The Nakuta La'ab monastery and the Ethiopian coffee

We are at Lalibela, Ethiopia, we flew in from Addis Abeba this morning; we arrived in town that was lunch time so we went to the hotel, so we even checked in and left our luggage.

We had an appointment with our guide at 2.30 pm and so after lunch, to pass the time, we looked at the small shop at the reception; it has beautiful handicrafts, especially the crosses attract our attention.

They explain to us that every church in Lalibela has a different cross that is held by the priest who uses it to bless the faithful; in the shop there are crosses in wood, brass and silver, they are very beautiful, impossible not to buy them, we also take some gifts and a pendant and a necklace for me.

From how happy the seller is I think he made the money of the month, in fact he invites us to his house to drink the traditional coffee; but we can't go because we have to go and visit the Monastery of Nakuta La'ab, but he told us that he is waiting for us, or when we come back or tomorrow, as we prefer.

At 2.30 pm our guide arrives, we changed car, it is no longer the minibus of this morning but a Toyota Hilux pick-up, it seemed to us to hear the engine of our Dr. Livingstone, the car we have in South Africa.

We leave and we cross the whole town of Lalibela, the city center is not very big, in practice it develops along a single main road.

We go down the road that we have traveled this morning arriving from the airport, we also cross the newest area of ​​the town and then, at a certain point we turn left.

We take a dirt road, the soil is clayey and is full of furrows dug by the water during the rainy season.

We cross a small village whose houses are still built with the supporting structure in bamboo, while the walls were made with mud and stones.

At some point our driver stops and two people on the roadside say something to him; one of them is a priest of the monastery where we are going and he is asking us for a ride: welcome on board!

The road runs along a cliff that is a bit scary, thank goodness we don't have to drive because the road is narrow and not the best; the landscape all around us is spectacular, it is very green with lots of yellow flowers, here and there is some small cascade of water that flows into the void while, in the distance, you can see several elevations.

Shortly after we arrive at the car park near the monastery, there is no one, there is only us; there are some women who sell souvenir items made of clay, some are cute and then they cost so little that it is impossible not to buy them.

To reach the monastery of Nakuta La'abwe have to go down a path that has some steps carved into the rock; the monastery was built in a large natural cave where there is always spring water, above the monastery the rocky wall rises for several meters and from the top a small cascade of water rushes into the void.

The spring water is considered blessed, many pilgrims come here, especially if they are sick, to be healed by water, that they can drink or they can get wet with or soak.

We go down along the path that, towards the end turns into a steep staircase, and we arrive at the Monastery of Nakuta La'ab; first we see some monks who were eating njera after finishing today's prayers.

We enter the monastery building through a door and we find ourselves in the courtyard where there are the drums that are used by the monks when they pray and sing..

From this point, before continuing, it is necessary to take off the shoes; we enter a church of red bricks where there are two very ancient and very beautiful paintings, moreover here there are some containers made of stone, they are very ancient and serve to collect the water that percolates from the ceiling along the stalagmites.

The faithful can collect this water, considered sacred, and drink it or they can get wet; the water comes from a waterfall that descends from the elevation above the cave and falls into the void, part of the water runs along the upper wall of the cave and, filtering through the roof of the church, reaches this point.

Outside the church there is the treasure of the monastery, in particular you can see two crowns and many crosses, that must be placed on wooden sticks, an old holy book, a beautiful illuminated bible and other objects; a monk shows us all the crosses and a censer, and he also let us takes some pictures.

The monastery is not very big but we really enjoyed visiting it, it was very interesting; even if the infinite scale is waiting for us to return to the parking lot!

We go back to our car and drive back to Lalibela and return to the hotel, our shop friend is waiting for us.

We leave the reflex and the backpack in the room and go down; we don't really want to go because we're a little tired, but we'd hate to offend him, so we decided that only Silvan is going while I'm on the terrace writing and enjoying the view.

Our friend lives with his wife and two daughters in a small house in the city, along the main road; despite not having a comfortable life they are smiling and hospitable.

They prepare and offer us the traditional Ethiopian coffee, that is very strong and has a very intense taste; it was really a pleasure to meet this family, these are the moments we like about a trip.

Silvan returns to the hotel on time to enjoy a spectacular sunset together from our terrace while drinking a delicious Ethiopian beer.

Wow! From here we can see the whole valley illuminated by the warm light of the African sun, we enjoy this spectacle of nature in silence.