The trip from Axum to Hawzien was relatively uneventful. We went by private 4wd vehicle and it took about 4 hours. The road is mostly gravel and there are some interesting stretches of steep up/down switchbacks which are especially interesting when the driver turns a sharp corner going up hill and you are immediately faced with a herd of sheep, cattle or people walking with 3-5 donkeys loaded for the market. Everything on foot scatters in every direction. It is somewhat unnerving.
Our stay at the Geralta Lodge is our 'splurge' for this trip and it is lovely. It is owned by an Italian engineer and is only about 4 years old. The place is lovely. More about that later because the geography here is SO much like the Moab area of Utah that if all you looked at were the red rock and mountains, you would swear that is where you were. Rock climbers, this place is paradise!!! There are lots of reasons it is interesting as an Ethiopian destination. If you are a history buff, this area, which is in Tigray province was heavily bombed by the DERG and the town of Hawzien was particularly badly hit. 2500 people, in a town of only 15-20M at the time were killed in one air bombing raid. You can imagine - everyone in the town lost someone! The resistance fighters against the DERG used these hills and mountains to wage guerilla warfare against the DERG and were successful.
For cultural/religious buffs, and the reason most tourists come to this are at all are the rock hewn churches which unlike the ones in Lalibela which are 'hewn' from ground level down into the rock, these churches are 'hewn' into the sides of mountains! Getting to them is a great adventure and once there it is awesome to see them still in use. These are not monasteries (although some do have monasteries as well) -these are churches that are centuries old and are used daily by these very devout people.
We visited 4 of the best over our 2 full days here. The first was the coolest to get to - if you have some climbing experience. Many tourists try to get up there and are gripped with fear as part of the climb is nothing but ancient foot holds, quite slippery with sand, and handholds (which we thought made it quite doable but many are not accustomed to finding them). The last few feet to get to the church is a ledge with a 200m drop (not for you Cynthia - sorry). Once there you enter a small 'alcove' cave and then you are let into the main church by an 80 year old priest, who, by the way, goes up and down from this church 2-3 times a day! He is the 'key keeper' as well as the main priest for this church and he has been doing this for 60 years. So, if you ever visit this area and head up to Abuna Yemata Gun and are feeling squeamish or tired, thing about the the 80 year old priest waiting for you at the top with a huge, toothy smile!
We also climbed up to Debre Maryam Korkor and Abba Daniel Korker on the first day. These are on top of a high plateau - long steep climb but nothing that would give most people sweaty palms. Debra Maryam is a very large church - each of these churches, while carved/hewn in similar fashion were built at different times. some are as old as 4th century and some are 14-15th century. Abba Daniel is older than Debre Maryam but no less interesting. I will add more details on this when I add the photos. It will be easier to follow that way.
Day 2 in Geralta, we visited Yohannis Maikudt and Abuna Abraham Debre Tsion. It was Christmas Day here and when we got up to Yohannis Maikudt there was a big meeting of priests and local men which happens often after a big holiday because attendance is at its highest. The priest with the key was speaking to the assembly when we arrived so he invited us in to the meeting hall to sit and listen and drink some t-ejje with them. This was a very big deal! Women do not attend these meetings and I doubt that many farenjis would have been treated in such a welcoming manner if they arrived without a local guide. Our guide, knew the priest and vice versa. So, we sat, 'listened' and were served brimming cups of this local alcoholic beverage. We very politely put it to our lips but drinking it would have been a very bad idea for out guts. They did not seem to notice that we left our full cups behind when we finally moved on to see the church.
Both of these churches are also on top of small mountains so both were good long slogs up hill. This is the most climbing I have done in a very long while and although I was tired after two days of it, I am pretty pleased that I did them all.
The second climb was made more interesting by the fact that several local boys, ages 6-12, took it upon themselves to 'escort' us up. They are used to tourists needing help with the high stepping and I am sure they are often paid for this as well. For us, they were both an interesting and annoying diversion. They scamper around you like little mountain goats and often walk so close that I was uncertain of my footing for fear of stepping on them. I soon figured out that they could maneuver in any direction so I just focused on where my feet needed to be and all went well from there. On the way down, by about half way to the car, I had about 8 little boys surrounding me. We entertained each other by making animal sounds. I can do the high la-la-la sound that you have heard when you see CNN videos of any arabic country and everyone here thinks it's really funny that a farengi can do this. We also practised our cow, cat, dog, cow and sheep sounds and got quite good at our donkey sound - what can I say - silly is a universal language.
About the Geralta Lodge:
As I mentioned the Lodge is owned by an Italian engineer and he has created a lovely respite from the dusty environs of Ethiopia.
First of all it is in the Geralta Mountains which are in Tigray province. It is on several acres of land with the most fantastic views of the mountains and there were a few rocky areas that provided fantastic views of the sunsets and sunrises which were also enjoyed by marmot-like critters - only much bigger! There are individual tukols that sleep 2, 4 and 6. The reception area/common lounge is a lovely building decorated with traditional Ethiopian furniture from all over the country. Rugs from Harar etc. The area opens to a beautiful flower and herb garden and the white curtains flutter in the constant breeze - very peaceful.
The food here is very good - mostly Italian dishes although one night was Ethiopian vegetarian because it was Leddet (Ethiopian Christmas). We were very happy to stay here but it is very 'sanitized' from daily Ethiopian life so we were also happy that we were not staying in all the 'tourist' hotels on this trip. We may not have had all the creature comforts but if we didn't want to really see and feel the culture, we may as well have stayed home.
FINDING THE PRIEST:
I also want to add our experience with 'finding the priests'. Both Lonely Planet and Brandt guides make it sound very difficult to find the priest with the key to the church you are visiting. We visited 2 churches on Wednesday - market day in Hawzien and the day before Christmas! And, 2 on Christmas (Leddet) day. There was no issue at all getting the priests. I think the answer might be using a local guide. Our guide, Binyam sent a child or adult (always present at the parking places at the base of the climbs) to run and get the priest. We often saw the priest climbing ahead of us. Also, the priests knew him and were very friendly. He also gave us very good advice about who to pay out of the many, many children who swarmed at the parking areas and those who climbed with us and how much was appropriate. It was very helpful.