The church or monastry of Asheton Maryam lies at an altitude of nearly 4000m high above the town of Lalibela. The church is carved out of a cleft into a cliff face. Whilst the church and contents are interesting the excursion is wonderful for the views, setting and scenery. We made the ascent on mules which I would not recommend - my back ached for about a week afterwards. On the way up (on mule back) we got good views of Erckel's Francolin which we struggled to see again later in the trip.