Lalibela Transportation Tips by SirRichard

'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: You can get to Lalibela either by plane or by bus. By bus you can reach the village from the west (BaharDar/Gonder) or from the east (Woldia/Addis). I arrived from Woldia, as I visited Tigray region in the north first. The trip from Woldia by bus is 25B (2,5 USD) and takes 7 and a half hours, though it may depend on the state of the tracks.
On my way there we got stuck on the mud twice and had to go down and push the bus to get it out. At the lunch stop I invited my seat mate and his family to a common injhera in the local restaurant. At bus stops you can only get for lunch injhere, spaghetti, bananas or bicuits, so if you don't like this menu, bring your own food.
When we arrived, my seat mate accompanied me to a nice hotel (Lalibela Hotel) and invited me to his house for the coffee ceremony. That fellowship is something you miss if you come by plane...

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'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: But as it was nearly the end of my trip and I was tired, to return to Addis I chose the plane.
Ethiopian is a rather good local company, in fact the only one flying inside Ethiopia. They offer discounts in internal flights if you have chosen thm to fly to Ethiopia.
The flight Lalibela-Addis was about 70USD and took 1 hour.
The airport is far from the village (23km) and there is no regular bus. You have to arrange a shared (or private if you are rich) taxi to get there. The best way to do so is asking around the 7 Olives Hotel. I arranged mine there and they picked me up at my hotel downhill. It costs 30 B (0,3 USD) and takes 30-40 minutes. The road to the airport is fully paved.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: As Lalibela is a rather touristic spot, the airport is modern though small. It has only a gate and 2 souvenir shops and a cafeteria. Coming from the muddy rural village, the airport seemed to me a spotless piece of "western" land, a place where WC were like at home and there was A/C... heaven after so many days in dusty buses!

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