In Yemen/1 This a translation about a journey in Yemen made, not by me, in 1996. In this last months there are bad news from Yemen, and also back in 1996 the situation was messed. There were many

Alberto

In Yemen/1 This a translation about a journey in Yemen made, not by me, in 1996. In this last months there are bad news from Yemen, and also back in 1996 the situation was messed. There were many tourist's kidnappings , fortunately not bloody ones. Usually the abducted were held to force local authorities to respect their promises, for example to build a school in a village. There was hostility against americans, but not really against italians also if in a couple of events... but I'll write later about this. We were a party of twelve tourist plus two drivers, with some old cross-country veicles. We reached Sana in the afternoon and the first thing to strike me was the dust. The city is crossed by a river, but in the summer is dry and it's used like a road so you can figure how much dust is floating around. The second remarkable thing was men's garment. There were few women around and I had already seen veiled women , but I had never seen before men clothed like this: buggy trousers, shirt and jacket, a foulard on the head, and a prominent bell holding the jambiya. This is a large blade knife , with a decorated handle. Not a few carried instead a sub-machine gub: everyone shows off as he can! After a short tour we gathered in a restaurant to have dinner, then we got to our small hotel ready for a good slumber. There we had another surprise, in Yemen they use no mattress, just a mat laid on the clay floor. We spent the next day touring the city and its many markets. What struck me more was the architectonics of the city, with its imposing buildings and its Middle Ages look. For example, there was no covered sewer and the WC dumped directly in the streets.

Jul 6, 2015 3:56 PM

Corrections · 2

In Yemen/1

This is a translation about a journey made into Yemen made, not by me, in 1996.

In these last few months there are has been bad news from Yemen, and also back in 1996 the situation was also a messed. There were many tourist's kidnappings , fortunately not bloody ones.
Usually the abducted were held by force by local authorities to respect their promises, for example to build a school in a village. There was hostility against Americans, but not really against the Italians, also if in a couple of events... but I'll write later about this later.

We were a party of twelve tourists plus two drivers, with some old cross-country vehicles.
We reached Sana in the afternoon and the first thing to strike that struck me was the dust. The city is crossed by a river, but in the summer it is dry and it's is used like a road, so you can figure imagine how much dust is floating around.

The second remarkable thing was the men's garments. There were few women around and I had already seen vailed women , but I had never before seen men clothed like this: baggy trousers, shirt and jacket, a foulard on the head, and a prominent bell holding the jambiya. This is a large blade knife , with a decorated handle. Not a few Many carried this instead of a sub-machine gun: everyone is showing off as much as he can!

After a short tour we gathered in a restaurant to have dinner, then we got to our small hotel ready for a good slumber. There we had another surprise, in Yemen they do not use no mattress, just a mat laid on the clay floor.

We spent the next day touring the city and its many markets. What struck me more was the architecture of the city, with its imposing buildings and its Middle Ages look. For example, there were no covered sewers and the WC dumped directly in the streets.