Yemen travel log. My journey to a fascinating nation almost yet to discover

Dedicated to people close to me that in this period of my life, had the consistency of being near me encouraging me to continue my path of personal and professional grounds for optimism and always making me keep a vision has a future with goals and purposes, but especially with so much positive energy that has the mental capacity to improve and improve.

Raffaele Banfi

 

Intro

I am leaving for another trip, this time the destination is Yemen, a nation located at the southern Arabian Peninsula.
Country away from us not only in terms of mileage, from the charming Arab culture. Places that I have seen some wonderful television services and also read the information on the guides can be found in the internet I have only given a partial picture but exciting than I am about to see
Start packing with summer clothes and suitable for hiking, a digital SLR camera (Nikon DX40) with three cards in reserve, my inseparable Moleskine ® (the block to the clipboard), pens, passport, program travel, guides, and last but not least the necessary tickets.
For the journey I have chosen two guides;
• Yemen's Guide Express, and 2007, very good for the descriptive part, which allow to know the history, regions, customs, geography and ethnic groups;
• Oman, Yemen, United Arab Emirates Lonely Planet-EDT - 2nd Italian edition, April 2005, for a list of interesting places and monuments to visit, as well as provide other "useful information" for the trip.
In his diary, I will refer to the places I visited, indicating the reference page for the Guide Express (GE pp.), While for the EDT-Lonely Planet will be denoted by (LP pp.), So that those who want to deepen historical detail and cultural references are all appropriate.

First Part

On a fall morning where the temperature is still mild for this time just before 6:00, we find ourselves in the same place, or the church square, ideal place for the appointment of the group of 17 people from the bus while other 4 Leek Rovello will join us at the airport, and a warm greeting to those found in the group, and short presentations for new components, then loaded the bags on the bus and head to the airport of Milan Linate.
We find the usual traffic on the highway, but we arrive at Linate point, the flight is expected at 9.40, we see the scoreboard and see that the flight was canceled and we ask for explanations and tell us that the whole group was moved on the flight 10.00 but the important thing is to check in the bags are conveyed directly to San'a, the capital of Yemen, where we are headed.
The flight to Rome where he landed regularly carry. On entering the airport building and walk to the area, "transit", looking for the exit for the flight to Yemen and reach. We must do the check-in and, incidentally, the bench is just the opposite end of where we are.
Like the group that we go to check-in and all, we are moving diligently toward the counter, but with Fernanda, where he sat watching the group, we see that there are bags with hanging yellow label of "Ancient Splendors," thought is the same: some of the company is going to do the check-in, leaving the bags unattended. We are talking about this, when an airport official notices of abandoned suitcases, wants to take the "precautionary measures" to show our good fortune in hand luggage and labels alike, convinces him that we are part of a group and that others are went for check-in. Like us all to come and recover the luggage and then finished the check-in, return the exit before boarding. Arriva our guide, Mr. Samer Abdul Ghani, husband of the owner of the tour operators organizing our trip, he is Yemeni, and as well to accompany us to travel to Yemen to work.
We are awaiting embarkation and reaches another group: they are part of Biella and partly Oltrepò bunting and exit seats are filled with people leaving for the Arab country. While waiting for boarding are also arriving Yemeni girls who wear Western clothes, but after a while go to the bathroom and out wearing the "traditional" black suit, the chador, a garment that envelops them completely, leaving only the face.
