Exploring Ethiopia:A journey through ancient wonders and cultural icons

As we darted through Addis Ababa's morning rush hour, my jet lag couldn't dull the energy of Ethiopia's capital.

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We wove through crowds of office workers headed to high-rises and families leading goats home for Orthodox Christmas feasts while our guide explained how one needs at least three weeks to fully experience his country.From the dramatic peaks of Simien Mountains National Park to the sprawling salt plains of the Danakil Depression, natural wonders alone could fill a month of adventure.

But there's also plenty for time-pressed travellers like we were. "With a few days, you can get a taste," guide Yonas Zewede of Landscape Ethiopia Tours assured me. So, we embarked on a whirlwind trip that would prove him right, an ambitious three-day sprint through remote sacred sites and bustling city streets in this East African nation. The city, "New Flower" in Amharic, is being transformed, with construction nearly everywhere you look. Historic churches and mosques neighbour contemporary shops and restaurants amid a forest of cranes and scaffolding. Among its enduring treasures is Ethiopia's most famous export: Arabica coffee. We started the day at Tomoca Coffee on Wavel Street, one of Addis' first coffee roasters. For less than a dollar a cup, the standing-room-only institution serves up macchiatos - bold coffee with a splash of milk - or a milder blend of coffee and tea, known as a sprice.

However, to fully appreciate the region's coffee culture, one must experience a coffee ceremony, a ritual still practiced in homes, restaurants and hotels across Ethiopia. Incense mixes with the aroma of beans roasting over hot coals, each batch ground by hand before being brewed in a clay pot and poured with precision, as bowls of salted popcorn circulate.