Last update: Monday, September 05, 2005

Day 4 (28th) Bir Ali - Al Mukalla
Day 5 (29th) Al Mukalla - Wadi Hadramawt
Day 6 (30th) Wadi Hadramawt - Sayun

After a humid night on the beach at Bir Ali we woke up just before sunrise. Of course way too late for a cool climb to the volcanic top of Bir Ali. But what the heck, we decided to go anyway. With Ahmed still asleep next to his car we left in a hurry hoping to do at least a part of the climbing in the shade of this big rock. At first we didn't know quite sure where to start our ascent. Ahmed told us that the most visible trail up is also the most dangerous part. Lot's of loose gravel and a few real steep stretches, something to be careful with. First we tried the back of the mountain, but unfortunately we couldn't find a reasonable beginning of a trail there. Only the remains of an old army post near the foot of the rock. So walking back we tried one of the more visible trails, first in loose desert sand, later in sharp volcanic rock. Halfway up the trail things got real dangerous, we needed our hands to continue. The rock pulverised between our fingers, giving us quite a sketchy feeling. Again we decided to stop and backtrack, hoping that the next visible trail would lead us up in a somewhat less dangerous fashion. And again we found ourselves in the same situation. Steep 3-4 grade rock climbing without any safety ropes in loose terrain. At that point we simply gave up, the sun was already burning without remorse and the 3rd attempt had drained our energy reserve quite a bit. We 'GPS marked' the trail-heads and the locations where we stopped. Anyone who finds the less dangerous trails, we're really interested where it really started.

While we crashed down the gravel trail, we got entertained by a stunning dolphin show right in front of our noses. A big group fishing for breakfast, circling around a swarm of small fish. We watched them for sometime from the slopes of Bir Ali. Although we didn't make it to the top, seeing the dolphins was a fascinating experience. Arriving at our beach camp, Ahmed already packed a few things. After a quick breakfast we left paradise with the thought in our head that we might be back someday. But then on our own and hopefully still without Hotels and any other beach side tourism on this spot.

At the military beach checkpoint we got company again. Two guards hitching a ride to the next roadside checkpoint a few kilometres ahead. There we had to wait for yet another guard, who apparently still was asleep. After a while a very young looking guy stepped into our car. His Kalasnikof was decorated with red tape as if it was some sort of toy. With some sort of an elderly feeling, we had to protect our guard from any childish mishaps, we left off. A few minutes behind the checkpoint we stopped at a small fish tinning factory. Here we could refresh our water supply with icy water just for free. A place to remember!

15 minutes further we stopped again, now at the foot of another steep volcanic hill just next to the road. We didn't know what to expect, and before we could react our young guard jumped out and started walking up. Without a word we followed upwards. After 160 meters of steep gravel we were amazed by a view into an extinct Vulcan. While standing on the perfect round edge of the Vulcan we looked down into the pit filled with water. We got strong flashbacks of our trip to Iceland. How can this landscape have such a strong resemblance with a country so far up north? We stood there totally baffled, a bit disoriented by the weird thoughts rushing through our heads. Our guard brought us down to reality by suddenly starting to walk down, he must have made this trip time after time and was clearly bored. After a while we followed down, Yemen is simply amazing!

The remainder of the morning we drove along the beach through a changing landscape towards Al Mukalla. At one point the road took a sharp turn inwards away from the beach side. We climbed towards a sharp ridge and then down into a valley. Because of the view ahead of us we asked Ahmed to stop. Before any of us could step out Ahmed warned us NOT to step away from the road.

The landscape here is littered with mines, a sad remainder of the war of unity. A bit careful we stepped around and took a few pictures of the view ahead of us. We suddenly realised that we would have been in big danger if we travelled here on our own. We had visions of landmines blasting through our car while looking for a place to stay for the night. Probably the biggest danger in Yemen for people with our style of travel.