Finally boarding the flight is scheduled for 14.10, we start with a slight delay, the plane came from Frankfurt and is already full of passengers, the journey passes quietly listening to music, read a part of the leadership of Yemen that have not yet read and take advantage of the time to read some chapters. Abdul was visibly pleased, both for the group that has made a good impression, both the program that he personally agreed with Don Maurizio, but more importantly, even if it says, is happy to return to Yemen, his birthplace and even if it is in Italy for years, married to an Italian, a return to its origins is always something pleasant and much awaited.
I watch the band, who rests there, the speaker, who played cards, some gossip, who is occupied with crosswords, some reading. The flight lasts 7 hours, but for some reason I seem endless: perhaps the desire to see San'a, reading the guide I was quite intrigued. One thinks for a moment to suitcases, "I wonder if they will reach them all?". As a precaution, and experience, in hand luggage I brought the change in order to overcome the hardships already experienced, where the suitcase did not arrive.
On the plane there are people of various nationalities, of different ethnicities, different colors of skin, creating a mosaic pleasant to observe, as equally enjoyable is the variety of Western and Arab clothing. The hostess served lunch, the first contact with the flavors Yemen; fly with Yamen, the national airline of Yemen, the air is clean and the service is good.
I'm sitting in the middle row of the plane, trying to peek through the window to see something, but I do not see anything beyond the clouds, suddenly I see the clouds tinged with pink, is the effect of the sun is setting. Comes The entry visa which must be carefully compiled. "Ancient Splendors" has given us a specimen of compilation and this makes it easier, when it ends peeking out the window I see that it is completely dark.
Monitor the aircraft appears the inscription "4078 km from the start, encountering turbulence to dance and soon the lights to wear their seat belts, and start the descent continue to read the guide, I read some recent history and Something about San'a, the city where we're headed and that tomorrow we will see.
We land in Sanaa, the impact is quite delicate, but it also creates the separation of part of a panel of furniture, a smile among the passengers that they have realized that and everything will take, with the corner of my eye I see a movement strange, round head and I see the girls who wear the chador, are falling black veil over her face. I think it's amazing how a few hours before in Italy and now dressed in a Western, in their country in a completely different dress.
We arrive at customs with the inevitable scrutiny of visas and passports, collect the bags this time they all arrived in the lobby and out of the airport immediately known men with Jambiya; the characteristic curved dagger, which by shape, color and finishes identifies tribes, ethnic groups and region.
Our guide is waiting for us and let us immediately know Omar, a man over 50 who speaks fluent Italian and a person is immediately at hand, will accompany us throughout the tour. Leaving the airport we load our luggage on a bus, going up on another all of us. While we leave the airport building, Omar, begins to set out the details of Yemen and around that we are about to undertake, stating that in Socotra, we will get a dolphin, I personally am a little doubtful as to whether and stores this detail.
Are the 22, we are in the capital of Yemen to 2,200 meters above sea level where the temperature is cool and there are 17 ° C. Leaving the airport once the traffic seems chaotic, everyone here is playing, I just arrived in another dimension. On the outskirts of the town houses have a concrete structure built by the Yemeni-style windows, which are decorated in white and rectangular windows, vaulted over other forming a crescent with decorative brickwork and stained glass inside it.
Omar informs us that we are in the period of Ramadan, the Moslem fast of 30 days and will end in 4 days, this time during the day we will see very few people around, shopping for the most part will be closed and, in fact, as we how to observe, the city comes alive only after sunset, or around 18 hours local time.

