Hikes in the hills
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2007
1
5
27
Trip End
Apr 2008
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, we went on to a very impressive waterfall. known as 'Biny Matur'. It was a very beautiful and quite magical spot, and we climbed up the cascade and over some of the surrounding rock formations. Adil told me today that the place is said to be inhabited by 'jinn', or mischevious spirits, which take the form of beautiful women, and the local people calim to hear strange singing and to have there cars moved around from time to time. Be that as it may, it was a great place for a hike! After lunch, we journeyed on to Taweela, one of the few fortresses that the Ottamans were unable to take by force, and then the town of Mahweet. The area is very verdant, and the mountains are stunning. One of the most characteristic sights are the many fortresses or 'hisn' that top the tiniest pinnacles of rock. One of them that we visited was inhabited by a chap who had found an (apparently live) German shell, left there by the Ottamans eary in the last century. Soon after seeing this, we quickly took our leave! I'm now back to study - in fact I am filling in this blog in order to procrastinate, so I ought to get back to work! Best wishes to all.
