Edge carefully across a granite plateau at the village boundary, however, and you notice a trench that snakes across its surface. It is the first glimpse of Africa's most-compelling religious site, a complex of monolithic, rock-hewn churches of astonishing heft that have been in continuous use since the 13th century. Outraged by the 1187 capture of Jerusalem by Kurdish warrior Saladin, Ethiopia's King Lalibela commissioned the churches as a pilgrimage centre for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
Wary of Muslim incursions to the east, he ordered them built below ground, to be invisible from a distance. Eleven churches, chapels and shrines, hand-chiselled from solid granite, are connected by passageways and tunnels. Deep trenches, riddled with chambers containing mummified monks and pilgrims, separate the edifices from the surrounding rock. Sculpted windows and traceries lace the interiors; faded paintings are just visible in the gloom. Once the complex was complete, King Lalibela abdicated the throne and retired to a cave, where he lived out the rest of his life, surviving on roots and vegetables.
Colin Barraclough
MEET OUR PANEL:
- Colin Angus has travelled to 38 countries. His latest book is Beyond the Horizon.
- Julie Angus, an adventurer and writer, lives on Vancouver Island.
- Colin Barraclough, a former Middle East reporter, now lives in Buenos Aires and focuses on adventure and travel writing.
- Laszlo Buhasz, The Globe's Assistant Travel Editor, has been to 38 countries.
- Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, author of Down to This, is drawn to caves and volcanoes in his journeys.
- George Butterfield, an Order of Canada recipient, co-founded Butterfield & Robinson.
- Marq De Villiers's latest book is Timbuktu: The Sahara's Fabled City of Gold.
- Patrick Dineen, editor of Travelweek, has visited 75 countries and is drawn to sporting events in strange lands.
- Janet Forman, a writer based in New York and Los Angeles, has visited more than 70 countries.
- Laurie Gough, author of Kiss the Sunset Pig, confesses she voted for Springsteen.
- Norman Howe, an ex-lawyer, is a co-owner of Horizon Travel.
- Wallace Immen, a writer for The Globe, has checked off 74 countries on his life list.
- Barb and Ron Kroll, publishers of www.KrollTravel.com, have visited more than 100 countries.
- Deanna MacDonald, an art historian living in Madagascar, has visited 52 countries.
- Douglas McArthur has visited 100-plus countries and is dreaming of seeing Lhasa.
- Clint McLean is a Toronto-based photographer working on an exhibition about salt harvesting.
- Ken McGoogan, author of Lady Franklin's Revenge and Fatal Passage, favours travel to the North.
- Stephanie Nolen, The Globe's correspondent based in Johannesburg, counts Botswana's Okavonga Delta as a must-see.
- Clark Norton, a travel writer based in Narrowsburg, NY, has been to 102 countries.
- Anthony Jenkins,The Globe's editorial cartoonist, has visited 77 countries and is not sure which will be 78.
- Paul Koring, The Globe's Washington correspondent, says Prague, before freedom and McDonald's, would have made his top 10.
- Bruce Poon Tip, the founder of G.A.P Adventures, has been to 107 countries.
- Eric Reguly, The Globe's correspondent in Rome, puts Rossport, Ont., and, yes, Rome, on his list.
- Mark Schatzker, a Toronto-based travel writer, says nothing beats watching a Mongolian family slaughter a sheep for dinner.
- Jason Schoonover, whose latest book is Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, splits his time between Saskatoon and Bangkok.
- Graeme Smith, The Globe's correspondent based in Kandahar, heads to the sand dunes of Morocco in his spare time.
- Fred Smith, an inveterate world traveller based in Whitehorse, has been on countless road trips, as his daughter can attest.
- Les Stroud is the star of OLN's Suvivorman and has eaten roasted leech in his travels.
- Chris Turner, the author of The Geography of Hope, has visited 26 countries, not counting Texas.
- Alison Wearing, author of Honeymoon in Purdah, lives in Tepoztlan, Mexico.
- Geoffrey York, The Globe's foreign correspondent in Beijing, has visited 110 countries.
