Ethiopia (April-May 2015)
7. Hawzen
to Medhane Alem Adi Kasho via Abreha we Atsbeha
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Return to main Ethiopia April-May 2015 webpage
To see the map below
with a better resolution in another tab, click here.
To see all the waypoints in Google Earth, click here (.kmz file).
This page covers the (final) section of the red path between waypoints 86
and 105.
After two comfortable
nights at the Gheralta Lodge in Hawzen
we resumed trekking along a path north of the Gheralta
mountains.
Between Hawzen and Abreha we Atsbeha we traversed mostly farming areas.
Big fig tree.
Along the way we saw
a rather large number of camels.
Such a green lawn is
so unusual in Tigray that we could not refrain from lying on it for a while.
In the village of Abreha we Atsbeha. It is regularly connected
by buses to the town of Wukro some 17 km away.
The church of Abreha we Atsbeha (waypoint 95b). We put our
13th camp (waypoint 95) just below the church.
Floor layout of the
church of Abreha we Atsbeha.
The church′s
facade with its protruding entrance and its monumental double door mounted in
an opening cut out of the rock.
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The inside of the
church is huge and quite impressive. The pillars are very well cut.
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The scenes in the ornamental
wall paintings are much more complex than in other rock-hewn churches of
Tigray.
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Celing vaults decorated
with gashes cut in the rock and painted with ocre (in
the hollows) and whitewash, to represent crosses.
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Wood seats, prayer
stick finial, and ceremonial drums.
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Leaving Abreha we Atsbeha toward Medhane Alem Adi
Kasho. The church of Abreha we Atsbeha
is behind the rock cliff in the middle of the photo.
A modern church
painted with the Ethiopian national colors.
Landscape near the
church of Medhane Alem Adi Kasho.
The path in the rock
leading to Medhane Alem Adi Kasho.
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The outside wall of Medhane Alem Adi Kasho with the priest.
The unusual and
beautiful facade of Medhane Alem
Adi Kasho.
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Church ambulatory and
patterns carved in its ceiling.
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The priest proudly
demonstrating the original locking system of the door leading into the core of
the church.
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The ceiling of the
core is particularly rich in carved patterns.
We visited Medhane Alem Adi Kasho on a Sunday. After religious services, local
people use to meet around injera and tella. Below, women bringing injera
to such a meeting.
At the meeting. Men
and women are separated, except for the women who serve food and tella in the men area! Such a meeting lasts many hours; so,
although tella has a low degree of alcohol, many
participants end up somewhat drunk.
We set our 17th
and last camp (waypoint 104) between Medhane Alem Adi Kasho and the road
connecting the towns of Adigrat and Mekele. On that evening the pump of my stove broke. Gebrehiwet cooked our final dinner using this
convenient terracotta brazier borrowed from a local farmer.
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On the next morning
we hiked the short distance to the Adigrat-Mekele
road, where we stopped a bus that took us directly to Mekele.
At Mekele′s bus station we took this bajaj to our hotel. End of the trip.
Sections of the
trip (click on the
links below to access the corresponding webpages):
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2.
Maryam Hibeti to Abba Yohanni
and Gabriel Wukien
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3. Gabriel Wukien
to Axum via Damo Gellila
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6. Abuna Gebre
Mikael and Debre Tsion Abuna Abraham
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7.
Hawzen to Medhane Alem Adi Kasho via Abreha we Atsbeha
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