The road continued endlessly along the beach in sharp sunlight. The landscape was mostly desert like with the white-brown sand strongly reflecting the sunlight. Being here in 'summer' time must be pure survival in temperatures hitting 50 degrees Celsius. Ahmed told us about tourist having huge problems coping with the extreme humid heat in this area. We could only nod, imagining a bunch of western sand cookies burning in a Landcruiser being bashed around the country side.
At some point Ahmed bought a stack of wood along the road in a small village; "for our campsite in the desert tomorrow". We looked at the stack of extremely dry wood, almost afraid it might catch fire only by looking at it. These people must have roamed their area for many hours to collect wood. We could only spot a few tiny bushes here and there.

The people in this region look like people from Africa. "Yes" Ahmed said, "They originate from Eritrea and Ethiopia". Our skin looked sheet-white compared to their intensely black skin. Children played in the village with self-made toys and looked quite happy to us. Their western style clothes were ragged and bleached. None of them were dressed in Yemeni clothing and suddenly we wondered from where they got these non-Arabic clothes. There must be some sort of a trade link with Africa here. Thinking about these people trying to make a living by selling fish, they could make a 'small' detour to Africa too. A bit surprised by this discovery we left off again. A bit further the road continued along steep cliffs where we took a few stops to enjoy the views.


Looking down from one of the steep cliffs we suddenly realised that we were looking at a huge bomb shell just a few meters below us. It looked quite intact and rested on a very steep gravel slope...we suddenly decided we had enough of this view...

Round noon we reached the region of Al Mukalla. Modern white buildings popped from the grounds all around us. Not a sign of any Yemeni architecture, which felt like we arrived in totally different country. Ahmed noticed our surprised faces, and told us that many Yemeni people returned here after the war of Unity just like we saw in Ataq.
Many worked in Saudi and the UAE, thus returning with the style of living they got used too over there. Ahmed predicted that the whole region will change in a few years from now. The first signs of leisure parks and oasis style Hotels also caught our eyes. Both amazed and a bit sad we imagined this area to be transformed in a tourist enclave in 5 years from now. The airport of Al Mukalla might also have international ambitions attracting people from all over the world for a beach vacation in the south of Yemen. Only in winter time of course...

Hotel Maseela resided a bit in the outskirts of Al Mukalla and was far from cheap, relatively speaking. But again the inside was clean and all rooms got AC. That afternoon we spend washing the dust, sand and sweat from our clothes. We cooked a bit of soup and tea in the bathroom. For that evening we decided to eat something in the centre of Al Mukalla. Round 5pm Ahmed dropped us off at the boulevard (no kidding) of Al Mukalla. We couldn't persuade Ahmed to join us, he wanted to visit a few friends in the neighbourhood he told us.


The place looked kind of new and was build on a huge wall protecting the inner city from the sea. Small gardens gave the boulevard a special atmosphere, specially because  people sat in the grass to drink tea. In the Netherlands this would be unthinkable, grass is something to look at, not a place to sit in. :-) Many people were already on their feet to celebrate the end of the Ramadan in the streets. We saw many women dressed in their black robes with quite modern shoes popping out underneath. Only a few had their faces uncovered. Janine caught quite a bit of attention and every women passing by couldn't resist looking.

The boulevard looked out on a small harbour with a few rusty ship wrecks as some kind of bizarre decoration. Most of the ships which looked kind of operable were made of wood. Without a doubt fishing boats and we saw many men working on the boat. Lines of cars past the boulevard packed with people, we wondered where they might be going. In the small city centre we bought some food for the next day. Most of shops owners were closing down early to join the end of Ramadan celebration. At some point we had a small chat with a man surrounded by a bunch of children. He was waiting for his family to go to the beach north of Al Mukalla. A big family leisure park is located over there, which explained the long line of cars going in that direction.