Second Part

The transfer to the hotel we packed the van and on which we are traveling seems half luck, take care all seats, including a death in the central room, the legs are curled up, the door is a "manual" is closing in opening. The medium is trailing in the climbs, passes through the outskirts of the city while I see no trace of the old part, I see some characteristic structure, but nothing more, everything is back all'domani.
We arrive at the hotel, the "Movenpick" which is located atop a hill overlooking the mountains, is a modern and welcoming, welcome cocktail, delivery of passports, the allocation of rooms, I get into my I No 515 and see the window that appears San'a illuminated like a crib.
I go down for dinner, buffets, international cuisine and Yemen, rice, meat, bread, delicate sauces and spicy, sweet vegetables, fruits (melon, kiwi, watermelon), while we have dinner, the hotel offers musical entertainment for the guests: dinner with the music is pleasant. Shortly after dinner I go in the room, I have to remove clothing from the suitcase for the next day, prepare the camera (a reflex in which the new use are not yet fully grasped and that is why I provided with instruction manual that constantly consulting to store the complex operation of the camera).

First Part

The alarm clock rings at 7.30, but they are already standing by a little, I'm anxious to see the city of San'a (GE 119) (LP 216), what I read on the guides intrigued me a lot and there are homes these homes / towers made anciently with mud bricks and straw, high and narrow houses several floors, decorated with white lime. Curiosity is at the highest level, open the hotel window and see houses built with bricks and even cement gray and brown ornaments are white, a small taste of what I see during the day. I do not see traditional houses from the view of the enchantment of the old city is left in the afternoon, the morning's program includes a visit to the village of Bayt Baws, located near the city.
We have breakfast, then I go in the room to prepare for the start of the day, a "ritual" that will be repeated every day of the tour, hat, sunglasses, Moleskine ®, pen, camera, adjustment of the reflex and ... .. are part; emerging from the cloudless sky is blue, the temperature is warm, you're exactly right, the wind is wholly in the heat.
We are ready for departure, we rely, lacks a person, try the breakfast room, lobby ... nothing. Don Maurizio Sandro Fernanda and decides to look better, we share part of the hotel and we run fast, who plans, who the outdoor pool, some shops, and at the end .... None. We call room ... nothing. Seems gone. You start to think "not positive" cases:
1) is wrong;
2) is deceased;
3) has been kidnapped.
Ok to do? Dilemma, the search continues, the person seems to have evaporated into thin air, the tension and pressure increases, called his roommate who is on the bus and we encourage you to take a look in your room. Minutes pass, the fruitless search continues, we refer to the cases above. Eventually the elevator door opens, it is the roommate who says ".. is in bed sleeping. Is not well. He heard the phone ringing but could not bring himself to respond. " All things have been excluded two hypotheses, the "less positive".
Let's start with the buses of the previous day, this time the group is divided on the two vehicles and traveling a lot better, with us this morning there are two guides, and Omar Abdul. We travel the great roads of the suburbs, the houses are all well known brick and mortar, the windows outside white stucco topped by more time with stained glass windows.
San'a is a city that occupies an area of 80 square km with 2 million inhabitants, leaving the periphery along a wide well paved multi-lane road, when suddenly taking a detour on the left there also on a side street climbing a steep slope, the road in a few turns takes us near the village of Bayt Baws (GE 161) (LP 228), built on a rocky cliff.
Near the village we stop for photographs and first met the group quickly Abdul tells the story of San'a in Yemen and enhancing the various types of domestic cultivation (mainly coffee), and various forms of craftsmanship.
We are on the hills of basalt rock whose sides are partially covered with prickly pears, the soil is stony and desert, the color of the rocks ranges from brown to black (depending on the type of basalt), the surrounding mountains continually beaten by the wind , where the soil is baked by the sun, have a few plants, which appear to be bare and thorny acacias.
The village that we are about to visit is located on a rocky red and below the spur of the vertical plates tilted green, I ask Omar why that color and tells me that the rock is rich in copper oxidation creates this color particular, I gather, as I remember, small stones and, in fact, we note the characteristic oxidation of copper. The fortified settlement, and this will be a constant that I see all over Yemen, small and large villages, still fortified and as history shows sometimes impregnable.
Near the village square, where stands a stately sycamore trees and close to the same water tank, whereas the presence of sycamore indicates the existence of the precious liquid.
Along a stony road uphill passing by the front door and enter the village, the houses all devices are made with blocks of stone, square, angled skilfully worked, that lying creates these houses / fortress yellow / red. While maintaining the first floor in stone, some homes have subsequent plans made with mud bricks and straw and have the windows of the decorations in white limestone. Turning to the village from where we come to a hill overlooking the new part of San'a while the old stands behind two hills and is 15 km.
The houses are partially inhabited, but is only in recent years with the advent of tourism, which the people have returned to populate the village, an intelligent tourism also creates this "return to origin". Walking note that at the heart of the village is built of concrete, a bit 'inappropriate to the context of the village, but the water well where to draw all the inhabitants and even jars a lot, its presence is essential, perhaps even a day the coating of local stone, hidden in this wonderful old houses.
I'm intrigued by the buildings that I see, development is largely vertical, three or four floors are the common feature that said, some houses are entirely of stone, others with rocks and mud bricks, with stone arches and beams made of and the windows are wood.
During the tour a particular strikes me, the human and animal excreta are collected in cakes that are placed on rocks exposed to the sun to dry, dried cakes will be used in fields as fertilizer.
Continuing around the village we reach the end of the visit and we go passing under the door passed before we reach the square where sycamore with taking some photos with the inhabitants; personally am amazed at the architecture and from what I have seen so far.
Let us take the buses, we descend the hill and head towards the city shortly after we stop to photograph the grand mosque, a building under construction, I am struck by the grandeur of the 6 minarets present. We continue towards the old part of town and we go along busy roads to travel where, as already seen the night before, is a continuous sounding of horns, as if to signal their presence, use completely different from ours.

