Yemen Travel Blogs

Hadhramaut (Part Two)
Nov 15, 2005

... we headed by taxi to Shibam, a small (tiny actually) city of mud-skyscrapers and one of three UNESCO world heritage sights in Yemen (Old Sana'a where I reside is another, and the town of Zabid the third). In fact it is credited as the first instance of ...

Turkish Bath
Dec 19, 2005

... , "I had a great time, thank you!". Okey dokey, well I guess this is the end for the time being. Insha'allah, I will return to Yemen in the new year as I'm now determined to crack this pain-in-the-ass language now that I've started. I've had a great 10 ...

The Big Match: Yemen vs. India!
Nov 17, 2006 (15 photos)

... more enjoyable to watch had I been able to vent my frustration with some good old English chanting - unfortunately, this being Yemen and thus somewhat conservative, I hadn't had the bottle prior to the game to ask my teacher for the Arabic translations to ...

Travelling North
Oct 23, 2005 (13 photos)

... a mixture of mud and straw, yet still managed to maintain that elegance that I've become accustomed to during my short time in Yemen. Unlike any other Old City in Yemen, you can still walk along the Wall for the entire perimeter of the city. This was ...

My Yemenia article...
Dec 17, 2005

... to be published. Apparently, Yemenia have contacts with my school for any pieces of student work that reflect positive Western experiences in Yemen. They publish them in their magazine so as to boost tourism in the country. So, if any of you happen to ...

Aden - living it up and letting the hair down...
May 14, 2006 (15 photos)

... was thankfully forthcoming. The following morning I awoke with the slight gnawing of a hangover - such an alien feeling in Yemen. However, after a spot of breakfast we headed for the beach which I knew, in the obvious absence of fried bacon, would ...

Kamaran
Dec 18, 2005

I recently got back from my final little bit of travelling. Accompanied this time by Ally (the German guy), Fatima (the French girl) and Zahara (the British girl, but really just an ex-pat from Dubai), we ventured by bus to Hodeida on the Red Sea coast en ...

Camping in the desert with the Bedouin
Oct 30, 2006 (51 photos)

On a recent trip to Hadhramaut, five other students and I spent a night camping out in the open desert with the Bedouin. Accompanying me on the trip were Elizabeth, Erin, Hema, Zach (all American) and Paula (Swedish). Having regaled my companions with the ...

In search of the hottest place on earth..
May 27, 2006 (44 photos)

... we prepared to leave the hotel to eat a much-needed meal, the hotel clerk asked for our passports - a standard procedure in Yemen. Unfortunately, in a rather large oversight, Evan had left his passport in Sana'a - 'mushkilla kabeera' (big problem). In ...

Back in Yemen... finally!
Mar 26, 2006

... compelled for now to purchase Season 1 having missed the second half of the series on TV because of my first trip to Yemen. Yesterday I joined a gym called 'The Officers' Club'. It's really expensive in Yemeni terms at $50 per month, and upon entry I ...

Yemeni reaction to Saddam's death sentence
Nov 23, 2006 (6 photos)

... his favourite word). Well anyway, I think this newspaper is fairly representative of the general sentiment of people on the streets of Yemen to Saddam's death sentence. When they look at it they see only the sad demise from great strength of an Arab ...

So what's happening in Yemen these days..
May 13, 2006 (34 photos)

... ' a few times, though we don't want to wear it out too quickly (though I think somehow the idea of going bowling in a country like Yemen will keep giving). I prefer pool as nobody can beat me but I suck at bowling, though my last score of 46 (no really) I ...

Hadhramaut - the bus ride from hell..
Nov 11, 2005

... par for the course out here but not so my German companions who at 6.02pm were already bemoaning the poor level of Yemen efficiency: "shiser, veyer is dee bas, das is just not good." Upon its arrival we were immediately disappointed by the standard of ...

Hangin' with Royalty
Nov 5, 2005

... and had apparently got bored of being waited on by her many servants back in Saudi (as you do, obviously), so had come to Yemen some years ago to earn an honest living. Well, whatever, she was just stunning - rather upsettingly so actually, as I have a ...

Travelling North (Part Two)
Oct 23, 2005 (27 photos)

... -khair, Okay, so we've now got to Friday morning and we've finished our trip to Sa'ada, the supposedly dangerous part of Yemen - we weren't there that long and we did have a secret policeman following us around just in case, but at no stage during our ...

