Slightly more competitive rates, which also include breakfast and return flights, are available through Wigmore Travel (020-7836-4999).I'm not paying that: Ignore the vast, touristy beach hotels There are other options. Houmt Souk boasts a few small and characterful places to stay, such as Sables d'Or (00 216 50423) or the Erriadh (00 216 50756) both costing about £35 for a double.. The saint had been carved in bas-relief out of the rock wall of the church nearly 800 years ago. The features were strong and simply rendered and bore the unmistakable planes and lines of the African. The saint had been carved in bas-relief out of the rock wall of the church nearly 800 years ago. The features were strong and simply rendered and bore the unmistakable planes and lines of the African.
It was a life-size standing figure, which meant that the saint looked me straight in the eye. This was unnerving, because our Christian tradition places those we revere on high and we don't expect them to descend to our level and admonish us face to face. His left hand was concealed beneath the folds of his robe and his right hand held a staff that was surmounted by a plain crucifix. All this was revealed in a couple of seconds as the light from our guide's torch played down the figure. It was pitch dark inside the church, and I couldn't help but be reminded of how Howard Carter must have felt as his flickering match illuminated the interior of Tutankhamun's tomb. I, too, was gazing upon "wonderful things".Lalibela, in northern Ethiopia, is a short flight from the capital Addis Ababa. The journey is memorable in itself as it offers a vivid panoramic glimpse of Ethiopian rural life.
Ethiopian Airlines operates a scheduled flight to Lalibela via the towns of Bahir Dar and Gonder The daily run is like a village bus service. On the way you get a spectacular view of the Ethiopian highlands, which rise to higher than 7,000ft, and if you're lucky and there's a break in the clouds, a view into the Blue Nile Gorge. The Blue Nile rises in Lake Tana, and for thousands of years it has carved a ravine of imposing grandeur through some of the most remote and rugged highlands in the world.Lalibela is shrouded in mystery, but what it lacks in historical fact is more than compensated for by legends. The town gets its name from King Lalibela who, we are told, was lifted to heaven and instructed by God to return to earth and build the town's churches. The world's greatest artists and craftsmen were assembled from all over Africa and the Mediterranean. They laboured by day and, so the legend would have us believe, a host of angels continued the work at night Today, the churches are a World Heritage site.