Second Part

We arrive in a square, the buses are reversing a few meters and stop at the gate of a palace is the headquarters of National Museum archaeological and ethnographic Yemen. Down from the truck, we follow Omar who enters the gate to enter the museum but, as days of Ramadan, the museum opens in the afternoon. Change in plans, cross the street, we walk along a sidewalk where the stalls are located by a side entrance and we access this part of town: the first impact is a surprise at the houses, all brown with windows decorated with lime white, but can not be too long to admire the structure of buildings, there is a market and we are kidnapped by the colors and fragrances, asking the children to be photographed and thanks to the digital SLR I can show the photos immediately, to their great delight. The impact with the people of San'a is more than excellent, friendly and polite, not intrusive, through the market Omar takes us down a road that runs into a ditch and told us that when it rains it fills with water and road becomes a river.
Originally the town was completely surrounded by walls and the entrance was possible through 8 doors were locked at night and reopened in the morning. In 1962 during the war, because of bombings, most of the walls were destroyed, and today it remains only a small part and a door only.
Shortly after visiting the old city which is densely populated, where every house is inhabited by an extended family to children, for generations to daughters and grandchildren. Young people, at least those who study, prefer to live on the outskirts of the city in modern buildings, but, like all nations, on the day of celebration, here is Friday, the family gathers in his family home. The houses where several families are descendants from the same strain and, where they were made hereditary divisions may be sold only if all owners agree.
The houses on the front have drainage channels that convey sewage directly into the sewer, but they look good, I can note that there are some houses on the old vertical slides that were used originally to evacuate the sewage from the houses that was collected from farmers and fact dry in cakes as seen previously in Bayt Baws, and then used for fertilizing the fields.
The old part of town the pavement is made with hand-carved stones and the roughness of the stone can be seen in comparison with the paving of the lines made with cut stones with modern technology.
Prior to 1918, homes had their windows with panes of alabaster and only then the glass, imported from Turkey, gradually replaced the alabaster. The windows of the houses are of various kinds: those that open their doors with rectangular clear glass and are often overcome with windows closed and once worked as a decorative surround a flower or star with stained glass. Sometimes you see more of the round windows fixed without any decoration, wandering around the city I can see that he has kept some window panes of alabaster: the ore is completely opacified window allowing the passage only of light, giving a nice pink tint within dwellings.
We enter the Old San'a, the look is kidnapped by the buildings decorated with white and brown if it is already turning to the market seems to be in a movie, now among the houses brown / hazel, including perfume, clear sky, where upward gaze is lost in a thousand details, I think being in a surreal dimension, in a fairy tale, a tale from a thousand and one night.
Everywhere I look upon the well-ordered house, decorated, some well-kept garden and a great, infinite, sublime beauty. I find it difficult to describe these buildings / towers, the entrance door of carved wood sometimes covered with a wooden balcony, the plans are developed in a continuous series of vertical windows decorated in white, the grounds of the decorations vary from house to house but following the profiles of buildings gaze is lost in the cobalt blue sky.
Wandering the streets, we arrive at the hotel Fenix Arabia where we stop for lunch and the guide warns us that from the upper terrace of the hotel you can enjoy a wonderful panorama of the city, we go and sit in a room adjoining the interior garden, where we lunch is served, sauces, cheese, chickpeas, yogurt, bread Yemen (mixed with more grains and baked, dark color and is very good), rice (white and yellow), fish, mutton, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, bananas with honey and aloe dates (sweet and creamy flavor), tea, coffee powder and coffee of Yemen. I take the Yemeni coffee, I leave it to settle well in the cup before drinking it, savored it, our impression is to drink a coffee with chocolate, a nice feeling.
After lunch, we take the buses and headed to the archaeological and ethnographic museum, the museum is located in the building of Iman, but only a fraction is accessible, since most of the building is being renovated.
At the museum is the reconstruction of two bronze statues of kings, the gift of the Greeks to the Queen of Sheba, while in the room, enclosed in glass cases, there are some remnants of the original statue, a short distance of the archaeological finds are on display dating from the reign Saba, the mythical realm of ancient Yemen and there are jewels, seals, necklaces, ornaments in glass, alabaster slabs, also beautiful sculptures in alabaster. In addition to archaeological finds I pause to observe the architecture of the building, the doors are sturdy and the walls are built of blocks of gray stone and white in the decor to the ceiling, the windows are wood and open, have transparent glass, are surmounted by lunettes with decorations in stained glass that create a truly impressive effect inside.
We continue our tour by climbing to the upper floor there is the latest section of the museum with collections of coins, jewelry, weapons of the Ottomans who ruled the country and in a room is exposed the green cloth that covered the black stone in Mecca to Medina.
The part contains ethnographic models of dwellings of Yemen and there are some wonderful craft activities and reconstructions of life scenes, I see the work of carpenters, construction of Jambiya, textiles, dyeing of the same, the reconstruction of the interior of house with the kitchen, the dining room of women (with the bride, the maid and the wedding guests), the room for men, a collection of women's clothes, an interesting collection of silver jewelry, in a room there is a collection of wicker baskets for more diverse uses and still used today in some parts of the country.
We left the museum and across the street are in the old city and along one side we go to market: the 'souk', but while crossing the street know that traffic is significantly increased compared to the morning, because it is the period of Ramadan, people go very late from home and move in the morning was much better and now the traffic is chaotic due to the presence of cars, trucks and various media.

