"A forgotten world" a Yemen Travel Page by Freja1981

The old city of Sanaa is an amazing place with a very large souk where you can buy everything your heart desires. The streets continue forever and still after 5 weeks there I hadnt seen half of it. Here is the perfect place for buying, bedouin knifes and silver, dates, spices and lots more.
Sanaa only has two 5 star hotels and no restaurants over 3 stars, but that is part of the charm. Behind the postoffice at Tahrir square are there several restaurants where a good meal with a nice cup of mint tea cost around $1.

This must be the hottest place on earth! I was stuck in there for 14 hours in a tin can without aircon during a sandstorm..and that was only getting there. But once I was there! Wow! Marib is said to be where early man emigrated from and the Queen of Saba lived here. Most children have never seen blond hair and you can sometimes take their picture if you give them a pen! Yes a pen and not money. They love to paint but because of the heat, their pens dry out. Beware that most people in Yemen dont like having their picture taken.

For the tourist visiting Yemen for the first time there are certain things that you have to try! The souk as earlier described is amazing and has that 1001 night feel to it that lacks in many other Arab countries. Then there is the qat! Now that is good stuff! Try taking an evening chewing qat whilst smoking shisha..qat is like drinking a LOT of coffee but at the same time you get a bit dreamy:-) Also a strange experience is the taxis..now dont get affraid if the taxi you sit in dosnt have a floor..the only drive about 10km/hour so youŽll survive!
Watermelon is also a good and cheap pleasure..in yemen they are called hab hab.