• E N
R O U T E
/ /
C U L T U R A L
T R A V E L
ETHIOPIA IS A LAND STEEPED IN ANCIENT HISTORY, ROOTED IN RELIGION
AND BLESSED WITH MOUNTAINOUS MOONSCAPES. DAWN JORGENSEN
BROUGHT BACK A SNAPSHOT OF THIS INCREDIBLE AFRICAN COUNTRY.
KNOCKING ON
HEAVEN’S
OO
D R
Legend has it that in the 12th century an
angel asked King Lalibela to construct
the remarkable rock-hewn churches
that now draw crowds of tourists to
Ethiopia each year. In response he
recruited the most skilled artisans from
around the land to sculpt the arches,
domes, windows and passageways, paying
for their work with land, salt blocks and
other currencies. It was a task that seems
otherworldly and is said to have taken 23
years and six months for men working by
day and angels by night to complete these
impressive, monolithic temples.
Today a Unesco World Heritage site, the
churches and the trenches and tunnels
that link them are justifiably ranked as
the eighth wonder of the ancient world.
Exploring them with a guide, I came to
understand the mystery that surrounds
them: reachable only on foot or by mule
until a couple of decades ago, they
pre-date their European equivalents by
centuries.
Travelling in Ethiopia for a week, with
the focus on the country’s popular historic
circuit in the North, my routing has me
arriving in the capital, Addis Ababa, before
flying to Lalibela, Axum and Gondar. Each
city holds a significant place in the history
of this prominent land.
MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE // 41