Third Part

We enter the Old San'a and we travel a good deal before you reach the suq, the sight is lost between the bricks brown / hazel, one of the rectangular windows, including those at once between the round, between the clear crystal and colored ones between the white decorations that embellish and adorn the homes, making masterpieces of decorative art.
We get to the souk which is full of people, the effect of day of Ramadan and the festival can be seen on the large number of crowd, and the first contact with the suq is a shop selling sweets made of honey inside the counter glass are positioned sweets and is full of bees called scent. Around the souk and find the area of tissues with the bright colors: There are satin, silk, velvet, I get lost in a thousand colors, and among so many fine fabrics and some cheap-imported from China. In a small square known of the furnace, producing distinctive Yemenite bread, what we have tasted for lunch, turn to the souk is like being lost in a maze of shops knives, belts, textiles, sweets, spices, tobacco, antiques, silver jewelry and gold. In the squares there are artisans who work, who sews shoes, others prepare for Jambiya belts and along the streets, located on the corner there are vendors of qat, where people buy the plant, but no one chews, even in this If you observe the Ramadan.
Omar "disappears" for purchase of qat, returns shortly after with a huge pack and I think "I wonder if they will?". I noticed that people buy qat in small plastic bags and not a huge amount as that of Omar, who leads the pack on his back is more like an ornamental plant that a single dose.
Leaving the souk and take the buses, the traffic of the city reflects that of other Arab countries, who passes first step along the streets look all people against traffic, sudden U-turns, it sounds to note its presence, Therefore, as already mentioned the use of the horn is continuous. There are motorcycles that emit white smoke, burning huge amounts of oil, making the air at times unbearable. Many times more people traveling on the same bike, but cars and trucks traveling overloaded, are often used to carry people. For the city run media of all kinds, in ancient times, there are many SUV's and cars are decorated with strips of leather placed on the dashboard and steering wheel, some are synthetic, the rust is a constant presence on the car and new ones appear be coming from an unknown dimension.
Returning to the hotel and after anti-terror inspections at places we go, I go in the room and I'm placing the notes on my block, when you hear the voice of the muezzin, the singer who calls the faithful to prayer, I open the window and listen to this appeal that is truly distinctive.
Buffet dinner and then spend the evening playing cards and chatting, go out for a walk outside, but the fresh air invites me to return. At about 22 I go to bed.

