Day 4 – Woldia to Lalibela – Katie and Kirsty.

Salam! Things are going swimmingly here in Ethiopia. After a traumatic start to the day as Katie snapped her spork (now it’s only suitable for eating chicken and sweetcorn soup at the Chinese-but don’t worry it hasn’t stopped her from eating!), we continued our bus journey to Lalibela. Today’s buys journey was much shorter as we were on the bus for 5 hours. This was broken up with a coffee ceremony in a village where we sampled Ethiopian tea and coffee and ate samosas. So far so good, there’s been no travel sick issues on the bus and the mini pots of Nutella we bought in Dubai also came in handy at lunch.

We enjoyed the bus driver’s tunes and had a heated debate on feminism (thanks Mr Dabb!), which Joe didn’t particularly enjoy! We arrived in Lalibela in the early afternoon and went straght to see the 12 churches, an amazing sight as each church was hewn from one piece of rock thousands of years ago. However, everyone was advised to wear flip flops as you have to take shoes off at the entrance to each church; this was not one of Richard’s best ideas! Climbing through tunnels and up rocky steps in flip flops is not so fun.

But it must be said, the highlight of the day came at dinner. We dined at Ben Abeba, a restaurant owned by the so-called ‘mad Scottish lady’ Susan,a truly amazing woman. Simply driving up to the restaurant was spectacular as it’s perched on the edge of a hill at one end of Lalibela, overlooking the valleys and hills below. We sat looking at the beautiful Ethiopian countryside with a bonfire eating a mixture of Ethiopian and English food (shiro and chips is Ethiopia’s answer to chips and curry sauce and it is much better!) This was definitely the best meal so far; the two of us were especially happy with the food, I don’t think we’ve ever smiled so much! We were also treated to Susan’s stories of the Ethiopian young people she has helped over the years, in the school she helped to set up and the restaurant, as we learned about the struggle Ethiopian children face to get an education and the stories of the waiters and waitresses in the restaurant. It’s been strange being out of contact with home, but it’s been a truly remarkable experience! Everyone was hyper on the bus ride home and we went to bed that night full and content, though overly refreshed by the freezing cold showers; this was the highlight of the trip so far.

Love to everyone at home, we miss you but we’re having an amazing time!

Ps:happy holidays to the Hamiltons.