Arabia Felix
Trip Start
Aug 05, 2006
1
16
55
Trip End
Ongoing
Sana'a,
Yemen
Thursday, December 28, 2006
After being delayed in Khartoum for nearly 2 weeks waiting for a Eritrean visa I lost all hope of visiting the country and instead, rather impulsively, walked into a travel agent's office and bought a one-way ticket to Yemen. At first I thought this might have been a foolish thing to do since I had no guide book, knew absolutely nothing about Yemen, and had no plan of what to do once I arrived there. But after gazing upon the beautiful buildings of Old Sana'a and experiencing such warmhearted hospitality from the Yemeni people all my doubts about coming here melted away
Bab Al Yemen, Main Gate to Old City
. It is easy to see why the Romans named this place Arabia Felix, Happy Arabia.Old Sana'a, supposedly founded by a son of Noah, lies at the center of the city and is gradually being encroached on by the growth of the modern city around it. The inside of old city walls are filled with five-six story mud brick homes, all with ornate stain glass windows. After a few days of wandering the streets around my hotel I came upon Bab Al-Yemen. This is one of the last remaining gates to the city and after passing through it you can spend hours exploring the market inside. There are different markets for silver, spices, fabrics, etc. While walking around the market I was invited by one of the shop keepers to sit and have lunch with some of his friends and family. I was initially reluctant, not usually accustomed such offers of hospitality from strangers back home, but the man insisted and I finally agreed.
After a while Bashar and I became good friends and I ending up spending several afternoons hanging out with him and his brothers in his shop. His generosity was amazing! He always offered my food and drinks and also gave me a very nice jambiya, Yemeni dagger, all while asking for nothing in return. Furthermore, he introduced me to Qat. One more thing everyone should know about Yemen is that most men's lives here, and a few women's, revolve around the daily activity of chewing Qat
Bag of Qat
. Some people think it is a harmless activity while others consider it a terrible addiction that is seriously impacting the country's economy because of the massive amount of productivity lost while men just sit around and chew Qat. One thing is certain. For Yemeni men it is an obsession and consumes a larger part of their daily income.What qat is in reality is a natural, mild amphetamine like stimulant. As many leaves as possible are placed in between the teeth and cheek and slowly chewed throughout the day. The chewing releases the active ingredient which gives the person increased energy and sense of well-being while also decreasing appetite and need for sleep. Chewing the leaves can leave your mouth extremely dry so it is good to have a bottle or two of water handy during the session. I reserve any judgment as to the value of Qat chewing to Yemeni society except to say that "its not my cup of tea". After the first time chewing Qat my jaw was sore for about a week.
A Chinese girl and I also made a day trip to Dar Al-Hajar which has an interesting old palace built on top of a large rock. While in the area we visited a small mountain top village that contains a mosque dating back to the Mohammed's lifetime and ate a delicious Yemeni style lunch.
Comments
Cup of tea
Glad that stuff was not your cup of tea! Interesting place and sounds like the people are nice. Stay safe!