The Long Wait
Trip Start
Aug 05, 2006
1
20
55
Trip End
Ongoing
Al Mokha,
Yemen
Sunday, January 21, 2007
When you here the name Mokha you probably think of a delicious cup coffee. In fact, this is where the name came from. This place used to be a major port for exporting coffee around the world. Today, after Qat has far surpassed Coffee as the drug of choice in Yemen, it is not even possible to find a cup of coffee here. Actually it is difficult to find anything here or to leave this place once you arrive.
When we arrived in Mokha John and I headed strait for the port. The guard there said we must stop and speak with customs first before we cross out onto the pier
A Hint of Former Glory in Mokha
. The man there told us that unfortunately there would be no boat today but there would definitely be one leaving bukra, insha Allah. Fair enough, we can wait until tomorrow and check out the town tonight. Well, there is not much to "check out" here and the hotel charges about twice the price for the same room because they are the only one in town.At least I was not alone in Mohka. Shortly after we arrived I met a French couple, a Japanese man, and a guy from Djibouti. I also met a pair of Pakistani fellows who were actually headed for Mogadishu. Hmm.... Anyway, we all planned to take the first available boat. Unfortunately the first available boat didn't come for 5 more days. Every day we would call the customs office, travel "agent", and ship captain to find out when we could leave for Djibouti. And everyday we got the same answer. "Not today but bukra, insha Allah." Finally after a few days we met a captain that was planning to sail for Berbera in northern Somalia or more specifically, Somaliland.
OK, great! At this point I don't care. Anywhere would be better than here. The captain was a very friendly Egyptian man who said he would love to take us on his boat but felt he must inform us that you need a visa to enter Somaliland. The next day we had the Djibouti guy call the Somaliland office in Aden to ask if we could get a visa on arrival. The man at the office seemed to think it would be no problem so we headed down to the port again the following morning to get our exit stamps.
We were told by the customs agents that we could not leave Yemen because we did not have a visa for Somaliland
Attack of the Seagulls
. "Just wait until the boat leaves for Djibouti tomorrow or just take a plane." After 5 days in Mohka hanging around doing absolutely nothing and eating beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner there is no way in hell that I am going to accept defeat! We tried to explain to them that we could get a visa on arrival in Somaliland but the kept repeating that we should just take the boat to Djibouti tomorrow. Having given up almost all hope and exhausting all our options we decided to make one last ditch effort to get on the boat. Our tactic was simple. We would pack up all our things and simply wait in the customs building until the granted us the right to leave Yemen or kicked us out of the office. As desperate and silly as it sounds this final attempt actually worked! A man in the office got ahold of some high level minister or general or something in Sana'a and he said if they want to go let them. I couldn't believe it. We didn't even pay them a bribe or anything and I made sure to keep my big American mouth quiet while the Djibouti guy did the talking. By six o'clock we had all boarded the ship and were on our way through to Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for Somaliland. To be continued......
Comments
Going to Djibouti?
Dude, what possesed you to go there? There is a plane that flies to Djibouti everyday with a shippment of Kaht or Qat. It lands at the airport everyday around 1000 a.m. You should have hopped on that thing. Have fun In Dj. Don't forget to check out the lake. I can't remember the name but the salt level is so high that you can walk on the water. Have fun dude!
-Alan