Yemen Travel Guide

Yemen OVERVIEW

Few foreigners had seen it until the twentieth century, and when it finally became more lenient to tourism in the 1960s, Departments of Foreign Affairs started to ask travelers to reconsider their need to visit. So what's that thing about security in Yemen? To be sure, media storms over notorious terrorist activities, but the local measures to ensure your safety are taken to the point of making you sick and tired, oddly enough. As usual, there's a choice between risk averse and -prone alternatives, but how safe is "safe enough"? And you must know that this hidden Arabian gem adduced to be the burial place of Cain and Abel, the launch-port for Noah's legendary ark, and the site of the Garden of Eden, far surpasses the expectations of even the most world-wise travelers.

Just imagine 500 clay skyscrapers of Shibam towering like Manhattan in the middle of the desert. Picture a gypsum ornamented palace precariously perched atop a protruding rock formation in Wadi Dhahr. Breath in history that oozes through every pore of ancient Thulla and set your foot on the legendary ground of Ma'rib, where the Queen of Sheba is believed to have based the capital of her kingdom. The appeal of Yemen's ancient and holy past may be obvious enough but visitors are virtually surprised to find out there's much more to it than just a lesson in history. While Sana'a, the world's oldest city, is a seducing maze of entrappingly narrow corridors, monumental walls embedded with thousands of meanings, the UNESCO recognized Socotra Archipelago is an oasis of tranquility, where the secret of eternal life is hidden among stupendous Dragon's Blood trees. To the north-west, the Haraz Mountains offer one-of-a-kind trekking into the undiscovered, and the greenery of the south is a repose from Yemen's pretty dusty environment.

Isolation helped to preserve Yemen's culture in an undiluted form while absolutely no tourist congestion today makes it possible to submerge into the people's natural ways and squarely confront your presumptions. You'll tend to find the Yemenis rigidly conservative on seeing women completely veiled from top to toe, sauntering through the bustling souqs of Sana'a like twilight apparitions, but quite laid back and liberal in the sweltering port of Aden, where alcohol is freely available, women don't have to cover their faces, and chewing cocaine-like qat with the locals encourages friendly communication.

Yemen's underinvestment in conservation has sadly resulted in considerable neglect of historical sites, and although the crumbling heritage is slowly starting to be taken care of down to the international concern, the Arabia's forgotten pearl is still covered by the dust of oblivion. Help blow the dust away before the jewel completely loses its luster.