100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Elizondo Griest

Author:Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Travelers' Tales
Published: 2010-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

TOURS

Three Land Travel has ten different tours available to Cambodia from six to thirteen days in length, all-inclusive (www.cambodia.threeland.com).

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Ethiopia

SYNONYMOUS WITH FAMINE IN THE ’80S, ETHIOPIA IS SLOWLY being recognized today for what it has quietly been all along—a gem of a nation. At the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East, Ethiopia offers historical and archaeological wonders, a gorgeous people, and a reverent coffee culture.

• Ethiopians call their nation The Land of the Queen of Sheba and her legends proliferate. She left her country only once during her long reign to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, and he was so taken by her beauty that he seduced her. The Queen (known to her descendants as Makeda) gave birth to a son named Menelik, who became the first Emperor of Ethiopia. At some point, Ethiopians say, Menelik took from his father the sacred Ark of the Covenant (the gold-and-acacia container that Moses built to store the Ten Commandments) and it remains hidden in the treasury of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Axum. While you can visit the ruins of Queen Makeda’s palace in the fields of Axum, only the highest of religious leaders can peek at the Ark.

• At the National Museum of Addis Ababa, pay respects to Lucy, the oldest and most complete skeleton of a hominid (the link between humans and apes) ever discovered. She was named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which anthropologists played in honor of the remarkable find near the River Awash. Then head to the main campus of Addis Ababa University, where the Ethnological Museum offers an overview of the cultural, religious, and musical traditions of the nation’s sixty-plus ethnic groups. In the likely event you covet their textiles—handspun white cotton with colorful borders—drop by the Sheromeda Market and start haggling.

• The eleven churches of Lalibela are said to have been carved out of a single monolith in the thirteenth century at record speed, thanks to the angels who covered the night-shift. All Ethiopian Christians make at least one pilgrimage here before they die; January’s Timket celebrating the baptism of Jesus is a particularly extraordinary festival. The monasteries in the islands of Lake Tana, the headwaters of the Blue Nile, are also worth the journey.

• Joining in the green movement sweeping across Africa, Ethiopia is rapidly building eco-lodges out of natural resources using traditional techniques. Try the lovely Bishangari Lodge on Lake Langano, which runs on solar power and offers every activity from horseback riding to hippo-spotting.

• According to legend, an Ethiopian goatherd discovered coffee when his animals got extra spunky after chewing on some leaves and berries. A monk perfected the art of roasting and brewing, and the beverage quickly spread to the Middle East and then throughout the world. Ethiopians serve their coffee with the same reverence of the Japanese at tea time. As frankincense burns, the host roasts the beans and then swirls them before the guests so they can inhale the rich fumes. After a blessing,

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