More of Timket - Sunday Mass.

We left the hotel at around 4:40a this morning.  Today is Sunday and we were heading back to Fasilidas's pool to attend Timket mass.  This should be an interesting experience.

Though it was an early departure time, I had hit the sack early last night so when I got the 4:00a wake up knock on the door followed minutes later by a wake up call, I was already in the bathroom brushing my teeth.

I made it to the lobby 20 minutes later and was the first to arrive. One by one, everyone else trickled in.

Let the Festivities Begin. Timket!

Clergy, choirs and umbrellas.  Some of the hallmarks of Timket festivities in Gondar.

we left our hotel in Lalibela at 9am this morning to catch our 11:30a flight to Gondar where we will be spending next few days experiencing Timket and doing a lot of sightseeing. The flight was only 30 minutes. Our guide in Addis, Belay ("buh-lai"), who everyone tells me is the owner of the local tour company that is running our tour and was suppose to accompany us from the get go but was not able to, was waiting to meet us. It was good to see his familiar face.

More to do in Lalibela.

After our visit to the churches, we took a short drive followed by a short walk to arrive at a local establishment where we could sample some locally made honey wine, arak and Ethiopian coffee.

More of the Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela.

Bet Abba Labanos

I finally got a good night's sleep last night even though I woke up a couple of times to drink water. It's so arid here. The laundry that I did last night was completely dry by the time I woke up!