About the shoes...

A mustard-robed monk at St George's church in Lalibela, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

* - from the note - Someone's trainers..... you have to go barefooted into the churches and, whilst being guided around by one of the deacons, a novice will accompany the group to look after the shoes as one enters each church, for which he will expect a small tip at the end. The French chap who was with us gave our shoe boy all of one birr = eight eurocents. He told us he had had his money stolen somewhere else in Ethiopia. However, the next day we saw him heading off towards the mountains on a three day trip on a mule and a stash of hashish which he had bought for forty dollars! Amazing!