11 Days Highlights of Ethiopia

About the destination: Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia and a hub for international diplomacy concerning Africa. Ethiopia is an ancient land with rich history and cultural heritage and its capital city is no exception, Addis is full of culture and impressive monuments of colonial architecture. The huge area around Mercato is a picturesque part of the city. It is a colorful open market that offers everything from food to paintings of biblical scenes. The calls from the minarets happen five times a day to call the faithful Muslims to prayer. The mosques and churches are close to each other offering a fascinating merging of worlds worth experiencing. Other important sights of the city are the Emperor’s Palace, the Menelik II Mausoleum located in a cellar under a small church on a hill overlooking the city, the Africa Hall, a convention hall with beautiful stained, the Lion Park, the Ethiopian Museum, the Grand Mosque, the Lion of Judah statue and the octagonal Church of St. George. Addis Abeba is exciting and full of contrast, a mix of the past and the present, and it offers the chance to experience big-city Africa in an entirely inviting atmosphere.

About the destination: This provincial capital is one of the most beautiful and urbanly organized cities that can be found in Ethiopia. Perhaps the fact that Bahir Dar is on the shore of Lake Tana is quite influential. In any case it is nice to walk through its wide avenues with palm trees. A highly recommended walk is the one that takes us to the bridge of the Blue Nile, very close to the birthplace of this river. This bridge is about 2.5 km from the Ghion hotel following the shore of Lake Tana. From the same bridge and looking towards the lake you can see the sources of the Blue Nile and, depending on the time of day and with good luck, it is possible to see a hippopotamus. Certainly neither the bridge nor the view of the river from this point are too charming, at least compared to the sources of the White Nile in Jinja (Uganda). Still we reiterate our recommendation to make this trip. If we continue the track beyond the bridge and 200 m. we turn right towards the Bezawit mountain, and we walk about 3 km. more you get to Haile Selassie's palace. The palace is not visitable and it is forbidden to take pictures from outside. There is only the possible view from up there. Returning to the center of Bahir Dar along the same road we recommend making a stop at Hotel Tana. This hotel is already somewhat decrepit, but it has a magnificent garden by the lake, with lots of birds, where it is very nice to have a drink and enjoy the peace and relax of such a beautiful environment

关于目的地: 贡德尔或贡德尔曾是埃塞俄比亚的前帝国首都和历史悠久的Begemder省。因此，旧的Begemder省经常被称为Gondar。它位于Amhara地区的Semien Gondar地区，Gondar位于Angenab河上的Tana湖以北和Simen山脉的西南部。它位于海拔2,133米。地理坐标为：12°36'N 37°28'E。人口194,773。

关于目的地: 拉利贝拉是埃塞俄比亚阿姆哈拉地区的一个小镇，以其岩石切割的整体教堂而闻名。整个拉利贝拉是埃塞俄比亚中世纪和后中世纪文明的大型古代。[1]拉利贝拉是埃塞俄比亚最神圣的城市之一，仅次于阿克苏姆，是朝圣的中心。与阿克苏姆不同，拉利贝拉的人口几乎完全是埃塞俄比亚东正教徒。埃塞俄比亚是最早在四世纪上半叶采用基督教的国家之一，其历史根源可以追溯到使徒时代。教会自己的历史可以追溯到七世纪到十三世纪，传统上可以追溯到扎格威国王格布雷·梅塞尔·拉利贝拉统治时期（约1181-1221）。拉利贝拉主要建筑的布局和名称被广泛接受，尤其是当地神职人员，是耶路撒冷的象征性代表。这导致一些专家将目前的教会形式与穆斯林领袖萨拉丁于1187年夺取耶路撒冷之后的几年相比较。拉利贝拉位于阿姆哈拉地区的北沃洛区，海拔约2500米（8,200英尺）。它是Lasta woreda的主要城镇，以前是Bugna woreda的一部分。 Rock-Hewn教堂于1978年被宣布为世界遗产。