Our dinner consisted out of spicy shoarma rolls with sheep meat and vegetables bought at a roadside food stall. Even the obligatory tea was incredibly spicy and hot. We desperately bought two bottles of water to extinguish the blazing fire in our mouths. Good business for the happy food stall owner. Our compliment for the food he sold made him radiate a huge smile.

Later that evening we sat on the grass in one of the small gardens at the boulevard watching people passing by. Soon we got company of three curious Yemeni men. With hands and feet we managed a small conversation. All three didn't live in Al Mukalla, they just worked here. Sometimes they go back to their family in the area of Sana'a. We got the impression that many Yemeni men work around their country, as we noticed in other conversations.

Round 9pm things got a bit quiet so we moved around a bit. After a while we spotted Ahmed and decided to go back to the Hotel. The next day will be a long and specially dusty one. With our heads packed with new impressions we dozed of quickly.

The next morning we left early. We ran some errands in a hurry and made the obligatory stop at Al Mukalla's most famous house, Husn al-Ghuwayzi build in 1884. The building itself looks real nice although it's situated in a bit of an industrial area.


To our surprise we left Al Mukalla without encountering any military checkpoint. Maybe we get lucky this time and have a day without the usual military hitchers. It took quite a while before the construction frenzy around Al Mukalla diminished. A lot of industrial activity littered the landscape and could be a result of trading with Oman. Al Mukalla is the last reasonably inhibited area before the Oman border. Nowadays the road to Oman is still a heavily corrugated dirt track where 2WD vehicles have a big task in making the stretch.

After an hour or so of driving land inwards the landscape started to change again. A high mountain plateau emerged in front of us and the road started to spiral upwards. After a 1200 meter climb the horizon suddenly became real flat.


A dull moon landscape presented itself in front of us and the temperature dropped drastically making the wind quite chilly. The only noticeable features were a depot of an oil company and a small hill on the horizon with military communication stuff on top.



Just before noon we reached the first military checkpoint near the junction of the road to Wadi Hadramawt. The guards looked visibly surprised that we arrived without a guard in the car. The short discussion that followed seemed a bit tense, but Ahmed kept his usual cool. After a short wait we suddenly were whisked through *WITHOUT* a guard. Ahmed face couldn't hide his surprise. Quite excited he told us that this was the first time ever he managed to pass this checkpoint without getting a guard in the car. He told the guards he didn't need military assistance since he was familiar with the road through the Wadi and he knew a lot of people living in the region. Apparently this was enough for the guy in charge to let us pass. We felt real lucky, also because we were about to spend the coming night in the open. Without a guard we simply had more freedom to go where we wish to go.

We took the exit to Wadi Hadramawt leaving the asphalt and entered a tiny village called Huwayr. Ahmed stopped for some tea and qat while we wandered through the small market place. People were selling dried tuna and small sharks. Later we understood that the dried fish stays eatable for many years. We pictured the dried being carried year after year to the same market place. You probably could buy a real ancient fish here :-)

After Huwayr we entered the dirt road to Wadi Hadramawt. For this time of year the road conditions here are fair, not too much loose desert sand, no rain and not too hot. On the route we passed several small villages, some old others quite new. The government had been investing here to support the locals in their existence, we saw new houses and specially a lot of new schools.

People try to make living here by herding sheep and growing small crop fields near their home. We stopped several times at water wells to asses the level and quality of the water here. Some wells were empty, others quite full with real clear water. Ahmed knew the location of most of them, specially usefull when he had a big tourist group. And not only for drinking, filling up the radiators of their Landcruisers was evenly important.

