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Traveller Ian Wright begins his exploration
of Ethiopia in the northern highlands of Axum.
He visits the oldest church in Ethiopia, which is supposedly
the resting place of the Ark of the  Covenant, and also
attends a native wedding.
An 8-hour bus journey takes Ian south to Lalibela
in time to attend the most important festival on the
Ethiopian calendar, Timkat. After the
celebrations Ian visits the 11 churches hewn out of
rock, which the locals believe were built by angels.
He also finds out how aid donated by the West has helped
Ethiopia since the famine of 1984.
Ian's journey takes him to Bahar Dar,
where he visits the spectacular Blue Nile Falls
and samples some of the local cuisine with a couple
of fellow British travellers.
From Bahar Dar, Ian travels to the Ethiopian capital,
Addis Ababa. After drinking coffee
with the locals, he goes bargain-hunting in Mercato,
the biggest outdoor market in the whole of Africa and
is pampered in a local hydrotherapy centre.
The town of Harar is Ian's next stop,
where he takes part in the popular pass-time of chewing
a plant known as chat. He visits the
Hyena Man, who is famous for feeding hyenas with his
bare hands - surely one of the world's most bizarre
tourist attractions.
Flying via Addis Ababa once again, Ian travels south
to Shashemane, passing through Lake
Langano, one of several giant lakes in the
heart of Ethiopia's great Rift Valley.
A local  Rastafarian community invites him to attend
a coffee ceremony.
The final leg of the journey takes Ian to the very
south of Ethiopia, to the town of Arba Minch
and the Mago National Park.
He has his fortune told from a goat's intestine by the
Hamar tribe, takes part in the bizarre macho
ritual of cow jumping and is challenged to a stick fight
by a member of one of Africa's fiercest tribes, the
Mursi.
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