Off the truck for a while

I had a mini holiday from the truck as a small group of us (6 in total) flew up to Axum to see the steelie there. We could have gone by bus but it would have taken over 14 hours on really bad roads so we opted for a $40 plane ticket instead - it only took half an hour plus we got wonderful views over the mountains. The steelie are large tomb structures but the two main steelie are 27 metres high and are carved all the way to the top. There is also the remains of a 30metre structure but this is laying on pieces on the ground. Axum is a pilgrimage site for Christians as according to the Ethiopians this is where the Ark of the Covenant is. No one is allowed inside the monastry to see the Ark but the priests are adamant it is here. The priests did show us a book over 1000 years old that is still used in services, The pictures were so vivid even after all this time. The book is being removed in a couple of months to be encased in glass in the national museum so we were lucky to see it. We arrived on a saturday and on sunday morning a speciall mass was being held in the streets. It is held every couple of months and pilgrims from all over the country make their way to it. The replica Ark of the covenent is paraded around town with the priests waving incense and playing instruments. The pilgrims all wear white robes and follow the path of the ark. Would you believe that we all got up at 4.30am sunday morning to watch the procession. Not many people can say they have seen an Ark of the Covenant but I can! As well as being home to the Ark, Axum was also home to the Queen of Sheba. Ethiopia prides itself that it could trace all its emperors down the Soloman line - the first emperor being the son of King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba.
From Axum we took another internal flight to the mountainous village of Lalibela. Lalibela is another famous destination on the christian pilgrimage trail but this time due to the rock hewn churches. 700 years ago King Lalibela wanted to recreate the beauty and sacredness of Jerusulem in Ethiopia so that devout christians would not have as far to go. So in the course of 23 years and alot of labourers he carved 11 churches into the rocks. They started at the top and carved the churches as they excavated downwards. they really are incredible to see. This is the church of St George which even has 3 crosses carved into the top of the roof. The churches are still used today although most of the underground passages that link the churches have been sealed. From Lalibela it was a 10 hour journey to rejoin the truck on the shores of Lake Tana at the town of Bahir Dar. Its going to be strange being part of a 25 person group again.