We had lunch at one of the water wells where we cooked soup and tea. After a while we noticed being spotted by a group of three bedouin women. They were dressed in purple dresses with their faces covered with colourful decorated masks. We heard them giggle in the distance with high pitched voices. Apparently we got their attention since they sat down approx. 75 meters away from us. Janine decided to see what happens if she approached them. With Janine almost halfway there, a man suddenly appeared from nowhere. He was walking fast towards the women. Trouble ahead? Janine was already talking to the women and she hadn't noticed the man coming. When the man came close his hasty appearance changed and we heard a bit of talking and giggling again. When Janine returned she explained the man had thought she was a man, and decided to check things out fast. He was surprised the see that the opposite was true and visually relaxed. Later he sat down with us and joined for tea. He spoke English quite well to our surprise.
He told us he learned English from his family, who had been in touch with English oil-workers drilling for oil in the neighbourhood many many years ago. Unfortunately the women stayed in a distance from us. Before we left Janine returned with some fruits and a camera. The fruits were thankfully accepted but taking a picture was definitely a clear NO. Ahmed explained that women are afraid their pictures would appear in public magazines or newspapers. We could imagine such fears which is not unrealistic either. We wouldn't appreciate this at all ourselves. Specially by complete strangers rushing by trying to stick camera's in our faces.

After a bumpy and specially dusty ride we arrived at Wadi Hadramawt late in the afternoon. With our hair and faces covered in a layer of light dust we looked like three Aboriginals who had been trying to swim in a sea of sand. Although we just had been sitting the whole day we felt worn our to the bone. The shaky ride and the change of weather from humid and hot to dry and cool had taken it's toll on us.



The view into the Wadi was simply amazing, a steep gorge cut in the desert floor with green trees at the bottom. Now and then we spotted a few Yemeni skyscrapers and we could faintly see a dust road meandering through the trees. From our view point we could see the Wadi continue till far in the distance. A deep & sharp cut with patches of green producing a sharp contrast with the dominating colour of sand. We decided to make this viewpoint our camp for the rest of the day and night.


Erecting our tent on the stone floor was a bit of a trouble but in the end we managed to make the thing stand. With sunset approaching we lit our campfire and made dinner from a few tomato's, eggs and bread.


Later that evening we sat at the edge of the Wadi under a clear midnight sky enjoying the chain of lights glittering brightly in the Wadi. But not for long...the silence was suddenly broken by the sharp sound of a Kalasnikof spitting out bursts of bullets. At first we looked at each other ducking our heads a bit. The gunfire was real close!! With the many bursts that followed we suddenly heard the ricocheting sound of bullets flying close over our heads. Ahmed moved restlessly and we sat there frozen with sheet white faces glowing in the dark. Ahmed quickly explained that this has happened before at this spot. People inside the Wadi could be celebrating a wedding or just practising, unaware of people camping at the edge of the Wadi. With a few more bullets coming real close Ahmed decided that it might be better to wait out the rain of bullets somewhere else.
With ducked heads we quickly moved to the car and rushed away far from the edge of the Wadi. In the distance we could see our campfire glow under a rain of bullets spraying upwards from the bottom of the wadi. In the car Ahmed told us about a big wedding some years ago at the same spot down in the Wadi. The shooting was so bad they had to move the camp for the rest of the night.

After a small hour the shooting stopped and we returned to our camp still suspecting the shooting might start again. But nothing happened to our relief, the guys down in the Wadi probably ran out of their ammunition or they might have accumulated a bad case of Kalasnikof RSI from all the shooting. Still a bit restless we decided to turn in early. Luckily our night was uneventful, we slept like authentic Yemeni mud bricks.

The next morning it was exceptionally chilly. Ahmed looked quite pale, he never experienced such a cold night at Wadi Hadramawt. He had slept on the roof of his Landcruiser in a moderate cold breeze. After a cup of tea we quickly packed our things and drove into the Wadi. In the Wadi everything was covered in a layer of fine dust. The trees didn't look that green anymore and the locals looked as if they had washed their hair with sand.



The road got quite bad from here and we had to grab hold not to get thrown out of our seats. We literally drove through the dry riverbed, the only road in this time of year. In fact in the rainy season there is no road at all stopping all traffic in the area. Ahmed got stuck in this region several times in the past, waiting days and days for the water to pass. One time he nearly lost his car in a flash flood. Rain on the desert floor quickly causes massive floods in the Wadi, something to be really careful with.


