No regrets in Yemen

“Yemen! What the heck are you thinking? Have you not heard about how many people get kidnapped in Yemen? Naz, you’ve got two kids! This time your level of selfishness has reached new levels that, to be quite honest, I’m not comfortable with.”

My brother, for the first time in my life, was really and truly upset at me for apparently putting myself in harm’s way.

Two years ago when I told him I was going to Kayak around the Musundam in four weeks having never kayaked before he didn’t blink.

Last year when I boxed in the White Collar boxing event with just nine weeks fight experience he thought it was a challenge worth taking.

When later in the same year I said I was kayaking again, but this time in the potentially shark infested waters of Northern Madagascar he said “bring me back a tooth or summit”.

This time however he thought I’d crossed the line. “Why on earth would you want to go to Yemen?” he asked.

To me it was obvious. A country with such history.  A country with a people that were integral in the development of the Arab race thousands of years ago. A place that was the home of the Queen of Sheba as well as the place in which Noah apparently built his ark, surely had more to offer a tourist than the risk of being kidnapped!

As always I ignored all advice and booked my Air Arabia flight to Sana’a and my return on Al Jazeera back to Dubai.

I was to fly on Friday early morning and return on Sunday evening for a remarkable price of AED 650!

I then scoured the internet and found a hotel in Sana’a that had 12 trip advisor reviews all of which were 5/5 and when I contacted them I was told that it would cost me US $20 per night.

I almost didn’t book it. How on earth could a hotel room be a mere $20 a night? The trip advisor reviews persuaded me and I went ahead.

From the moment I landed I knew it was going to be fun. Sana’a airport was probably sparkling and new in the mid seventies, but hasn’t been touched since.

However, even its bareness and chintzy advertising excited me. The returning locals shouting at the immigration officers to hurry up could only happen in a country whose people were truly comfortable with their security.

My first impressions were good and then only got better when Kais, the owner of my hotel, called to tell me that the car he sent to pick me up had been in a “small crash” and another was on the way.

Not sure the manager of any Hotel in Dubai would have done the same.

30 minutes later I was in a battered taxi on the way to Old Town Sana’a and the Sana’a nights Hotel.

The hotel was built 500 years ago. Apparently people were much shorter then as I had to contort myself to climb the uneven stairs and navigate the tiny corridors to reach room 210.

Once inside I was amazed. A small but beautifully decorated room with an attached “European Style” bathroom for just $20 per night. I couldn’t help but imagine what had happened in the last 500 years between the four walls.

Kais had prepared breakfast and so I sat and ate with him while we discussed everything from the weather to Yemeni politics.

His English was perfect and when I asked if he’d lived in the UK for a long time he said that he’d never been to the UK and had taught himself the language from books and the radio!

After breakfast and a little rest I ventured into Old Sana’a. Being surrounded by buildings that have been in place for 800 to 1000 years was incredible.

The city is a living museum, where every house, shop or office building has stood exactly where it is for the better part of a millennium.

I wondered between the spice souk, the clothes souk, the fruit and vegetables souk and even the knife souk to reach the famous Bab al Yemen (Yemen Gate).

It’s an incredible square filled with life and colour and surrounded by the original walls of the old city. As I stood on the wall and looked over the city skyline the heavens opened and within 15 minutes the old cobbled streets were a river of rain water.

This didn’t dampen my enthusiasm so I bought an umbrella from a passing seller and carried on exploring.

That first night in Sana’a night hotel made it clear I had nothing to worry about and over tea Kais persuaded me to go on a tour of the countryside on the Saturday — staying Saturday night in the mountains and heading from there directly to the airport on Sunday.

He organised his father to be my guide and early Saturday morning we set off in an old Landcruiser to see Yemen outside of Sana’a.

Once outside of the city it was clear the country was just as beautiful. We were heading towards spending the night in a town called Manakha — near the famous town of Al Hajjarah in the mountains. 

On the way we visited the Rock Palace, built many hundreds of years ago for the Imam ruler of Yemen. It is now a museum and the opportunity to walk through its many rooms and levels was a joy.

Below the main building is a network of graves in which pre-Christ mummies were found.  From the Rock Palace we drove through the medieval towns of Thula, Hababa and the mountain town of Zakati, before stopping at a friend of Ahmed’s (my driver and guide) house for lunch.

Sat on the floor of his majlis eating freshly cooked bread, chicken and Saltah (the national dish) cooked by the lady of the house was a true honour.

After resting and trying the local Qat (leaves that are chewed and stored in the cheek) we headed back to the car and drove to Manakha.

The winding roads up the mountains were sometimes treacherous, but always breathtakingly beautiful.

Kais had organised for me to stay in a small hotel overlooking the town of Al Hajjarah and in the centre of Manakha town.

I walked around the town before dinner and music was provided, compliments of the hotel’s owners. Alongside local music I was treated to traditional dances and yet more traditional food.

Sunday morning was filled with a visit to Al Hajjarah — a truly incredible town built on top of the mountains and continuously inhabited for the last 1200 years, and then a walk through the weekly market in Manakha where everything from sheep to kitchenware were for sale.

The drive back to the airport was as scenic as the previous day and, after stopping at Ahmed’s house to meet his family and share some tea, I was taken to the airport for my Jazeera flight back to Dubai.

Although only two and a half hours away on a flight, a weekend in Yemen is like taking a 1000 year leap back in time.

Whether it’s the basics of a hotel room that was built 500 years ago, marveling at the Rock Palace built for the Imam 800 years ago, the awe inspiring views of the town of Al Hajjarah or just mingling with the locals in markets that could easily be a set from The Life of Brian, Yemen will surpass everything that you could ever expect.

For a truly breathtaking experience a lifetime away (or perhaps a thousand lifetimes away) from Dubai, you’ll never regret or forget a trip to Sana’a.