Try the injera. It has a curious texture that some people don’t like and has a lemony tang as the batter is left to ferment like sourdough.

If you can’t stomach the injera, there is plenty of pasta available because the Italians occupied Ethiopia for a time. Vegetarians won’t have any problem as the Ethiopians fast frequently, which for them is doing without meat.

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In Lalibela we stayed at Blue Lal Hotel and at Yemhera Hotel.

The Yemhera has bungalows in the grounds and you can wander in the grounds without harassment. We visited the Blue Lal most days for toast and honey.

Lalibela is also the place to sample Tej, a honey wine, while enjoying the local music and dancing, an experience in itself.

Blue Lal Hotel, tel: 033 3360380
Yemhere Hotel, tel: 033 3360163

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I will treasure the memory of joining the St George's Day celebration in Lalibela. It is impossible to describe the feeling of mingling with the crowds of people, mainly wrapped in white, walking along the deep rock hewn corridors, kicking off the sandals and forcing your way into the church.

An earlier fantastic memory was walking along the day before and suddenly seeing St Giyorgis sunk into the rock.

A less pleasant memory was fleas in the carpets of the churches! Do take something for the fleas as they can migrate to the bedding.

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In Addis Ababa we stayed at the Ghion Hotel, useful for its central location. We didn’t use the large grounds and swimming pool but I think that we would have appreciated them if we had stayed longer.

Tel: 011 5513222
Email: ghion@ethionet

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Do visit The Sheraton for afternoon tea. It’s affordable and the décor, piano and vast array of cakes takes you to another world.

Just down the hill from The Sheraton, is the St George Gallery, which has a wonderful display of quality goods, both antique and modern. Further down the hill were shops that sold jewellery by weight of silver. It was good quality and reasonably priced.

We did most of our gift shopping at a group of shops just off Churchill Avenue on the right up Nigeria Street.

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