Best Western Hadda Sanaa

... in Sana'a are made of big stones. This makes the house cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. I like the weather in Sana'a.

The life in Sana'a is easy. People are not hurry for anything except driving fast.

Ladies wear the black suit to cover themselves from neck to feet, some ladies even cover their face with vail. But when they are in ...

... a break from the time and effort it takes to entertain and care for Sophia, but I missed those duties just the same and looked forward to seeing her happy face. I went up to the hotel rooftop once again for photos, the morning sunshine bright and crisp. Sana'a was one of the most photogenic cities I had visited. I strolled over to the post office to mail the post cards, then went back to the internet place and used my laptop to go online for 90 minutes ...

... supremely picturesque, but not especially different from one another. I think I had my fill in one full day of hiking. I skipped breakfast, got my things together, and took a photo of the hotel owner, Abdullah, and his son, Ahmed. I had bought a post card a few days earlier in Sana'a of 2 traditionally dressed Yemeni men, and amazingly it turned out to be Abdullah and Ahmed! There are 21 million people in Yemen, so ...

... at the hotel. I rearranged my gear, taking only my small backpack with me on my overnight trip to Kawkaban. It was still plenty heavy with the laptop, camera, 2 guidebooks, tripod, some snacks, and just one change of underclothes. The weight would slow me down later, when I climbed to Thilla fortress and up to Kawkaban village. After leaving the Taj Talha Hotel I was walking through the narrow streets of old Sana' when an elderly man on a motorcycle rounded a corner ...

... six hours travelling around the area outside of Sana'a. After breakfast, I met my guide, Mohammed-what else? I was a bit dubious at first: he just didn't look like any guide I had ever hired before. He was dressed in the traditional Yemeni man-skirt called the futa and brandished a jambiyya, a large curved dagger, that's more of a status symbol than a weapon...but still a dagger...and in Yemen, size means everything ...

... and business class passengers complete with a sit down restaurant; will that be a la carte or buffet? Ample seating for just reading and waiting. For those First Class passengers with the time, there is a spa which provides Jacuzzi, steam or full massage services ranging from facials to a full body massages. I didn't indulge in a massage today but I did have one last year when I was here. The quality is on par with any spa ...

I had some internet problems uploading pictures this time, so to see my pictures, you can click on the link below. This is my "Yemen (ouside of Aden)" photo album. You DON'T have to be a member of Facebook to see it. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5 430&l=f668a&i d=667717982 After a lovely month at home with my family friends, I am back in Yemen, this time in Sana'a, pursuing my longtime dream of devoting my time to studying Arabic ...

I arrived back in Sanaa this morning after 5 days in Wadi Hadramawt. I had left on Thursday morning with Johan, and Indian guy currently doing his PhD at Harvard, and who studied Arabic at SOAS. The heat was incredibale; well above 40 degrees. We spent the hottest part of the day swimming in the pool one of the local top-end hotels, but also wondered round Sayhun and paid a visit to the old Sultan's palace, which dominates the town and is now a museum. Hadramawt is the ...

... all of the ex-pats in Aden flock to Ching Singh because it's one of the only places where they can have a drink with their dinner. This, of course, only makes it more depressing because it feels as though you are one of the last, jaded colonial survivors left behind to clean up after the rest. So when we had a break last week, I thought it was good timing to get away to the "the Big City" (Sana'a). Surprisingly, it was my ...

... discoverd between two walls of the ancient grand mosque when part of it collapsed under heavy rains in the late seventies. A quran may not be thrown away, even if it becomes illegible, and it seems those discovered had been stashed away when they were no longer of use. As you can imagine, Ursula is exceedingly learned. She had invited me to join the local Hash - a mixed group of Yemenis and expats who meet regularly to do a sort of paper trail ...