Initial irritation over female exclusion from many of the famous rock hewn churches and monasteries of Northern Tigray was at first sight of their inaccessible perches on the heights of vast rocky outcrops, transformed to sighs of relief. Guide book descriptions of ascents by rope; words and phrases like vertiginous; ‘not really dangerous if you take it slowly’; and, my favourite, ‘it’s amazing the grip a toe can get’; offered additional discouragement. As it is there are enough churches and monasteries all over Northern Ethiopia to keep travellers of both sexes happy for months; plenty require at least a serious scramble to reach them.
Visits to those populating the islands of Lake Tana mean a boat ride that may include a sight of hippopotamuses and enough bird life, including fleets of pelicans, to convert the least ornithologically minded. Fishermen row past in the uncomfortable looking semi-submerged papyrus boats that have been used here for millennia. Contemporary life in Ethiopia often seems barely a step ahead of the life and legends so gloriously painted on the walls of Orthodox churches and so alive to those who worship there.
Lake Tana is the largest in Ethiopia with monasteries and churches on at least 20 of its 37 islands. One of the most famous, open to all, is Ura Kidane Meret, actually on the Zege peninsula but more easily reached from the busy modern town of Bahir Dar by boat. Walking up the rocky path to the 16th and 17th century monastery, we meet al l the monks heading for a funeral on another island. Funerals in Ethiopia involve as many people as possible including the merest acquaintances and certainly all available ecclesiastics. The church, centre of the monastery buildings is a round building with stone and mud walls and a corrugated iron roof replacing the original thatch. The sweep of the bamboo ceiling as it curves round the circular ambulatory is like a great Noah’s Ark but the true treasure of the church is its interior, revealed when a flowered curtain is drawn aside.
It would take hours to see every detail and years to understand every story of the Orthodox canon, inspiration for the decoration of hundreds of the estimated 50,000 Ethiopian Orthodox churches and the greatest delight to the tourist. The truth is that they can be read like cartoons and are as lively as moving pictures; moving indeed in their faith and sincerity however gloriously far-fetched the stories behind them. It is easier, after a few days wondering how on earth first millennium builders achieved the monolithic rock churches of Lalibela, to suspend disbelief and accept tales of architecturally inspirational trips to heaven by their founder and an angelic night shift. After that the saints’ lives follow easily enough. After all, if you had stood praying on one leg for somewhere between 7 and 22 years, depending on who you believe, the spare limb might very well fall off. If as well you had only eaten one seed a year delivered by a bird you might think you deserved God rewarding such devotion with no less than three pairs of wings and, in some paintings, another for the detached leg.
A great favourite of the painters is Gebre Manfus Kiddus. Preaching one day to the animals in the desert, he found a bird dying of thirst. Lifting it, he allowed it to drink a tear from his eye and is usually depicted with a revived black bird flying round his head as he stands surrounded by lions and tigers. There are varying views of his hairy apparel; some say it is his beard, others furs; the beard is obviously the most likely. Ura Kidane Meret is no exception in its equally splendid depictions of the baddies of the bible and more alternative religious stories. They are, with the exception of the devil who has two, always painted with one eye only; thus Judas Iscariot is quickly spotted at the Last Supper. Somewhat unsuccessful attempts are made to make the wicked look so as they put martyrs gruesomely to death and dismember well-known saints by unexpected means in a most cheerful fashion.
Back on the lake, jets of the Ethiopian airforce overhead are doing their best with the sound barrier; a dramatic pointer to a faster, less spiritually imaginative world. In Bahir Dar at the basic but charming Ghion hotel, where weaver birds with bandit eye masks steal the breakfast off your plate, modernity has been defeated by a 24 hour power strike. Good luck as it turns out for the tourist. Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and the famous Blue Nile falls, the Tis Isat or Water that Smokes, are nearby, now a mere trickle of their former self due to an upstream hydro-electric plant that supplies most of Northern Ethiopia. The total lack of any water in the hotel caused by no electricity ceased to matter as we walked towards the thunder of the falls in full tumbling spate. Due to the power shut down, the gates have had to be opened, a privilege nowadays only granted to occasional visiting heads of state.
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