The Lalibela Rock Churches

 After a night plagued by the noise of barking dogs and wedding revellers,  we switched hotels (or rather hotel compounds - a cheaper way of availing oneself of hotel facilities by in effect camping in the hotel grounds) to a beautifully situated hotel on the outskirts of town, "The Mountain View Hotel". Our second night was much quieter!

 We decided we needed a bit of excercise so after obtaining the services of a guide, Tessfau, we asked him to take us up a nearby hill, a spectacular rock massif, and he told us that there was a monastery up there which we could visit. So, in increasing heat and dust we climbed up an amazing mountain path which alone would have done justice to many a challenging path that we have climbed in the past, and arrived at our first church carved out of the solid rock.You can see the spectacular situation it enjoyed!

 After lunch we visited the more popular sites, and saw the iconic buildings which had been hewn out of the ground. They are still used for worship, which makes them all the more wonderful.Apparently King Lalibela at whose behest the more majestic churches were constructed had had a vision in which he was told that Lalibela would in effect become an alternative Jerusalem, and that he was to carve out 12 rock churches. He used so many labourers that this immense piece of construction was completed in a comparatively short time.