The mountains of Tigray

Come for the churches, stay for the views.
The Tigray region of Ethiopia - north of Lalibela and just west of the desert - is the home of churches carved out of rock inside caves. What makes them even more special is the journey to get there.
The best churches are hidden at the top of mountains and the only way to reach them is to scramble over boulders, climb sandstone and walk under wind-carved arches.
The red stone pinnacles look so much like the Superstition Mountains in Arizona that I could have fooled myself into believing I was just on a dayhike outside Phoenix. The illusion was broken by a yellow robed nun sitting on the top of the mountain.
An old woman with a shaved head, she lives up there with her elderly brother - a priest - in a home that is half cave, half stacked stone walls. Together they care for the small cave church. They have a cow up there - for milk and they dry the dung and use it for fuel for the fire - and some goats and chickens.

I was traveling with my favorite travel partner so far - a 66-year-old woman from Berlin, a retired architect who was also traveling through Ethiopia on her own. She and I hiked for days in these mountains enjoying the scenery, the people, the quiet and each others' company.
We rented a car and hired a driver in Axum to reach the more remote areas. It took four hours of beer drinking and friendly arguing with the car owner to get a good price, but that was part of the fun.

I saw:
* Farmers threshing grains by driving two oxen in circles over it.
* In Axum, I saw cyclists in spandex and bike helmets training for a race. The sport is catching on slowly but surely here.
* In Axum, I tried to see the church that the Ethiopians believe houses the Ark of the Covenant but as a woman I couldn't get very close. Children gathered rocks and piled them so I could see over the wall.
* Pilgrims in white were still camped on the grounds of the church after a festival celebrating the Ark.
* After days of hiking in the mountains, my travel companion took the rented car back to Axum and I headed for the bus station to catch a ride to a cultural festival in Mekele.
As I waited for the minibus to fill up so we could go, an old woman climbed in. I patted the seat next to me for her to sit down. She sat and handed me two branches heavy with beans.
We sat in silence and ate the beans and waited.