Hotel Shahran Sanaa

... Our walk around the large house definitely was equivalent to a long walk, especially since Yahya seemed to like high places, better for seeing the enemy coming. He had a few different lounging rooms, where he and friends chewed Khat. He also had a separate room for each wife, four in all. On one of the roofs he had peeps holes for each wife, which were built to hide view of his wifes from below. Interestingly, there was a burial cave, one that would be ...

... myself with a 30 cent can of cold Mountain Dew. Wow did that taste good! I checked out of the hotel, caught a taxi, and got to the airport an hour before departure. I was glad to carry on both of my bags, in the hopes that I could just hang around the departures area in the Dubai airport where there was plenty of space and free wi-fi. Leaving Yemen I felt like 5 days in this fascinating country had been enough to have a fine trip. The only ...

... and I made it back without any emergency. I was actually feeling good enough to take some photos around Bab al Yemen, the gateway through the old city walls of Sana'a and a hive of activity. I started shooting discrete photos of Yemeni women, not even bothering to ask. It was a beautiful day, less hazy than days past and no afternoon cloud build-up. It was really an excellent time of year to be in Yemen. I went ...

... me behind so that we could get going. From Shibam I took an absolutely decrepit taxi to Hababah. This was one of the villages whose image I'd seen on the internet, and the view in person did not disappoint. The village cistern provided a beautiful foreground to the tower houses and I shot many photos, including some self-portraits using my tripod. There were no hassles from kids as I had read about, and some local boys with jambiyyas in their waistband were happy to ...

... that I understood that he was joking. I did...sort of, kind of. So why was my driver laughing? Hmmm? But he was serious on some level. I knew that some remote areas of the country were off-limits. These areas are far from Sana'a. In fact, after the kidnapping of Japanese tourists earlier in the year, permits were not available for travel to these areas. My guide explained that I really shouldn't be concerned because the ...

... this destination, but efficient. Again, Qatar had a dedicated bus meet us; nothing fancy about this airport or bus, but it at least it was just for the 12 of us. The airport is basic; typical for a third-world airport. Electronic signboards hang with no power; they probably stopped working years ago. Walls and windows have faded posters from airlines serving the airport that haven't been changed in years. Floors and walls were ...

... We arrived at our hotel right before lunchtime. Janie and I dropped off our bags in our room and opened the windows to let in some light. Talk about a room with a view! I am afraid that I will never again have the privilege of staying in a room with a view as amazing as this one (see pictures). After lunch and some musical entertainment provided by the hotel staff, we headed off for a trip to the nearby Ismaili Center. The Ismailis, led by Agha ...

... much of it - somewaht to me relief it just tasted of fried oil! Do'wan is also famous for its exceptionally good honey, whcih we also tried. It is also the traditional homeland of the Bin Laden family, now for the main part rich construction magnates in Saudi, with one rather notable exception! Hadramawt is particularly famous because of the many styles of architecture it has. Many families went abroad to Saudi, India, East Africa or the East Indies to make there ...

... you give the driver the money and he gives you correct change without discussion. In Sana'a, their starting price is always way too high and it's hard to make them come down to a normal price because you're a foreigner and meant to be cheated. When you agree on a price, you'd better have exact change or else they try to pull a fast one on you when you get to your destination. "Oh, I don't have change. 400 riyals isn't that ...

This weekend was great - yesterday I went with some fellow students (one Indian, two Americans and three Germans) plus Mohammed 'al-Majnoon' ('Crazy' Mohammed), who works at the centre, to the mountains above Sanaa. We travelled to Shibam and Kawkabam, fortified mountain villages about 50km from Sanaa, where there was a very lively Friday market going on. After a short hike ...