North of Mekele in the Province of Tigray there are more churches carved into the rock. Unlike those of Lalibela, they are not fully excavated from out and inside and they are not on the flat but up in the mountains. It’s said to be a spectacular sight, not only for the churches but for the surrounding nature and the views. They lie between Mekele and Axum, our next stop. We asked some of the tour operators in Mekele for a two day trip from Mekele to Axum with a stop in Hawzen, a town close to the Gheralta Escarpment. The offers ranged from 100 US$ per person in a minibus to 150 US$ in a private 4×4 vehicle. Since we have time but no money we decided to make three day trip out of it, using public transport. The first day was for getting from Mekele to Hawsen (Germans pronounce it ‘Hausen’), then one day in Hawzen to see the churches and make our way to Axum on the third day, still leaving us three nights in Axum.
So we left our hotel in Mekele after a delicious breakfast at a nearby juice house. We had discovered it on our first day in Mekele and had breakfast there every day: One fresh juice and a large fruit salat each. For under 2 € total. A bajaj aka tuk-tuk brought us to the bus station. There many people approaches us and we undertook a tour of the bus station until we found someone with enough English to understand that we did not want a private minibus (they call it ‘contract’). Once we found the right bus and had settled in, the while excitement quieted down as usual. I asked the person next to me if this bus was indeed going to Hawzen and she confirmed. Our guidebook had claimed that there is no direct bus, but now there is. I think since the new prime minister has lifted many restrictions travel may have increased significantly and therefore connections have improved, but that’s just a theory. We were lucky with our minibus, as it had a high roof, so no danger of hitting it on the bumpy road and that it was only full but not crowded so we each had a full seat to our own. The drive was surprisingly short as the roads was rather new. So we arrived shortly after noon and got a room in the hotel we wanted. The manager there was very nice and helpful. A very good restaurant was attached. Over a coffee and some lunch we had time to talk to some other travelers on which churches to see and what we could expect. Especially the information about the tips that are basically required were interesting. For those sights there is always a lot that piles up. Each church requires an entrance fee of 300 Birr, 8.5€, per person, then there is a guide that’s required for a fee of 750 Birr, 22€, with a tip of at least 100 Birr on top. The priests expect a minimum tip of 50 – 100 Birr, even though the entrance fee is not small, because they don’t see any of that. Where it end up is a mystery though. Then there is ‚scouts‘ which are very important for one of the churches, where a climb is involved. There is no fixed fee, but we learned there the others gave them 200 Birr. They also recommended to get a couple of 50 Birr notes so that we wouldn’t be required to give 100 Birr for a lacking smaller bills, which turned out to be good advice.
The next day we started after breakfast by getting into the next town where the guide association is to get a guide. And to get a driver for the day because if you want to walk everywhere the guide fee doubles. So, the bajaj driver that had brought us into town, was smart and had just waited until we realized we had to hire him for the day. For 700 Birr, 20 €. Well, we were still coming out well ahead of the 200 US $ only for transportation. Then we were off to the first church with our guide. We had a female guide, one of two out of 42 official guides, called Natel.
We set off for the first church, Maryam Korkor. It involves a 1.5 hour long walk up where we covered a difference in altitude of about 300 m. We walked through a narrow canyon where the loose rocks made it a bit trick. Further up the rich was solid and rough, providing good grip. The views we saw along the way are spectacular. Reaching the church Maryam Korkor on top of the mountain our guide explained us the paintings on the inside. Then we went to a second. Smaller church just a few minutes away. To get there we had to walk along a narrow path along the mountain side. The entrance was very small and we had to crawl through. Going down was less exhausting but more tricky because it’s easy to misstep.
The second church Abuna Yemata followed right away. The ascent was shorter but much more difficult. There is a wall that needs to be climbed and a few more tricky bits after where you are very close to the edge. No safety rope or anything. There are scouts that help but naturally we had to try it on our own first. We failed. Not very far up into the wall I didn’t know how to go on. Then the scouts stepped in and showed us where to set every hand and foot. With their help we made it up. At the top we felt exhilarated. Arriving at the church we were impressed by the well preserved paintings and the priest showed us some old books from parchment. The way down was even more daunting than up. But, again, we made it with the help of the scouts. We were told the local women climb up to this church eight days after giving both to a girl and after 40 days if it’s a boy to baptize them. And they have to bring the water as well!
This day was a truly amazing day. We had so much fun. The views waking to the first church were great and the climb to the second was exiting. Someone with more climbing experience may have for it without help but the way down was even harder. Everything about this day was special and we arrived back at the hotel exhausted but happy. We also decided to count this day as Chris‘ birthday in our heads even though it was the day before.
The next day we made our way to Axum. Here we had to switch minibuses on the way but it still worked pretty well. The only weird thing is the people here don’t open the windows and it felt too stuffy and hot in the bus with 20 people quickly… 🥵 But overall we were very happy with choosing the public minibuses over a tour. Overall we payed about 43 US$ instead of 200 US$!