Sunday service at Debre Birhan Selassie - then scrambling, coffee and injera

All Age worship Ethiopian Orthodox style

on their way to church

It's Sunday. We are to go back to Debre Birhan Selassie (or Mountain of the Enlightened Trinity) - the church we visited yesterday in Gondar, with the fabulous wall and ceiling painted panels; this time to experience the Sunday service as it happens. As we sit in the coach at the hotel waiting to go, and giving our orders for lunch in their restaurant, I watch dozens, possibly hundreds, of white-clad figures zigzagging up the path behind the hotel compound towards a green domed church on the top of the distant hill. The sun is still rising up over the mountains behind us, shrouded in mist and forming ghostly silhouettes.

Along the road we see a dead donkey, a sad sight, with vultures hanging around waiting for their chance to pick the carcass down to dry bones, which will eventually bleach in the strong sun. The roads are full of people dressed in their white, walking to or from church, many of them students pouring through the University campus gate.

When we arrive at the church there are crowds gathered within the outer gate, but outside the church itself. Here we ladies must all cover our heads with scarves. Hats will not do. And females gather to the right of the church building, men to the left. And everywhere children quietly play or sit with their carers, girls suitably attired with pretty scarves.

the priest delivers his sermon from the steps

As we arrive the priest is preaching from the steps to the assembled crowd. He is passionate and charismatic and the people are very attentive albeit relaxed. He is telling us apparently about good versus evil: that good will benefit in the end even if evil behaviour seems to give immediate gains - these are short-lived and not worth it. He cites many bible stories to illustrate his point - a good message for us all I think.

In the Felasha village

a market stall Gondar - free range chickens being fed! 

This Sunday service could last for 4 hours, and worshippers attend for whatever period they want to. The formal time apparently extends over 3 of those hours, and a bell rings at the beginning of that formal period so that those who want to stay make sure they are within the church, and others come outside into the surrounding grounds. The bell also rings half way through, and again for the start of the Communion. Some will only go into the church  at that time, to be sprinkled with the Holy Water. Incense is also burnt at the beginning, middle and end of the service, reminding me of our experiences inthe Syriac Orthodox monastery in South East Turkey. 

The Geze language is used in the liturgy, by tradition, although many will not understand this. But the reading of the Holy book and the preaching are both in Amharic so these words are accessible to all. Three hours of singing by the deacons and priests will all be from memory.

After 20 minutes or so soaking up the atmosphere of the place, we have to leave each, of us taking away our own spiritual experiences. We drive through the market, now in full swing, and with many coffee ceremonies getting under way - a great local tradition for families and friends to get together after church.

An excellent road now takes us up into the mountains. This is clearly a more affluent area. This is where we saw our first car - a modern Yaris!

Gondar street scene

We stop at the nearby Falasha or Ethiopian Jewish village. The Jewish community have all returned to Israel from here, but the culture lives on in their trades and skills, many were ironsmiths/blacksmiths, weavers and farmers, and the women were known for their pottery. The crafts and souvenirs for sale reflect this. 

beehive in a tree

In the Simien mountain range

We briefly go into a private house here. They are busily preparing for a coffee ceremony for after the church service - we will go back on the way home to enjoy their very own and special brand of hospitality over this home roasted, ground and brewed coffee and be shown how the local traditional bread or injera is made. 

This next bit is not for the squeamish! It is - yet another - feast day today and there has been a "scrambling." The villagers have killed a cow, and they are all sharing the bits! Nothing is apparently wasted - we can see women and children cutting, washing, tearing, sorting and generally dealing with the meat and entrails whilst the bloodied and skinned head lies a little apart and the hide has been taken off to dry and no doubt use for floor or wall covering, or even for chair coverings - as we see later today at our lunchtime restaurant. Much of the best meat will be spiced and dried and stored for up to a year. But just as much will be shared and enjoyed now. I cannot feel so upset by the quick killing of a cow that has enjoyed such a good life grazing free range across the pastures here, finally to be killed where she lived and strolled. Her life has been generally good, compared with the miserable lives of so many factory-farmed animals (for UK readers see here) that face the final suffering of perhaps many miles of road transport deprived of food and water and any kind of necessary comfort. And the Ethiopians need this meat for their very survival. 

Befiker Kossoye Ecolodge rooms

a "swarming" - a cow being butchered and shared

The children here greet us at the bus door with Yo's and High Fives - somewhat different from the usual clamour for money and pens we have come to expect. A lady at the "scrambling" was thrilled that we were a Christian group and on our way to a prayer service - and that we had visited church already this morning. She lamented that most of the coaches who stopped by here were tourists and not religious, not even seemingly interested in their religious way of life. 

the perfect spot for our Eucharist

We are climbing into the most Southerly part of the Simien mountain range where the main crops are tef, wheat and barley. The farmers try to get a second crop here when the main crop has been harvested, of chick peas, as this does not need so much rain. But this year the rain fall has been meagre so there will be no second crop. In fact Ethiopia is suffering another serious drought 2015/16 especially in the Kobo area about 200 km South of Mekele, to the East of Lalibela.

