A very personal look at Ethiopia

"Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT Sundays on CNN U.S. Follow the show onTwitter and Facebook.

(CNN)Who are we and where do we come from? To what extent are we the sum of our parts?

A warm welcome to Ethiopia 01:43

I wonder about stuff like that. And this week, my friend Marcus Samuelsson gets to ponder exactly those things as he and his wife, Maya, take me back to Ethiopia, to the towns where they were born -- and tell me their fascinating stories.

I've been meaning and hoping to visit Ethiopia and make a show there for years. But I would never consider doing it without Marcus coming along to put a personal spin on things. It's always better, I think, when we can see a new or unfamiliar place through a specific set of eyes, to have a particular voice telling us about a place.

Marcus, of course, is a very well-known and respected chef with a number of businesses. I had to wait a few years for the schedules of two very busy people to align, but we got there in the end.

Ethiopia is a big, diverse place. Marcus and Maya come from two very different, distinct regions: different topography, different cuisine, different languages. They both left Ethiopia at different times in their lives -- and under very different circumstances. Maya has remained close to her family and is a more frequent visitor. Marcus has only in the last few years fully sought to investigate and engage family roots that were broken when he was an infant.

Ethiopia glides into a new era 01:38

So, watching the two of them experience Ethiopia in their own ways, and yet also together, was fascinating.

I learned a lot about a beautiful country while making this episode, and enjoyed doing it. I hope you will too.

Great food, great music and some really deeply personal stories, this Sunday night!

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

A salt worker and his camels cross the Danakil Depression in Northern Ethiopia. The landscape is one of harshest on earth, with wastelands of salt and sweltering temperatures that remain well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Raw, immense and majestically beautiful, the Erta Ale volcanic crater also sits within the Danakil Depression. Known for being the world's oldest active lava lake, the locals call it "the gateway to hell".

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Wine lovers can find unexpected sights in the country, like this winery outside the town of Ziway, central Ethiopia. Beyond the donkeys on a potholed road there are vineyards bursting with merlot, syrah and chardonnay grapes ripening in the African sun.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia has a burgeoning fashion industry. It is known for its intricately woven cotton fabrics, and emerging designers such as Fikirte Addis and Liya Kebede are putting Addis Ababa firmly on the fashion map.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Another UNESCO World Heritage site is the tiny village of Negash, which was home to Ethiopia's first Muslim communities and is one of the most important sites in Islam. Legend has it that the Prophet Mohammed's daughter lived her for a time.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

In the eastern city of Harar, this building is known as Arthur Rimbaud's house after the famous French poet who visited the area. It was actually built by an Indian merchant on the site of an earlier house where Rimbaud is said to have lived.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

One of the colourful painted alleyways in Harar's Jugal, the 16th-century fortification within the modern city.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia has been named as the world's best destination for tourists in 2015 by the European Council on Tourism and Trade. What makes the country unique? Ethiopia is home to nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Semien National Park. Massive erosion over the years on the Ethiopian plateau has created one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, with jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500 meters.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia is home to one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, dating back to the early fourth century. Nowhere is this heritage clearer than the northern town of Lalibela, where 11 underground churches have been hewn out of the rock. The Church of St. George (Bet Giyorgis) was carved from a type of limestone around the early 13th century.

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

In Lalibela, the many sacred sites are linked by tunnels. The chiseled creations have turned this mountain town into a place of pride and pilgrimage for worshipers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, attracting 80,000 to 100,000 visitors every year.

Hide Caption

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Priests and monks in Lalibela celebrate the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Timkat, which remembers the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. The Tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant is taken out of every Ethiopian church for 24 hours and paraded during a procession in towns across the country. Over 80 % of Ethiopians are estimated to be Orthodox Christians.

Hide Caption

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13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

The Danakil Depression desert basin reaches up to 125 meters below sea level due to the tectonic activity caused by plate movements in the region, and is home to fields of sulphurous hot spirings like this one.

Hide Caption

5 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

The inhospitable terrain of the Ethiopia's desert basin also features many acid pools.

Hide Caption

6 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

A salt worker and his camels cross the Danakil Depression in Northern Ethiopia. The landscape is one of harshest on earth, with wastelands of salt and sweltering temperatures that remain well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hide Caption

7 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Raw, immense and majestically beautiful, the Erta Ale volcanic crater also sits within the Danakil Depression. Known for being the world's oldest active lava lake, the locals call it "the gateway to hell".

Hide Caption

8 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Wine lovers can find unexpected sights in the country, like this winery outside the town of Ziway, central Ethiopia. Beyond the donkeys on a potholed road there are vineyards bursting with merlot, syrah and chardonnay grapes ripening in the African sun.

Hide Caption

9 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia has a burgeoning fashion industry. It is known for its intricately woven cotton fabrics, and emerging designers such as Fikirte Addis and Liya Kebede are putting Addis Ababa firmly on the fashion map.

Hide Caption

10 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Another UNESCO World Heritage site is the tiny village of Negash, which was home to Ethiopia's first Muslim communities and is one of the most important sites in Islam. Legend has it that the Prophet Mohammed's daughter lived her for a time.

Hide Caption

11 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

In the eastern city of Harar, this building is known as Arthur Rimbaud's house after the famous French poet who visited the area. It was actually built by an Indian merchant on the site of an earlier house where Rimbaud is said to have lived.

Hide Caption

12 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

One of the colourful painted alleyways in Harar's Jugal, the 16th-century fortification within the modern city.

Hide Caption

13 of 13

Source: CNN

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia has been named as the world's best destination for tourists in 2015 by the European Council on Tourism and Trade. What makes the country unique? Ethiopia is home to nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Semien National Park. Massive erosion over the years on the Ethiopian plateau has created one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, with jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500 meters.

Hide Caption

1 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Ethiopia is home to one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, dating back to the early fourth century. Nowhere is this heritage clearer than the northern town of Lalibela, where 11 underground churches have been hewn out of the rock. The Church of St. George (Bet Giyorgis) was carved from a type of limestone around the early 13th century.

Hide Caption

2 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

In Lalibela, the many sacred sites are linked by tunnels. The chiseled creations have turned this mountain town into a place of pride and pilgrimage for worshipers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, attracting 80,000 to 100,000 visitors every year.

Hide Caption

3 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

Priests and monks in Lalibela celebrate the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Timkat, which remembers the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. The Tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant is taken out of every Ethiopian church for 24 hours and paraded during a procession in towns across the country. Over 80 % of Ethiopians are estimated to be Orthodox Christians.

Hide Caption

4 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

The Danakil Depression desert basin reaches up to 125 meters below sea level due to the tectonic activity caused by plate movements in the region, and is home to fields of sulphurous hot spirings like this one.

Hide Caption

5 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

The inhospitable terrain of the Ethiopia's desert basin also features many acid pools.

Hide Caption

6 of 13

13 photos: Ethiopian appeal

A salt worker and his camels cross the Danakil Depression in Northern Ethiopia. The landscape is one of harshest on earth, with wastelands of salt and sweltering temperatures that remain well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hide Caption

7 of 13