Ramadan cometh... bringeth the hunger pangs
Sep 26, 2006

... it's more likely that a close result would have led to violence. Either way, I'm disappointed... both for the people of Yemen who deserve better than a corrupt dictator in all but name, and for myself because I kinda wanted the excitement of civil unrest! ...

Ramadan endeth... cometh my pithy retrospective
Oct 24, 2006

... itself a sacrifice of sorts I guess, but it sure made Ramadan easier. Had I been back in the West (or probably anywhere but Yemen) and had to maintain a 9-5 schedule, I'd have probably not made it. I also have to confess that I had to break my fast for ...

Election fever - Middle East style!
Sep 19, 2006 (10 photos)

... 'democracy' Middle Eastern style. It ain't just the weather that's hot here right now folks! A quick politics lesson: Yemen is a 'democracy', yet the rampantly corrupt President Saleh has held office for 28 years, receiving 96.5% of the vote at the last ...

Catch-up
Nov 26, 2005

Hello all, Not too much to report really, but just thought I'd check in. Actually - shock horror - since returning to class after Eid, and with the impetus of a new teacher, I've become a hard-working student. This is in stark contrast to the lay-about ...

Orientation
Oct 16, 2005 (26 photos)

... my MA and I figured learning it properly would boost my employment prospects to go with the International Relations Masters. So, I chose Yemen because it's cheap, it's non-Westernised so you pick up the language quicker as you're forced more to use it, ...

Observations
Oct 17, 2005

Evening all, Can I first of all thank you for the many emails you have sent me. So many in fact that I'm going to have to break my promise to answer them individually this time, but please don't let that deter you from writing in the future. Okay, ...

Marib: behind enemy lines
Apr 9, 2006 (26 photos)

... rajul wa kalbahu' (every man and his dog) carries a Kalashnikov. It also accounts for almost all Western kidnappings in Yemen. However, despite these fairly logical reasons not to go, Marib is also home to some great archaeological sights, a remarkable Old ...

Hiking in Yemen's Haraz Mountains
Dec 20, 2008 (12 photos)

... awoke at 11 pm right when the performance finished and lay awake for the next 2 hours, imagining myself getting kidnapped in Yemen and then staging a daring escape after being held captive for 26 days.  Then I made the talk-show circuit recounting my ...

First full day in Yemen, up to Kawkaban
Dec 18, 2008 (15 photos)

... ; I had great pleasure looking at the photos on my laptop later.  They were some of the best photos I had gotten in Yemen yet.   From Hababah I paid $2.50 for a taxi to Thilla where I found a pre-wedding celebration in progress.  I wished ...

First Day in Yemen, "Arabia Felix"
Dec 17, 2008 (5 photos)

... where I ordered some rice, a potato stew, and a bottle of water, all for a grand total of one dollar.  I love Yemen's prices!   I went to the Tourist Police station to get a permit to travel outside of Sana'a, and the areas on my plan were ...

Yemen...yeah mon...Yemen
Nov 8, 2008 (13 photos)

... this is the Yemen I wanted to visit.  Why?  When I told people (both you and others) that I planned to visit Yemen on vacation everyone was quizzical if not skeptical or concerned.  Even to many Arabs, Yemen is the black sheep of the Middle ...

BVAWT024 - OYSN
Sep 30, 2008

OYSN - Sanaa International Airport

Into the Haraz Mountains of Yemen
Dec 19, 2008 (9 photos)

... of others the 15 km to Sana'a, and after dropping me at Tahrir Square he declined payment.  Add one more plus for Yemen.   I wandered around Tahrir hoping to change money and make some more photocopies of my travel permit, but came up empty on ...

Arabia Felix
Dec 28, 2006 (27 photos)

     Salaam Alaykum. Welcome to Yemen!  This is the greeting I received from the customs officer who stamped my visa when I arrived in this wonderful jewel of a country it seems the modern world has largely passed by.  Here in ...

Liberal Yemen
Jan 17, 2007 (11 photos)

... it has been under the control of the British and also served as the capital city of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen before the country unified in 1990.  People have more liberal attitudes here and many women don't walk around ...