at Befiker Kossoye lodge

room at Befiker Kossoye

Because it is Sunday and another feast day many men are carrying large yellow plastic canisters - looking like petrol cans - full of the local "beer", a potent brew and generally not to our taste.

making the injera

There have been many memorable experiences on this trip, but one of the best for me will always be the Eucharist or Holy Communion we celebrate at 2800 metres in a hollow at the very edge of a cliff overlooking the Simien mountain range. We sit in a circle on chairs covered in hide from the local goats, with the smell of Eucalyptus and the various sounds of insects, goats and birds all around us and a lammergeier  or Bearded Vulture circling overhead. Here we lunch at the Ecolodge BefikerKossoye  and are proudly shown the hotel accommodation by the owner - rooms clean and comfortable in their own circular huts with great character, the Lodge reputedly sited where Her Majesty the Queen stopped for tea one afternoon in 1965 while visiting Emperor Haile Selassie. If this is true, the Queen certainly had very good taste. This may be 30 km outside Gondar but the road is good and I cannot think of a better place to stay in the area if you value nature and scenery and good organic food, veggie friendly, in the most fabulous setting. 

enjoying our coffee in a very smoky front room!

Finally on the way back to our equally fabulous hotel Mayleko Lodge we stop to watch the injera bread being made and enjoy sampling it, with coffee brewed for our benefit in a traditional house at the Falasha village. There are basically two rooms. The back bedroom is for storage and with two beds accommodates the parents and the younger children. The outer room is for living, and at night the other children will sleep on skins or straw mattresses. The floor is bare earth, smoothed down regularly with animal dung, and in the rainy season a door will do its best to keep out the mud, I guess sometimes with limited success. 

Soon we will be on our way to Lake Tana and the Blue Nile falls - when pilgrims will become tourists before our journey homewards...

The Fasil Ghebbi compound in Gondar

The Egg Building in the Fasil Ghebbi compound Gondar

We are on a Christian pilgrimage to Ethiopia with McCabe Pilgrimages. To quote from their website, "as pilgrims, we travel to discover more about our world, the peoples who inhabit it and the faith which shapes our understanding of life."

the fireplace separating male and female rooms and note
the holes for horns to hang meat

In Ethiopia, we are discovering more about the largest Oriental Orthodox church in the world today… and as with all McCabe pilgrimages, we try to engage with the local Christian community and return home with fresh insights into our own faith, enriched by all that we have experienced as we journey together.

one of the lions' cages

We are nearing the end of our visit to this fabulous country, and have already enjoyed many extraordinary experiences. But we still look forward to much more. Today, after visiting Debre Birhan Selassie (or Mountain of the Enlightened Trinity) we visit the Royal Enclosure or Fasil Ghebbi compound in Gondar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, enclosing six castles and related buildings over an area of 70,000 square metres in the heart of the city. This is a great fortress-city, residence of its founder the Ethiopian emperor Fasilides and his successors.

The Emperor was tired of the pattern of migration that had characterised the lifestyle of so many of his forefathers, so he moved his capital here in 1636 AD. It is a photographer and tourist paradise, with great historical significance, as well as a place where locals also like to come to stroll and relax in a green haven of peace away from the city bustle and noise just the other side of its high stone walls.

The locals call the first castle we come to the Egg Building, because of the domed tops of its watchtowers. Inside the main hall is split into two, segregating the men and the women, sharing only a fireplace built into the wall between the two rooms. We are shown holes in the wall where meat was hung on horns because metal hooks would spoil the flavour. These horns are also seen in the Turkish Baths on the site, in this case used to hang clothes.

horn hooks for clothes in the Turkish Baths

Three of the castles are interconnected by trenches. We see the so called Window of Love, where the Emperor and his wife would apparently like to sit enjoying the pleasant view to the bridge and the people going about their business outside the castle.

A beehive high up in a tree is wrapped in savannah grass to protect it from the rain. Honey is introduced to attract bees and there can be as many as four harvests in one year if conditions are favourable.

the Mentewab Castle

We also see the old lion cages - where the poor beasts were kept until as recently as the 1960s - some guidebooks say the 1990s - to entertain the residents of the castles and their guests. There are stables and a stable yard to accommodate the horses of guests as well, and a banquet hall.

