A LEAP OF FAITH
train i of f flowing, fl i fl floral lf fabrics b i l leads d us to Abuna Abraham church, where a baptism is due to take place that afternoon. Inside, prayer sticks lean against a rock wall dazzling with frescoes of George and his dragon. After a three-hour trek, the wooden crutches are essential for surviving all-night services; endurance and stamina form the backbone of religion in these parts.
While some churches are easy to access by road, most can only be reached on foot, requiring us to camp along the way. Our first night is spent sleeping beneath the boughs of a 500-year-old sycamore where camels graze and jackals howl.
We also pitch tents in a school’s grounds and, in the village of Dugum, we’re invited to a traditional wedding, where we’re treated as guests of honour with platters of fresh injera and home brew served from a rusty US Aid tin can.
Having spent all night in church, the weary white-clad couple eventually emerge from a simple homestead after dusk. As the revelry intensifies, I’m swept up in a fervour of beating drums and the strumming of masenqo stringed t i di instruments. t t Even the dud AK47s proudly worn by some guests as status symbols no longer pose any threat.
Living several hours from the nearest road, these people rarely run into farangis (foreigners), making tourists a welcome novelty rather than a nuisance.
A day later, jovial farmer Abraham beckons us into his 200-year-old farmhouse, where his granddaughter Medhin toasts coffee on an open fire.
Sitting on baboon-skin stools, we communicate with laughter and sign language and exchange our Tupperware boxes of tuna pasta for some of the finest homecooked injera and shiro wat (a chickpea stew) I’ve ever tasted.
Crawling through tunnels of paddle cacti and edging along trails with sheer drops, paths connecting the Gheralta Mountains aren’t always easy and, at times, we all struggle.
Reputed to be the scariest church in the world, Abuna Yemata Guh requires a vertical climb to reach its hallowed hollows, although the availability of a harness and ropes mean even sprightly 80-year-olds can access it with relative ease.
Later, as night falls and the sky explodes with stars, villagers join us for a party, dancing around a bonfire. Captivated by the moment, one invalid uses his crutch to leap over the flames. Showing solidarity, a senior member of our group ceremoniously tosses her walking stick into the pyre.
Bound by unfaltering faith, these people are strengthened by a spirit which surpasses any religion.
In the Gheralta Mountains, where time stopped at the last road many miles from here, the open heavens provide a roof for the most impressive church of all.
was a guest of YellowWood Adventures, which offers nine-day trips to Ethiopia from £1,399, including accommodation, meals and guides.
The Genna festival takes place on January 5, 2020 although other trips to Lalibela and the Gheralta Mountains are available throughout the year.
Get a 10% discount on any YellowWood Adventure tour departing in 2019 by quoting PA2019 at the time of booking. See
or call
SARAH MARSHALL
com yellowwoodadventures.
0207 846 0197.
ETHIOPIAN Airlines flies from Heathrow and Manchester to Addis Ababa and on to Gondar with a modern fleet.
Fares starts from £697 return. See or call 01753 967980.
ethiopianairlines.com