Two beautiful countries in one. Ethiopia is one of my favorites. The northern part is totally different from the southern part. From the capital Addis Ababa you can choose which country you want to visit.

In the northern part you can visit lots of Christian churches hewn from rock. The most famous are in Lalibela, but there are many more in Tigray area. Some are carved out of the ground, some are sculpted into cliffs. It’s like going back to the Middle Ages. Aksum is famous of his stelae, tombs and ruined palaces. Gonder has the Royal Enclosure, which offers a lot of palaces and castles. Don’t forget to visit Bahar Dar, the place near the Blue Nile falls and lake Tana, where you can visit the island monasteries. All these places are situated in the highlands of Ethiopia. If you want to take a closer look at the highlands visit the Simien Mountains which are spectacular. If you are lucky you will meet many gelada baboons.

If you go south of Addis Ababa you will meet the tribes of Ethiopia. There are hundreds of tribes near the Omo river. I visited Mursi (with their famous clay dishes) in Mago National park, beautiful Hamer, Erbore and Borana. During our visit in Turmi, the capital of the Hamer, we were lucky to see the bull jump. The bull jump is a rite of passage for man coming of age which must be done before a man is permitted to marry. Female relatives provoke friends of the “man” to get hit with a twig. The more hits the higher the status of the woman. The “man” has to walk naked across the bulls for four times. The Maza (boys who already passed the bull jump) are responsible for the cattle.

It doesn’t matter which part of Ethiopia you visit, everywhere are beautiful people. I travelled 29 days through Ethiopia in the summer of 2006 with Sawadee. If you want more information about this trip click here.

Itinerary