Sana'a, Yemen Travel Blogs

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

... I think. I just read on the bbc website that there were blizzards in England yesterday - last week there were a couple of clouds in the sky over Sana'a for two straight days, so I too have had my share of bad weather recently! Anyway, bye for now, Tom

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

... a pejorative. Umm what else. Oh, I've been here only a few days but have already planned my first trip outside Sana'a. I and a couple of other CALES students (German girls, semi-cute, but German nonetheless!) and also three random tourists who were ...

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

The Jazeera flight from Dubai to Sana'a was right on time, getting us to Yemen at 1:30 pm.  After plocking down $60 I was given a full page visa and I was in my 5th new country of 2008, the 137th of my life.  The guidebooks were written before ...

Arabia Felix
Dec 28, 2006 (27 photos)

... arrived in this wonderful jewel of a country it seems the modern world has largely passed by.  Here in the Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, men still walk the streets with daggers in their belts and the women are completely covered from head to toe ...

First week
Aug 21, 2007

... living in the heart of the Old Quarter. The ancient mud buildings are decorated with coloured-glass windows, white plasterwork and roof terraces. Yemen is so different from Syria - quite a bit poorer, for one thing. It is takin a bit of getting used to, ...

I'm not coming home...yet.
Oct 20, 2006

... I have never had culture shock before...not in Japan, UAE, Turkey, Oman...never until I arrived in this foreign land o' Yemen. Describing my culture shock is difficult because I cannot pinpoint what affected me so greatly. The layout of the old city? ...

My Yemeni Family
Oct 9, 2006

... this was a sign of hospitality or maybe a blunt hint that I should have in fact showered today. Showers are overrated in Yemen, especially when the water is always ice-cold. More stories of my escapades with my fam de la Yemen to come shortly. Until ...

Digestive system blues
Sep 26, 2006

... I referred to in my previous entry? Apparently my bowels decided to jump on the bandwagon. Prior to coming to Yemen, I thought I was invincible. I thought my body could handle anything. Tap water in every country visited, pig's ear cartilage, raw ...

I am here, just been lazy...
Jan 29, 2007

The title of my entry explains it all.  My life in Yemen the past 3 weeks has been quite fulfilling and I really didn't feel up to writing anything on my blog.  My apologies!

Arrival in Sana'a
Sep 24, 2006 (4 photos)

... speaks English. Nobody. And it is a darn good thing as that was one of my main reasons for deciding to study in Yemen. Ramadan started two days again and although I had no plans to convert to Islam and join in on the fasting festivities, it looks ...

All kinds of randomness
Sep 28, 2006

... we concluded that in celebration of the momentous 30th birthday and perhaps the coming of a large anxiety attack/midlife crisis (he's in Yemen...quite a midlife crisis in itself if you ask me), we wanted to rent a donkey. What? This seems odd to you? ...

Home again home again jiggity jig
Nov 26, 2006

... to USAID and UNICEF to include along with poptarts in care packages to be dropped in various impoverished locations around the world. Yemen included. The teddy bear served multiple purposes. First of all, it made me laugh. This was not the reason for ...

Bani Matar hiking trip
Oct 14, 2006 (6 photos)

Photos from a hiking trip I took with Manel, Alex, Vidvuds, and Khomeidi.

Rain, rain...stay!
Feb 1, 2007

The dark grey sky opened its gates today, rain pouring forth on the city of Sanaa below as children skipped over puddles and men raced for cover.  To onlookers, my actions might have resembled that of a mental patient escapee (though such things as ...

The martyr
Feb 2, 2007

... has accordingly produced an increase in martyr posters covering city walls, motorbikes, and bus windows.   When I returned to Yemen, shortly after Eid Adha (the Muslim holiday just before the Islamic New Year) I tried to refrain from asking people ...

A look back on my eid holiday
Oct 29, 2006 (10 photos)

... about the ins and outs of the Yemeni healthcare system - Showering in hot water for the second time since I have been in Yemen. Natural hot springs. They mean hot. - Traveling in a shared taxi - a station wagon - with 11 people in all. 4 in ...

A trip to the Big City
Aug 28, 2007 (2 photos)

... they said, "She can't travel without a tasrih [official travel permit]".  As you know from my previous entries, travel in Yemen involves checkpoints and on certain roads, police escorts for foreigners.  I hadn't had a tasrih on the way up and I ...

Flight to Sana'a - Republic of Yemen
Apr 10, 2006

Great journey I stayed for about 3 months in yemen visted its major cities.

Old city with old buidlings
Jul 14, 2009

In the downdown of sana'a city, there is an area names "Bab-Yemen", means the gate of Yemen. This is a small and old town with more than 300year history. There are still people living in the old buldings, and the government pay these people in order to ...

yemen
Sep 2, 2008

despite the many fears that resulted from civil disputes, yemen is definitely worth a visit. i see the backward way of life as refreshing and a good change from the fast paced way of life in other countries. and yes, a lot of its people are real ...