Blogs from Yemen, Middle East

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Middle East » Yemen November 11th 2015

Geo: 12.1788, 44.308Last night we changed time zones for the second time. We are now eleven hours ahead of the time at home. This is the fourth of five sea days in a row. We had breakfast in the Colonnade then spent the morning in the suite reading, writing and relaxing. We passed through the Bab el Mandeb Strait at the bottom of the Red Sea this morning. Islands of Yemen were visible off the port side from our suite. When we went to breakfast, we sat on the starboard side and could see islands of Djibouti out that window. This morning we entered the internationally recognized transit zone of the Gulf of Aden which is protected (by a coalition of the European Union Naval Force Somalia) and will stay in it until tomorrow evening when ... read more
Islands off Yemen

Middle East » Yemen June 17th 2014

14/06/14 At sea. During the day we will continue our voyage on a South Westerly course towards the Gulf of Aden. Sometime during the day we will leave on our starboard side the coast of Oman. Oman is an Arab state in the southwest of Asia on the southwest coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It has a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates, to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. It also shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. Last night we went and saw an English performer by the name of Paul Hughes who specialises in swing music in the style of Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darrin etc. He was phenomenal, he also did the Drifters, Michael Buble, ... read more

Middle East » Yemen October 14th 2012

Time flies and it was time to go towards Italy and catch the train back to Germany, WAIL!! From Barcelonnette to Cuneo in Italy was nothing as the crow flies, the thing is that crows don't get interested in making a little detour. I do, once over the border there was yet another Col, Col de Lombardie and who am I to fight my inner demons crave to see and drive over yet another place of fun. Anyway there was a lot of traffic going up and I followed suit, they all went to sunday church up there in the mountains and it being sunday there were a lot of sunday drivers about, aka slow going. I went up there with them and they got the word of the Lord and I got a nice view. ... read more
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Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a July 26th 2010

"Welcome to Yemen" Nous voila arrives au bout du premier vollet de ce voyage. Nos familles peuvent etre rassurees, nous sommes sains et saufs, et pour être honnnetes nous ne nous sommes jamais sentis en grand danger au Yemen... Pourtant, en venant d'Oman, nous avions a traverser une des zones reputees les plus dangereuses du pays, un immense desert qui serait le fief des hommes de Ben Laden. Ce que nous y avons decouvert ressemblait plus a un jardin d'eden qu'a un camps d'entrainement pour apprentis terroristes ! En depis de tous nous efforts pour passer inapercus (Pascal en djelaba !), les deux "fransawis" deviennent rapidement la principale curiosité du bus. "Welcome to Yemen", on nous donne a boire, a manger, a chiquer ... le douanier lui meme insiste pour nous offrir un cadeau de bienvenue ... read more
Petite halte spirituelle chez les soeurs de Mère Theresa
El Souk
Chewing Qat

Middle East » Yemen » Socotra July 17th 2010

For some reasons I end up always travelling across islands. I am not choosing them. They are choosing me. For some reasons they end up being always on my path, and I have no other choice than taking them! Not that I have other plans anyway. I am not obsessed with islands( and besides, even if I would be, would I be conscious of it? obsessions are so often unconscious gifts of our minds). I love travelling them, that’s for sure, and I love the way they call me through space. I think every island is different. Every islands is like a little piece of earth floating through time. It’s a world separated from the others, and yet so connected to the others. It’s so independent from main land, and yet so relative to them. An ... read more
Unexpected Socotra
Unexpected Socotra
Unexpected Socotra

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a June 16th 2010

I fell in love with Yemen the moment I stepped out of the airport. I was tired. I had to wait for the visa at the airport for two hours after landing. That too after a long sleepless night in Dubai. The good thing about the whole ordeal was the experience of going through it. Surprisingly, it was. Under normal circumstances one will be worried at the airport without a visa especially when your passport has also been taken away by the authorities, you don’t know anyone in the country you are visiting and your phone is not working. The guy at the immigration counter told me that the visa was not there and I would have to wait. I was offered water to drink while I waited for the visa to arrive. The guy kept ... read more
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Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a May 7th 2010

From the previous post people will know I loved Yemen and had a great time in Sana'a and then in Aden. Travel was restricted by the government, mainly to protect foreigners from the attentions of the tribal folks who like to kidnap people to pressure the GOY to help them - and for money! So this was pretty frustrating, particularly when you are trying to work in the rural sector. Eventually we did get permission to go north from Sana'a City (the capital) to Amran City which lies a couple of hours drive north. Amran is rather unsafe because of its proximity to the area where the Houthi rebels are fighting the government and where there are large numbers of displaced person. But our trip was uneventful and fun. I went with a delightful colleague, Sara ... read more
Castle in Yemen
Displaced Persons

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a April 29th 2010

January to March 2010 Q's World was in Yemen, Sana'a City putting together a rural development project that will assist the poorest folk in the most remote areas. Check out www.foodworksasia.blogspot.com for details. I travelled to Sana'a on Emirates via Dubai, just making a very tight connection - the security in Dubai can take some time if you are unlucky and I made the flight, but lost my luggage (came the next day). The scenery as you approach the landing is just spectacular and gets better and better. Sana'a is remarkable. It is one of the oldest cities in the world with first settlement in Biblical times (remember, Marib City in Yemen was where the Queen of Sheba had her capital and where the Marib Dam is the oldest known example of large-scale water engineering). The ... read more
Mountain Village

Middle East » Yemen » Socotra January 9th 2010

Children in Qalansiya & Ra's Iriseyl (or Ra's Momi)... read more
Sands & Dunes
Sands & Sounds
Friends




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