The sixth and last castle we visit was the only one commissioned by a female, Empress Mentewab, acting as regent for her young son, Iyasu II. It is the most impressive and well preserved of them all, decorated on the outside with Gondarine crosses. We can only view from outside the gates - we are not allowed near. 

entrance to the King's Baths

the channel to fill the King's Baths

We drive back through the town towards the King's Baths, also attributed to the same Emperor, and the site we are told of one of the best Epiphany festivals of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Here 10,000 or more pilgrims will gather annually and the huge reservoir is filled up from the local river for this occasion. It takes a month to fill. The Ark of the Covenant is brought from the local church in procession and the water is blessed. Everyone will try to be sprinkled with this Holy water, and many will swim in the water as well. There is song, dance, and a great mixture of religious and secular activity. Having experienced the recent festival in Lalibela we can well imagine what an incredible sight this must be. Scaffolding is erected at the far end of the bath for tourists - everyone else has to join the milling crowds, no doubt many climbing any available trees for better views of the activities. Johannes tells us that this festival of Epiphany is also a traditional time for dating. Boys would buy lemons and throw them at the girl of their fancy. If she picks it up he knows he is in with a chance. Nowadays, he says, they expect Apple iPods!!

the King's Baths

It's been a full day 
and tiring. 
But we somehow find the energy at the Four Sisters restaurant to join in the dancing around the tables with the curious shoulder, neck and arm movements - even somehow employing bosoms and hips - which seem quite unique to Ethiopia. The dancers display incredible energy and flexibility which we cannot hope to achieve so soon in our stay - although some of us have a reasonable attempt in a day or so in a night club in Bahir Dar! Dancing and entertainment is good enough reason to come to this restaurant if you are in Gondar, but the food is also fabulous - many different traditional Ethiopian dishes, alongside some more westernised offerings, all very well labelled and very veggie friendly - and as much as you can eat - come and come again style. It was a very good evening out, a great way to unwind and relax after what have been some very full days.

The sun sets over Mayleko Lodge. Tomorrow is Sunday and we will return to the church we saw today to experience a service Ethiopian Orthodox style…

Built to house the Ark of the Covenant - Debre Birhan Selassie

Heavily laden donkeys on way to market 

Airport Ethiopian style at Lalibela

 It is Saturday, market day, in Lalibela, and we are set to fly to Gondar, the "Camelot of Africa", famous for its medieval castles and churches. In particular we will enjoy a tour of the Royal Enclosure of Fasil Ghebbi and the most incredibly beautiful church interior.

cattle on way to market

As our coach makes its way along the twisting road towards the airport we pass swarms of people and animals walking in both directions, to and from the market. This is subsistence living. People sell to buy what they need most in that moment, be it food or fuel or clothes or animals. But market is about much more than that. Johannes tells us that the market is also a place to spot stolen goods, to find and court the girls, to find mediators to settle disputes of all kinds, and simply for communication, the oil of human relationship and society.

entrance to the church

The federal police check our visas at the airport perimeter, then all our bags go through security screening at the entrance into the building and we go through the usual full security search ourselves after check in to go through to departures. In the light of the awful Paris terrorist attack that we have just heard about this all seems very essential. There was a French party at our hotel last night in Lalibela and they were visibly and justifiably distressed by the news back home. 

I wrote in my diary for the day: "Jesus wept. God must be weeping".

Icons of Holy Trinity and Crucifixion
above the Holy of  Holies entrance 

Mayleko Lodge hotel - lovely

"Jesus wept" - John 11: v. 35 - the shortest verse in the Bible, with a load of significance. Jesus wept because of his humanity, weeping with those who weep, because he is full of love for mankind. How he must weep now.

It is a very short flight from Lalibela to Gondar and soon we are back in a coach for the 10 minute drive to our hotel - Mayleko Lodge - I had worried about this - thinking of Gatwick and Heathrow and flight paths and noise! But I didn't have to. There are only a couple or so flights a day it seems - and the planes are small anyway and quiet. And the hotel is fabulous! We all have our own cottages - in the traditional local thatched style, with huge rooms, spotlessly clean and with all mod cons. including huge walk-in showers (Just use the water for a shower when it is available - like much of Ethiopia water is scarce and the supply temperamental) and massive balconies where we can soak up the sunshine and the view. And it is hot. A few take advantage of the short while available before lunch to enjoy a swim in the pool. The birdlife here is super - we are surrounded by birdsong in pretty gardens with different coloured hibiscus lining the paths leading up to the pool and the restaurant at the top of the site, which affords great views over the countryside.

vultures outside the church

wall paintings

Soon we are back in the coach for our first attraction of the day - Debre Birhan Selassie (or Mountain of the Enlightened Trinity) - the only church in Gondar which escaped the 1888 Mahdist invasion from the Sudan unscathed - legend tells us that an angry swarm of bees intervened to keep the soldiers back, with the help of the Archangel Michael holding a flaming sword. All the other churches in the city were torched. 

Debre Birhan Selassie

This church is incredible for the beautiful eighteenth paintings that totally adorn its inner walls and ceiling. 

school books for sale on Gondar pavement

They variously represent the Life of Christ, the lives of early Christian saints and their rather nasty martyrdoms - all watched over by hundreds of painted angels on the ceiling and arches. The church was built in the 1690s to the same dimensions as the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, reputedly to house the Ark of the Covenant when it was brought over to Ethiopia. We will visit the church again tomorrow, Sunday, to observe a service in progress. 

The street sights as we drive through Gondar are endlessly fascinating. Blue tuk tuks everywhere - hundreds are watching a boxing match in one of the large squares - street vendors everywhere - we even see our first motor car!!