While we bashed through the Wadi we watched life around us. We mainly saw women herding sheep in black dresses and wearing the characteristic 'witch' hats. An intriguing sight. Several times we wondered from where they got the idea to make such hats. Ahmed explained that the hats kept their heads cool in the blazing heat. We simply couldn't keep our eyes of these women, it reminded us of figures in ferry tales. Somehow it appeared to us that when our car came into sight these women quickly rushed out of our sight. The bigger tour groups might have offended theses women enough already by taking pictures without even considering asking. Anyhow, the women we saw kept their distance in the middle of a heard of sheep or in a cloud of dust.


The small villages looked like the ones we saw in Habban. Skyscraper buildings with small windows made from mud and wood. People cluster their houses on the sides of the steep Wadi to keep out of the way of the annual rain floods. Some houses looked quite impressive and were architectural beauties. Ahmed told us several times that many of the owners live here only a few months each year. Business draws them to all over the world. The story also goes that the world most wanted terrorist Bin Laden had grown up in this region. Not a bad place at all for hiding yourself from international search teams.


We stopped several times to walk through the small villages where children ruled the area. Many of them asked for a pen or simply a picture. Specially the picture taking we noticed you have to be careful. The parents not always appreciate it and children might start asking a pen, candy and in the worst case money after taking a picture. A habit we wouldn't like to see from our children.


We also couldn't set the feeling aside that our presence wasn't really appreciated. People didn't have the open attitude and the smile on their faces we experienced in the northern part of Yemen. At that moment we couldn't explain our feelings.


Later that day we arrived at Sif, a small village in the Wadi build on a hill close to the walls.


The village has a door like the one from a castle and walls to protect the village from hostile intruders. We walked through the city following a steep road upwards.


In nearly every house we heared the sounds of busy people, making food, doing laundry and watching TV. Although we never could look inside we had the idea that many people live in one house.


Halfway in the village we suddenly met a tourist group talking loudly and taking pictures of everything they saw. Even walking through the doors of peoples houses for a quick shot inside. We felt bad seeing this, simply bad and ashamed. Their behaviour breathed no respect at all for the people who lived in the village. Their village was just another tourist attraction only to be visited because it's in the guide book. At that point we connected the feeling we got from the villagers and the things we saw happening right before our eyes. Keep doing this for a few more years and people close their villages for tourists and might even get hostile if provoked even more. We left silently and walked back to our car. Sometimes tourism brings good things to a country, but what we just saw was an example of how it can ruin peoples attitudes towards foreigners.

Just after Sif we reached the asphalt road again and we were glad to continue our journey without being bashed around on a incredibly rocky road. That afternoon we had lunch at the junction of the road to Sayun and Al Mukalla. A place were many Bedouin from the neighbourhood come for food and were tour operators drop their group for a big lunch. A busy and hectic place and lots of things to see. Ofcourse we saw firearms everywhere, a normal fact of life in Yemen. After lunch we continued to Sayun. Near the city centre we booked a room at the Tower Hotel, a big place which can take up hundreds of tourists. We decided to stay here for two nights including new years eve.


The past three days we covered a stretch of 517 Km in 12 hours. We passed a total of 4 military checkpoints which is quite a difference with the route from Sana'a to Bir Ali. The first 3 days we had to cope with a total of 23 checkpoints. Somehow the military presence in the south is relatively low and sofar we didn't see that much people wearing firearms either.
Although the southern region is far less densely populated we got the impression that a fair amount of people returned to this part of Yemen after the war of unity from countries outside Yemen. With them they brought in a lot of new investment capital. The amount of building activities and land markings we saw were numerous. Also the Gulf war might have a relation with the increasing building construction frenzy, Yemeni people were forced to leave Saudi Arabia when Yemen choose to sympatize with Iraq.

In 6 days we learned a lot about Yemen, it's people and culture. A deeply facinating country!