Yemen: Where Is It and Why Should We Visit?
I can't say that either ex-Marine (husband, Steve) or myself had ever given any thought to visiting The Republic of Yemen and had to look on a map to see exactly where it was. (The tip of the Arabian Peninsula below Saudi Arabia and next to Oman.) There was only one reason for the sudden interest in Yemen...an interesting itinerary in my Geographic Expeditions catalog a few years back. Actually more than seven years ago before the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 but it seems just like yesterday. This trip was called: Yemen: The Frankincense Route. Frankincense, I had heard of. By the way, Geographic Expeditions now calls this trip: Yemen: Arabia Felix.
The more I read, the more interesting this destination became. Sana'a, Yemen's capital, is 7,200 feet high; there are mountains rising from the Red Sea with fortresses on top; a desert crossing; old Ottoman buildings; the Queen of Sheba's historical kingdom (disputed between Ethiopia and Yemen); and Shibam, nicknamed the "Manhattan of the Desert." On the other side of the coin, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Arab world.
And then I read: this trip is graded Rigorous Touring...Yemen is underdeveloped and travel is rugged...plumbing can be erratic...there have been a few incidents of kidnaping of Westerners by Bedouins in the desert...kidnaping is somewhat of a Bedouin tradition...it should be understood that the very remote risk of kidnap does exist...."... There was also a U.S. State Department Travelers Advisory and Yemen has never been considered peaceable. The men believe in being well armed and wear traditional djambias (curved daggers) with their AK-47s and Kalashnikovs. Hmmm....
What the heck...you only live once and I was still up for traveling to Yemen but getting ex-Marine to agree was a different story... lots of ranting and raving about "the god-forsaken desert...terrorists...fundamentalists...kidnappings in the desert...you're out of your mind...and on and on... Not that he was wrong and we expressed these concerns to Geographic Expeditions. Their answer? They hire armed guards to accompany the group through the perilous areas. I don't know if that was comforting or not, but persistance is my middle name (or as Steve says..."once Sheila gets a bug up her *#*...) and he finally, grudgingly agreed.
Now, how to we even get to Yemen?
