Axum, with good hotels and daily flights by Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa 1,005 kilometers to the north, is the northernmost stop along the route, and the site of the Ethiopia most ancient city. It is renowned for its cathedral of St. Mary of Zion where, as legend has it the original Ark of the Covenant is housed. Axum is also famous for its seven mysterious monolithic stelae, all made of single pieces of granite, and three with identical decorations. The biggest of these measuring thirty three meters and weighing over 500 tones, was the largest monolith in the world but fell at some remote period in the past. On your route to Axum you will pass Ras Dashen which, at 4,620 meters, is Africa’s fourth highest mountain.