Gheralta Part Three (ኢትዮጵያ Part Five)

On our last day stationed at the Gheralta Lodge, we traveled furthest afield to the "Abba Yohani" Monastery. After we arrived at the base of the monastery, we were greeted with this fluff pile (pictured above and below) who seemed to not notice or care we were there and continued in this unbelievably adorable dirt display before our very eyes. 

That white spot, midway up the sheer rock face pictured below, is where Abba Yohani himself is peering out at the world from. One gains access to the monastery inside of those white windows ("one" meaning men only, unfortunately) by climbing up the left hand side of this rock stack and then walking through a series of tunnels dug into the rock, but we will get to all of that in good time.

Rock stacked and roof thatched dwelling places Yohani-adjecent

Tunnel digging practice site? Perhaps

Handrail detail

Tour guide and monks peering into distant Tigray as the terms of our monastery entry were discussed

Monk stand

Monk squat

Stairs up to the green door which let us into the the beginning of the tunnels that eventually dumped us out into the belly of the Yohanni sanctuary. This, unfortunately, was also were we had to leave M

Tigrean: rock carved, time-zorched

Before we entered the monastery, we were taken to this rock-bell shack that, when rung, calls the faithful to church services inside Yohanni

Electricity crutch

Lil door

and at last, we began our march through the tunnels down to the church itself. Below you will find Steve walking towards the light of the sanctuary

Pillar work much more vibrant than Maryam the day before. Tri-un G-d pillar

Up close onna approximation of infinity

Bible stories wall adorned for centuries

St Francis accommodating a parched bird, lions at his feet

I stepped out onto the balcony (the one we had previously looked up to from afar, midway up a sheer thousand foot cliff) and looked up. The quarter circle above me used to adorn the inside of the church at some point, before that part fell off. A slight blow to my confidence in that current balcony, but I remained upon it

and took in a different angle of G-d of the open air vs. he/they/she enclosed

A feline black metal saint

Mostly secret

Roof work quite astounding

Monk peering out from his perch

Making said monk take a photo of me while Steve and Jan worked some angles through the access tunnels and the astounding light play within it my camera couldn't do much with.

Instead, we will rely on master lensman Jan to visually describe them monkish tunnels.

Steve and Jan shoot each other

Up

Portrait of one of Abba Yohanni's residents

and down

Steve directs, while Jan continues to shoot (and thus end the Cieślikiewicz interval).

Sunshine again during my own ascent through the tunnels as the Elkins Cieślikiewicz tunnel exercises came to a close, nearing the top entrance/exit

Steve filming a monkish tunnel exit

Another perspective on a handrail before we left Abba Yohani after a few hours (the fullness of which Melissa had to wait outside of the sanctuary for) exploring that astounding complex

On the way back to the lodge, we dropped by the base of Abuna again so that Steve could fly and swoop some shots of the ascent we made the day before with his functional drone. Couldn't get enough of the endemic rock hut architecture of the region

If you look halfway up the rock face on the right, you will see said drone in action

Hay-treed to last/outsmart grazing animals on the way back to the car from our evening Abuna drone

Our bags being schlepped to our rock hut in the dying light by a guy strapped with an AK-47 for our last nite at the lodge (I'll explain very soon).

In the office of the man who runs the lodge is this priceless photo of Dubya. Totally wish we could have hung out with him there, drank Tej together, perhaps even gursha'd each other. Oh well

During our stay at Gheralta Lodge, we became more and more convinced that we needed to make our way out to the Danakil Depression (due to the various books on the subject in the lodge's library and through speaking to various people who had either been there before (including this guy, who hiked the entirety of the depression back in the seventies, with a team of Afar nomads and donkeys to eat along the way. Just scroll through the rest of his adventures on that page and realize the absolute pitiful nature of your "adventures" because that is what it felt like for us  as we hung out with the man at the lodge) or were offering a ride out to there), and thus shoved this multi day trip to the consistently hottest place on earth into our itinerary, between exploring the Gheralta range and heading south to Lalibela. We gathered up our things and piled them in the lobby for our post breakfast descent into Dune from those highlands we came to know and love.

Melissa taking in some last Gheralta moments

and Jan with birr stacks, ready to pay his way to Arrakis. Stay tuned for that mega-post

Gheralta Part Two (ኢትዮጵያ Part Four)

The following day we headed further afield within the Gheralta range, to the Maryam and Daniel Korkor churches/monasteries. Upon boarding our van for the day, we were all given fistfuls of grass with the explanation of "it's Sunday." I accepted and then pocketed this token of the Lord's day.

