Ethiopia?

aviendha

Considering a 3 week trip to Ethiopia this year. Has anybody been, or has any recommendations/suggestions/general tips about when/where to go?

bringitdown

4 or so of us are heading in end-September / October just after rainy season (things get unpredictable road/travel wise during the rains)

Our itinerary is roughly: Addis -> Lallibela (UNESCO Rock Churches) -> Gonder (Medieval Castle) -> Debark / Simien Mountains Trekking -> Bahir Dar and Laka Tana -> Addis

We are partaking in an organised tour as we are very time constrained but with 3 weeks and making use of internal flights you can easily manage that on your own with a little planning.

If you haven't been to a 3rd world country get reading up it is an amazing/beautiful/heartbreaking/wonderful experience....

Get the Bradt guide for Ethiopia for a definitive guide and also check http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

bringitdown

http://www.rte.ie/travel/nofrontiers/20070109.html

Katherine Thomas in Ethiopia.

Merrion

I have been a couple of years back. Best holiday I ever went on!

Photos : here

I went with a company called 13 Suns and they were absolutely excellent.
We did much like bringiton's proposed itinerary - plus Axum and the very far north (near Afar region)

I would suggest you try the local food - it is fantastic. People are very friendly and safety is generally very good but be wary of pickpockets etc in Addis in the mercato (open air market) .

There are very strict rules about photographing government sites (buildings, bridges etc) so be sensible near embassies and minsitries etc. If you want a list of "must do" stuff let me know....

aviendha

Thanks bringitdown, merrion. Pictures from Ethiopia look stunning!

Having been on RTW trip through countries like Russia, China, Central America, I'm looking to make the next step to 3rd world countries. Met many people who had highly recommended Ethiopia, and of course, saw the No Frontiers show where KT had recommended it as one of her favourite countries of all her travels.

Is it possible to do independently, or would I be better off getting involved on an organised tour?

Merrion

We went with 13 suns, but it is possible to go independently. However it is a good idea to get a good local guide because a lot of the historical sites are really illuminated by knowing the history.

Internal flights are relatively reasonably priced and there are point to point busses but bare in mind that it is a big country so these will take a lot of time. Car hire is probably a non starter as you'd need 4WD and off road experience to get to some of the more interesting places.

bringitdown

Is it possible to do independently, or would I be better off getting involved on an organised tour?

With a Bradt guide for Ethiopia and the very help people on http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com you should be able to manage it. Book flights in advance. Simien Mountains trek can be organised on spec in Debark.

Just make sure you have contingency built in to any route you plan .... !!!