On public transport, it takes 2 days to get from Mekele to Lalibela. Something we would not look forward to after our recent bus ride from Gondar to Shire/Aksum. Luckily though…we got a private jeep for ourselves to do it in one day instead of two! Haha. One of the main reasons why we booked the Danakil tour with Ethio Travel and Tours was that they included a free transfer to Lalibela – and were the cheapest overall, especially when considering the huge comfort factor of a private transfer! The ride did take most of the day, but it was relaxed and we were able to stop for photos any time we wanted.

We stayed a couple of nights in Lalibela, taking it slower than usual. On our first day, we got a bit organised in the morning and walked around town. In the afternoon, we went to see the Northern cluster of churches, which was really nice. There was a mass going on and we could watch the locals singing and praying.

Later, we went to St. George’s church, the most famous one of Lalibela. If you Google Lalibela, high chance is that this picture will come up:

The churches don’t all look like this, only this one. It’s by far the most pretty one, so we came back here many times over the next few days in order to take the best pictures.

Next day, we woke up super early and went to the churches at 6am when they open for tourists. We heard chanting and praying from multiple places and kind of chased around to find where the biggest mass was going on (it was in the Southern cluster). Anywhere we went though, there was some praying or chanting happening and it was beautiful to listen and watch. Once again, this felt like travelling back in time… Oh, Ethiopia!

We then took our time to properly see the Southern church cluster, in my opinion much nicer than the Northern one.

On our last day in Lalibela, we decided to visit the big Saturday market. It was massive and really cool to walk around – if a bit stressful since kids were begging all the time and teenagers wanting to be your guide. Oh, Ethiopia! So fascinating one moment, so exhausting the next one.

Next day, we were off to a horror bus trip of 8 h to Bahir Dar, from where we would catch a flight through Addis to Dire Dawa…