Bilquis Hotel Marib

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 keep the old building in a good way. Of course, these people are the owners of the old buildings.<br><br>Most of the ...

This is Wadi Dhuhr, location of an old home of Imam YaHya - who ruled with an iron fist from the early 1900's to 1948. The old home has been well kept as a museum, even though he is not a beloved figure of Yemen. When he gained true autonomy from the Ottomans (1904) and the British (1918), his kingdom was basically what Yemen is now today with the exclusion of Aden. After his death, his son took over and continued his father's oppresive practices. The ...

Tonight I and two friends went to the old city of Sanaa. We found a place called Burj alsalaam, a hotel. On the roof of this hotel we smoked sheesha and talked about Middle Eastern politics. The view from the roof of the hotel beautifully overlooked the city and the mountains in the back ground. Luckily we caught the maghreb and 'ashaa call to prayer. Some of the voices were beautiful while other voices were not, some of the callers ...

It was my last day in Yemen, and I was ready to go home. I still wasn't feeling 100%, awaking at 3 am after only 4 hours of sleep and my stomach was still unsettled. I wrote 6 post cards while sitting up in bed, wondering how many people still send post cards these days. Traveling solo with digital camera and computer meant I was writing more in my journal, more post cards, and more photo editing than when I traveled with Suzan and Sophia. This trip had ...

I slept a solid 6 hours from 1 to 7 am, and I awoke feeling a little better than the previous evening. I still wasn't up for anything other than getting myself back to Sana'a, so it meant that I wouldn't visit Hajjarah after all. It also meant I wouldn't have a second day of hiking in the Haraz Mountains, but I wondered if a second day would have offered anything different than the first day anyways. The villages ...

... charming (and cheapest) hotels of my trip: the Burj al Salam. I made my decision to stay here based on other travelers' reviews on TripAdvisor.com and by reviewing the hotel's own website. The hotel's location can't be beat. It is located right in the center of the old city. What you see today, as the majestic structure of Burj Al Salam is what was once a Yemeni tower house ("burj" means "tower" in Arabic), silently ...

Looking for fellow travellers to share cost of rental car. I will be traveling from Skopje to Tirana then over to Podgorica and some of the Montenegro coast. Next will go up through Western Bosnia to Belgrade and then back to Skopje through Kosovo. This will be a three to four week trip starting Sept 3rd 2008, so if you are traveling anywhere along these routes, email me. khushafa@hotmail.com

... point just in time for lunch, which was yet again delicious and filling. When we finished lunch, we looked out the window and the entire mountainside was covered in clouds. So we decided that it was time to go, since we didn't want to be driving in clouds and darkness. Driving into Sana'a, we came over a mountain and were faced with a panoramic view of our dusty, polluted city of residence. "Welcome home!" said Assam. We all sighed in disappointment.

I've just arrived back after spending two days up in the Heraz mountains, which are about three hours away by car from Sanaa. I had spent a pleasant day in Sanaa catching up on sleep on Tuesday, and also squared away a few things like confirming my Cairo flight and obtaining a 'tasreeh' or travel permit (required whenever you leave Sanaa) for the Heraz. I had a terrific traditional Yemeni dinner with Ursula, which consisted of fresh, barbecued fish, spicy ...

Mahaba, There are two places in Yemen to which the FCO advises against all travel: Sa'ada and Marib. Having travelled to the war-torn tribal stronghold of Sa'ada within a week of arriving in Yemen last year to returned unscathed, I thought it only fair to sample Marib this time around. Accompanying me were Tom (a young American who managed against all odds to get our travel permission), Aaron (my sole remaining friend from last year) and Becky (a newly ...