Blogs from Yemen, Middle East - page 5

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Middle East » Yemen January 8th 2007

Yemen part IV - The south and the west First I'd like to write a little about the habit of chewing khat. Khat is in most countries in the World considered a drug and consequently illegal. In countries where it is legal however, for instance in Yemen but also in Ethiopia for instance, it is used by a very high percentage of the population. The male population I should add. I'm not sure but I don't think women ary very big khat chewers. I'll get back to what I know about the women in Yemen later on. In the afternoon in Yemen most men carry around small plastic bags with fresh green leaves in it. It is the daily stash of khat. They chew the leaves one by one or a few at the time. When ... read more
Khat vendor
Khat vendor
Two young men chewing Khat

Middle East » Yemen January 1st 2007

The northern regions First I'd like to try to give you an idea about how it looks in Yemen and what things that strikes me as different from home. I find this a bit difficult to describe things like that but I hope you get an idea from this list * In the smaller towns the streets are sometimes unpaved * The land is mainly very dry and dusty * There is often a layer of dust on the streets and on buildings * Some days the air is thick with dust * The main roads are paved but there are often potholes in the roads * There is almost always rubbish littering the streets. The rubbish consists mainly of plastic bags and plastic bottles * Markets are often crowded, busy and noisy * Men often ... read more
Cisterns
Hill village
Hill village

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a December 28th 2006

Here are the photos from the first days of this trip. Finally I have figured out how to upload them in spite of the slow Internet access. ... read more
Haghia Sophya
Blue Mosque
Sculptured pillar

Middle East » Yemen December 28th 2006

Yemen part II - Wadi Hadramawt The word Wadi might be new for some people. It basically means riverbed. The riverbeds in eastern Yemen are dry for most of the year. But the precious little rainwater that does come gathers in the Wadis and therefor making them more suitable for agriculture than other land in this part of the country. Consequently people mostly live in or close by the Wadis and that makes them interesting for us to visit. On the 25 th of December we took a flight from Sana'a in the west to Sayun in Wadi Hadramawt. When we arrived in Sayun a driver we organised from Sana'a stood there waiting for us. He took us first to the hotel and then for a trip to the highlight of our visit in the east ... read more
Standing mud brick houses
Shibam
Shibam

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a December 24th 2006

Yemen - part I Hello everybody, finally I've now arrived in Yemen's capitol Sana'a. But to tell you the truth for a long time I thought this vacation was lost to me. Actually this story started before I took off from Stockholm International Airport the day before yesterday. It started when I applied for my visa to Yemen. I started looking for information on how to get a visa already one month ago. The problem is Yemen doesn't have any embassy in such a small an insignificant country as Sweden. So I have to apply for visa elsewhere. But where and how was my worries a month ago. After some looking I learnt that the Yemenia Airlines office in Stockholm can arrange for a visa application to be sent to London. I applied for the visa, ... read more

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a November 28th 2006

You go all the way to Yemen and you don't even get kidnapped - we didn't get a sniff - talk about being short-changed, could have dined out on that tale for decades...... Supposedly the tribal perpetrators treat their 'guests' hospitably - it's a protest against the government rather than anything personal - but Jom wasn't too keen on going without a macchiato for a fortnight..... It was funny to watch the reaction of fellow travellers and locals from throughout the Middle East when we told them we were heading to the home of the Queen of Sheba, Frankinscence and to where Noah supposedly launched his Ark - a mixture of awe and foreboding. Our Foreign and Commonwealth Office certainly isn't a big fan: "There is a high threat from terrorism and evidence that terrorists may ... read more
That's what I call a contrast
old sana'a
door

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a November 25th 2006

A few pictures taken during a day staying at Sana'a for transit. It's a beautiful country and people are friendly too. And the atmosphere is still very Muslim which is different from UAE or Qatar.... read more
A view of Sanaa
A view of Sanaa
A view of Sanaa

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a May 5th 2006

My French friends are back from Thilla and we had a good chat last night (see photo). All this travelling rough in dodgy countries finally caught up with me this morning, I was attempting to get to Manakah a couple of hours east of Sana a and being a cheapscate and not wanting to pay for a tour I was in a share taxi with 9 others. My taxi proceeded to have a head on with another car I am in a bit of shock and feeling a little sick and sore but I am ok. I wont be catching anymore taxi's except to the airport now. Not sure what I am going to do with myself for the next few days, I am eager to get out of Yemen. I feel much more positive today ... read more
My french friends
My Girl friend
One last Yamel

Middle East » Yemen » Sayun May 3rd 2006

Left for the airport monday morning the flight was meant to leave at 8am ofcourse it didnt but the 5 hour delay was not so bad because I met Japanese lad named Taka who I have been travelling with since. The service on the plane consisted of a mint and two glasses of water (flash back to Kyrgiz Air in 2004), so I didnt end up eating for 11 hours, strangely the plane flew over Sayun went all the way to a place called Al Gayda near the Omani border (see map below) dropped half the people off then picked up more and then flew to Sayun (Sayoon). Ended up being a long annoying flight, however as soon as the plane decended over Wadi Hadramawt the incredible scenery blew away any annoyance in second. The wadi ... read more
Amazing Shibam
Islamic sites in Sayun
Sayun town square at dusk

Middle East » Yemen » Sana'a April 30th 2006

The last few days have been a little frustrating yesterday I had to go hunt an ATM that would accept my card found one eventually and score some air tickets which wasnt so difficult. However when I made my 3rd attempt to visit the Museum all looked rosey until they locked up about 20 minuts after I arrived and kicked me out. This was followed by a fruitless search for Yemeni horse stamps. So went back to the hotel found a novel in English by the dude who wrote the Horse Whisperer and did not leave the room till I read all 600 pages. This morning I jumped out of bed munched into my free breakfast and headed for the service taxi station to get one to Amran. I got there without difficulty, but thats where ... read more
Yemeni National Museum Entrance
Yemeni National Museum
Yemeni National Museum




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