First Part

Wake up at 5:30 because we have to leave for Sayun, we'll go by plane and the flight is scheduled for 8.00; opening the bedroom window I see the sunrise over San'a, the sun reaches the plateau gradually and slowly leaving the darkness, taking shape, the houses with white decorations, is an enchanting place and I am fascinated by the beauty and, while fresh air enters through the window, I watch the clear blue sky and see the last stars slowly disappear. I put the suitcase out of the room and go downstairs for breakfast, then loaded the suitcases on a bus and go up on the other at the airport. After a short trip you arrive, unload the bags, check-in in some small problem with the last name because in the group are three Banfi and the operator effort to carry out checks, we are in the waiting room for the internal flight, after a while open doors, check with another metal detector, go out, just get on the airport bus that takes us close the aircraft and we are going to rise, but the hostess comes out saying that the aircraft is not ready to accept passengers; We just have to wait on the runway and this setback allows me to look good and look around the airport, each side of the hangar, there are civil with military aircraft. We climb on the plane, the Boeing 737 is full and the pre-allocation of seats the group is scattered randomly, but the flight is short, about 1 hour. On the plane I see the group of Italians started with us from Fiumicino. Again I'm sitting in the middle row of the plane and not see anything out the window. The flight is quiet, we landed without problems Sayun (GE 216) (LP 265). Getting off the plane and arrived at the terminal we are going to retire the suitcase and found a short conveyor belt, is actually boarding the tape that is used as a baggage conveyor belt. We arrange for the withdrawal of our suitcases, as they appear on the tape, before finishing on the floor, Sandro, Gigi and I take them on the fly and with a passing hand we get to our group, a minimum of organization and collaboration is definitely better of individuality that might emerge. Exit you will find yet another passport control.
We leave the airport building and we are in a yard surrounded by lush palm trees surrounding desert and mountains, look good and I realize that we are surrounded by towering mountain ranges, but I can not see more as we are trying our coaches, but I do not see; Omar heads towards a zealous stand where there are off-road Toyota Land Cruiser, 4,500 of cylinders: these will be our means of transport throughout their stay in Yemen. We divide into groups of four people, carry luggage and take place in a Toyota, with me there is Sandro, Luisella and Francesca, parts and head towards the hotel, we go to unload the suitcases before leaving for the ride of the day. Known in the trip to my left a mountain range more compact, I can not see the side valleys, everything is brown, the mountains are barren and rocky with vertical walls, the basis for the tumbled rocks. Everything is brown, there is no vegetation, the tops of the mountains are flat, and even though we are on a plateau carved by water over thousands of years, it is impressive to see mountains all around with a flat top, level, between the bed Flat River, a valley planted with palm trees and some fields, and partly desert, where only the presence of homes enlivens the landscape.
Along the way I see the houses, here are made of mud and straw bricks, the plaster that covers the brick and mud houses while being different from those seen in San'a, where the bricks are exposed, again decor on sides, around the windows and the top of the buildings where it is located on the terrace. While travel known abandoned houses and partially collapsed inside where you can see the wooden beams used as support of the slab. To residential areas stretching all around the desert area with palm groves and cultivated fields where working women wearing the chador and tested had a straw hat tip to the shape, reminiscent of black witches of fairy tales.
Going into the hotel I see that some houses are brown, others decorated entirely in white, the latter show up much in the landscape, while the first camouflage into the environment and this is more noticeable in the villages on the peaks of mountains that turn invisible and only white decorations breaks the monotony by creating shapes and shadows: a succession of plays of light which change constantly creating situations fascinating.
Find "brick factories", the classic mixture is spread on a flat surface where it is dried in the sun, the bricks are then cut into rectangular shapes and left to finish drying, then are stacked next to the surface where they form stacks about 1.5 meters high.
Stray from the main road, we head toward the mountain and after a few hundred yards we come to a fence which is also made of mud bricks and palm-trees and buildings with 2 floors, we arrived at the hotel where cars stop for control of the police constable to the hotel, we enter the first courtyard, go down, and passing through a huge wooden door we enter the inner courtyard of the hotel, being full of palm trees, shady and cool. As we welcome the offer of Yemen (tea with ginger) and dates of local (small but very sweet). The allocation of rooms is done, mine is the n. 71, ground floor; Arabian furnishings, with a private sitting room and there are the air conditioner and ceiling fan.
And 'mid-morning, when, leaving the bags in the room, we are preparing to make the first trip of the day, the goal is Sayun where we will see the Palace of the Sultan. Toyota back on board, retracing part of the paved road previously traveled to the airport with large ruts and center poles for street lighting and after a few minutes of travel we arrive in Sayun. Even here the roads are wide and flowing well, the traffic is not very defensible, but we are still in the period of Ramadan. Here the buildings are brown and white, some are completely white, are the first houses I see from a first glance this way and I note that on the fronts open only rectangular windows, the Western model, the architecture is different from San'a, there are colored bezels.

