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Yemen Pictures
Travel Photos

Yemen Pictures

A gateway to private house in Sa'da, North Yemen.
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Yemen Travel Safety:
 In March 2009 four South Korean tourists were killed by a suicide bomber in Shibam, while nine tourists were abducted in summer 2009; some of their bodies have been found. We love the country but cannot recommend it for tourism at present. For up-to-date terrorist information please check the excellent Foreign Office [FO] world travel safety site [Yes, Americans too!].

North Yemen is an almost perfect picture of medieval Arab life. It has a long history, buildings are ancient, unique and spectacular, the people are fierce but friendly, and social habits are curious. But until a few years ago tourists were not allowed to travel in this extraordinary country.

Buildings: The most dramatic feature of Yemen today, especially in and around the capital of Sana'a, is the buildings.
Sana'a, 2,300m above sea level, is considered to be architecturally unique and has received $224m from UNESCO for its preservation.
Many houses are over 400 years old, and most are built in the style of 1,000 years ago.
Five or six floor, brown mud and brick houses grow out of the brown land, like huge square vegetables.

People and Photos: Yemen people are as colourful as their homes. Large, curved, silver daggers are the Yemen equivalent of the western necktie, while Kalashnikov machine guns are carried with the same frequency as cellphones in Tokyo, only with a deadlier communicative purpose.
Since Yemen is a staunchly Islamic society the women dress in black like negative ghosts and do not communicate at all. Trying to take pictures of them is probably the most dangerous action a traveller can do in this country.
The weapons the men carry are not just for show, but they generally keep their gunplay away from foreigners and are the perfect hosts. Inviting strangers into their homes for tea or sharing some narcotic qat leaves with a curious traveller is not unusual.

Yemen Information: Yemen Guide | Yemen Stories | Yemen Map

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