Ethiopia is probably one of the most interesting country I've visited (and one I would go back again). There are simply so many things to see and do in Ethiopia that our 10 pitiful days just can't do it justice. So, I decided to split up the trip into 2: first do the Northern historical circuit visiting Bahir Dar (a lakeside town with many monasteries), Gondar (the last capital), Lalibela (capital before Gondar famous for its rock-hewn churches), and Axum (the earliest capital for the Axumites, with mysterious stalaes); then do the Southern Omo Valley + Harar (the 3rd holiest muslim city famous for tamed hyenas roaming around town) in the summer.
Despite the short trip, the land of Habesha already mesmerized me beyond imagination. It has one of the most awe-inspiring, unspoiled landscape I've seen
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| Beautiful Lake Tana in Bahir Dar |
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| The Magnificent Simien Mountain Range |
In addition, one can observe rich history, deeply-rooted culture and national pride in Ethiopia. Ethiopians believe that they are descendants of King Solomon as described by the book of Kebra Nagast. It described how Queen of Sheba met Solomon, gave birth to Menalik I, as well as how the Ark of Covenant arrived in Ethiopia as God's intended place for the Ark's final resting place. This special connection gave rise to tremendous pride for the Ethiopian people, and as we visit around the many churches and monasteries, we see more and more mystical elements connected to (but not described in the Bible) which made the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church that much more mysterious and intriguing.
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| Castle in Gondar |
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| Intriguing Stelae in Axum |
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| Remote monastery around Lake Tana |
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| Beautiful religious paintings found all over Ethiopia |
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| St. George's rock-hewn church in Lalibela |
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| Proudly passing the "I have not sinned" test in Lalibela |
It's not surprising, with the amount of churches around the country, that religion is deeply rooted in the lives in Ethiopia (at least in the towns we visited in the Northern circuit). The dedication people have for their religion and God is admirable. We were visiting just a few days before the Ethiopian Christmas and the Epiphany celebration, so pilgrims from around the country were just gathering in various holy places. People walk miles and miles to get to be part of this celebration; given the heat and dusty condition, if that is not dedication, I'm not sure what is.
Being one of only 2 African countries never been colonized (the other being Liberia), Ethiopians are able to maintain its traditions and strong identity. As a ferengi (foreigner in amharic), it is also extremely refreshing to visit an East African country where I am treated as an equal rather than an assumed superior individual (given my "foreigner" credential). While the "you are a wealthy tourist, give me some money" mentality is understandably still there, and that we still get a lot of attention and constantly hassled by people going "you! you! you! you! you!", the awkward African and non-African social divide so prevalent in the rest of Africa seems to be missing in Ethiopia, and that was very nice.
And of course, the normal developing country hustle and bustle
as well as things that makes you scratch your head can also be observed here. We expected crowded bus rides, the pro is that for some reason, although equally pungent, B.O. seem less prevalent among Ethiopians (compare to Kenyans). The con is that the infrastructure is also less developed in Ethiopia. Buses are old and constantly breaking down (4 times for our ride from Gondar to Axum). Roads are dusty, bumpy and dangerous. And all sorts of things get carried on public transportation: 5 guns, 1 huge carpet, several bags of grains to name a few from our trip (the only thing we were missing were some livestocks). The prevalent of firearms carried by average civilians was particularly intriguing to me. Given the crowded (and bumpy) condition, there were several moments I thought the guns have a high chance of misfiring, and that will be the end of me. However, it seems like us foreigners were the only one concerned about guns on board. The Ethiopians were so nonchalant about it that at one point, some guy literally asked another unaffiliated passenger next to him to hold his gun while he can make a phone call.
My travel-mate Toba summed up the highlights of our trip best appropriately to the tune of 12 days of Christmas (since we were traveling over Christmas):
The 12 Days of Ethiopia
(although the trip was technically 10 days)
(although the trip was technically 10 days)
1 bus a blazing
2 pans of coffee beans a roasting
3 bottles of tej and angry men a staring
4 traveling ferenge (foreigner in Amahric)
5 armed men
6 trotting donkeys
7 pantless men a waving
8 gelada baboons a roaming
9 images of st. george a fighting
10 you! you! you!
11 rock hewn churches
12 fasting meals
Amesegenallo, Ethiopia! I shall be back!
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