed and excited, expectant for the six-hour journey ahead. The road from Bahir Dar to Lalibela is a cornucopia of experiences: stunning landscapes, hustle and bustle towns and the ever present check points. In time, having an AK47 pointed at you and your car and bags searched became a banality; we smile and joke with the militia who are on the whole very friendly and intrigued to see us. Lalibela, unlike Bahir Dar, had fallen earlier in the year to the rebel TPLF forces, as such we cross what was the then front line of the civil war. Our driver tells us that he was once a teacher and, in order to defend his hometown, he unquestioningly joined the militia and, with just a few days' training, he is on the front line relieving the beleaguered regular federal forces.

Arriving in Lalibela one gets the feeling it has seen better and more prosperous days. While the holy sites are intact and untouched by conflict, it has taken some time to restore water and power. Although a centre of pilgrimage for Christians, foreign and domestic, there are precious few of them today.

Why come here? Lalibela is one of the most holy cities in Ethiopia. It contains many rock-hewn churches - some dating back to the 7th century - carved without the benefit of technology into solid rock from the ground level downward. 

Carved intact from solid rock

The Church of St George

Roof-top dining; the only customers!

Mysterious light reflection.

Rain cover added for protection

Attending a service is enlightening - they last for up to 4 hours so we decide to join part way through - the liturgy and rituals date back, unchanged, to Apostolic times. If one wants to experience Christianity as it was in its early days then this is about as close as you can get. After splitting, in 451 CE at the Council of Chalcedon, from what we now refer to as the Western Church, the Ethiopian (and Egyptian Coptic) church has had no further schisms or reformations. For the theologically minded the Ethiopian Church is Miaphysite while the Western and Eastern Orthodox Churches, following the 451 CE split, are Duophysite (it's all about the definition of the divine and human nature of Christ).

We head back to Addis Ababa for some down time and a chance to absorb the whole experience.