Lalibela

Lalibela is a town
set high in the mountains of
northern Ethiopia and is known for its beautiful rock-hewn churches. Probably the only good thing that came out of the new two-trip requirement is that it gave us the opportunity to travel a little and get to know more of Ethiopia. If we were picking up Bedilu on our first trip there's no way we would have travelled, as we would've wanted to get home ASAP. So after our week in Addis we traveled north for a week and were lucky enough to see these spectacular sites. The setting of Lalibela alone is mind-blowing; it's perched at an altitude of 8,628 ft amongst wild, craggy mountains and has a very mystical feel about it. There's about 13 churches - all carved below ground level (most likely to hide from the Muslims, as the majority of Ethiopians are Orthodox Christian) in the 12th and 13th centuries. The churches are ringed by trenches and courtyards, and connected to each other by a tangled maze of tunnels and passages.
Anyway, they definitely deserve to be considered one of the wonders of the world and why they aren't is too long a story, but we absolutely loved wandering in and out of them and seeing people in deep prayer during the week of Lent.
It was a very intensely emotional time for us to be in Bedilu's country, but not with him, and yet, seeing his land made me feel more connected to him. I can't wait to tell him about it!