This churchie cluster resides atop a plateau, the path to it requiring us to rock step our way up through a narrowing rock corridor.

A peek back at where we came from/the rest of the crew

Narrower and narrower, the steps led us upward. Felt akin to hiking up the narrows in Zion, except with none of the water and it being a relentless uphill slog.

Melissa handles the waist high stairs, followed by Mr. Elkins. Thankfully, M was allowed to climb up and see Maryam and Daniel with the rest of us males. 

Nearing the top, or at least the part that was a more level hike

Mahjong set dug into the rock midway through our hike up

Missing a "d", but I appreciate the effort

The churches were atop all those rock piles, elegant and ancient

Looking across to our friend of the day before, Abuna

Melissa lizard basking before our final ascent

The crew in shadow, year two of adventures together

Almost there

The last of the hike, our horizontal stroll before finding them double churches

A close up on Steve's impressive sweat production

Just outside Daniel Korkor. While it was the smaller of the two churches. It did have the most commanding view. Here we are basking in it, right on the edge

Doorway to Daniel, topped with megaphone

Frescoes on the roof of Dan

Resident monk who let us into each place of worship up there

Our guide shows us the ark of David (replica. They seemed to be in all of the churches we visited) and monk at rest

Steve with ancient pigment

Close up of a head explosion/erosion

Outside of Mr. Korkor, one of the guides that made our way up to those heights easier (mostly through his comic relief) continues in his hyperdrive berserker mode for the benefit of locals and tourists alike

Close up on ENERGY, got him to stand still long enough for this picture. I'm sure he danced off wildly moments after this photo was taken. He told us of his time shepherding in that area before he took on the job of schlepping tourists gear up and down the mountain for them, of the nights that he spent in caves with a fire going at the mouth of it to keep the local apex predators away from him and his flock. The past is present

A different guide rock pocketed above Melissa as we waited for Steve to finish filming inside and outside of Dan

Steve finding more angles right next to the official shoe of Ethiopia

Shelf-scoot back around to Maryam

Before we got there, though, we explored the monk and nun's quarter's pictured below, at the base of that rock mound

Passed by these littles on the way, the momma had crosses cut into her forehead. Weird religious expression or weirdness expressed religiously, either way, it stopped me in my tracks

Local nun living quarters, up close. Steve filmed her reading from her bible, in Ge'ez (ancient language precursor to modern Amharic that most Ethiopian Orthodox people read the scriptures in, akin to Catholics reading in Latin) inside of her dwelling. I felt weird taking photos of her during this sacred feeling time, the frail but determined 

Back out to see sheep fam

and their food source

Spotted the shepherd's pants below and got stoked, showing him my own patched up pants, asking if I could take a photo of his britches. He was amused and nodded his approval

Monk in his zone among the clouds

And his cubby hole, directly across that expanse from the nun's quarters

We then made our way to Maryam K, passing by this blue rest stop along the way

The impressive facade of Maryam Korkor

and then into the vast inner sanctum

Beardy G-d pillar

Roofward views

Looking towards the back and the rest of the ancient pillars, adorned with G-ds and saints and beards

Hopefully, not a load bearing arch

Shadowplay, an effort to digitally map the interior

The way back home, well worn into rock

Cremaster looking symbol on the purplish way down, befitting of such a male dominated sect/ancient place of worship

Back the way we came

We would see this type of terracing all over northern Ethiopia and when we exited the stairway from Maryam and Daniel K, we were greeted with more. We asked our driver about it and he said it was to control erosion and to help what rainwater they do receive sink in instead of runoff. People get a subsidy from the government to create these massive earthworks

Anyhow, after we drove back to "town" we drove right back to our usual post rock-hewn hang out, with the coffee ceremony beginning shortly after our arrival

Hyper tour guide and his bestie next to a St. George stack in said zone

Back at the lodge, had to hand wash the only pair of pants I brought, then walked around in my boxers/skirt while th'denim quickly dried in that dry Tigrean sun

Later that evening, Steve and his drone, all put together and ready to launch

Neighborhood kids were stoked

Elkins holds court after the trial run, very far above their village

Everyday, a new display

After a few more test flights, Steve uploaded the footage and then hosted a screening of it for the neighborhood kids, who got a whole new vantage of their zone

Surveys say, "cutest littles in the world." Below, you will find proof. Stay tuned for the third and final installment of our time based at the Gheralta Lodge, exploring the nearby rock hewn wonders.