Lalibela | ላሊበላ
Lalibela
is a town in northern Ethiopia, known for its monolithic churches.
Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and
is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country.
Get in
By plane
Ethiopian Airlines has scheduled flights at least once a day to Lalibela Airport (ICAO code HALL, IATA: LLI).
Flights are often overbooked: make sure you reconfirm your seat at
least 1 day in advance and show up at the airport on time! Flights can
also be rescheduled or cancelled at short notice because of weather or
for operational reasons. The airport is mid-sized. For a tiny town like
Lalibela, the airport seems over-sized. It is at least 30 minutes by
shared taxi (40 birrs per person as of 2008) away from the town.
By bus
There is a daily bus from Addis Ababa.
It is a two-day journey with an overnight stop at Dessie. The bus
passes through Woldia mid-morning and will pick up passengers from the
bus station if it has room. Another bus runs daily from Woldia, leaving
at dawn. Both the Woldia and Addis Ababa buses depart Lalibela at
6am.
It
is usually possible to get to/from Bahir Bar by bus in one day by
changing buses at the village of Gashena, approximately 2 hours from
Lalibela. If you are travelling to or from Gondar by bus, you will usually have to spend the night somewhere.
By car
The
drive from Gondar takes around 13 hours on a very rough and dusty
road. The road is being upgraded by the Chinese, but there is currently
(April 2008) NO tarmac road into Lalibela from anywhere. The only piece
of tarmac is from the airport into town.