Second Part

We arrive in a square, stalls indicate that we are close to the souk, a lot of asphalt paper and plastic bags used, the impact is not the best. On one side of the square cars stop, get out, the look is kidnapped by the massive walls that surround the majestic palace of the Sultan, a structure of brick and mud over the fence there are six floors of the building. We enter the main door, walk up a cobbled street that leads to an embankment, the palace appears here in its grandeur, all white with brown windows, has the shape of a castle, of rectangular shape which narrows as it rises, plans nine and structures are 4 overlapping the sides of the third structure, there are round towers, stands impressively and dizziness, decorative spire on top. Rest really ammagliato by so much beauty and as Omar explains the history of the palace, seized the opportunity to take some photos. The palace is a museum and you're there by visiting the archaeological ground floor. The first showcases contain fossils and artifacts from the Stone Age, others contain artifacts dating back to 2,000 years ago are very interesting both sacrificial altars dating from the first century. BC, both the wooden doors of the eighteenth century.
Leaving the museum part of the ground floor you climb to the upper floors where there were originally the apartments of the Sultan. Today, some of them picks up a photo gallery of the early 1900's and I will make some photographs are portraits of the 30s where people engaged in different activities of the market, I am struck by the cleanliness of streets and roads today, however, are covered with paper and plastic bags. Other rooms are devoted to the part where we see ethnographic and traditional clothing, jewelry, kitchen utensils, flags, edged weapons and gun.
Looking through the windows of the building you can see beautiful views of the surrounding city and the oasis, we ascend to the upper floors, leaving the terrace, the view is lost far, far beyond the houses brown, white houses, palm trees that surround the city. But the wind rises in the desert that raises and carries fine sand that clouds everything and goes everywhere I need to hurry to take pictures and store the camera in the housing, whereas the sand slips inexorably into your ears, eyes, in the nose, between the clothes and the custody of the camera.
We get out and go out from the building, we are on the embankment where there is a craft shop and some of the group comes to see the items on display, I take the opportunity to tour around the palace and take some pictures. On one side of the building I see that the lower wall of the building is presented without showing the cover of whitewashed mud bricks and straw, the contrast is very strong. Not far note that a section of wall is covered with lime, the structure of mud shows erosion of time.
While the sandy desert wind continues to blow constantly leave the building and crossing the street in c'infiliamo souk, the market is not large, but the way I see beautiful wicker baskets containing legumes and cereals, not far stalls with cakes , others with clothes, this market is more for locals than for tourists, it's nice to run the stalls and shops, even if the plastic and paper on the floor make it not cleaned the suq.
We make a stop at a store to buy honey aloe and dates, and who is interested in purchasing enters the store, honey and choose the desired quantity and the seller pays the filling a container at a time, close the jar with tape and hands it to the buyer, it is a ritual that is repeated for each jar, here there is no hurry and took the opportunity to tour and take pictures as well to observe scenes of everyday life, women are sometimes reluctant to be photographed, must use the tricks to make the shots.
Purchased honey go back to the car and go back to the hotel for lunch, salad, soup, potatoes and mushrooms, meat, potatoes, vegetables, rice, bananas, oranges and watermelon. Given the temperature over 35 ° C and the heat is best to avoid running during the hottest hours of the day for which we are a little break, some people break into the swimming pool, some people take a little 'sun Who takes a nap, I look at the photos taken and I clean the camera from the sand in the morning. The meeting point for departure is set for 15.30; we climb into cars and head toward the opposite side of the road traveled in the morning and after a few kilometers after the last palm oasis in the middle of a large desert area, like a mirage appears Shibam (GE 218) (LP 263), a fortified city, where his houses / towers rise into the sky like towering ramparts in the flat desert, not surprisingly is called the 'Manhattan of the desert. " Given the grandeur of the buildings, better name could not be given. We come to Shibam from the east, along the walls until the middle door, we enter the front door and the cars stop in a square where there is a market, go down and start looking around, the houses rising steeply towards the sky, I count seven eight times in nine floors. Some buildings are mud-colored, others are entirely white, some white and marked by the land of the desert, is an endless succession of colors, shades, nuances.
The windows of the houses are all rectangular with wooden shutters, with curtains at the top, above their other smaller windows sometimes round, sometimes rectangular and some walls are decorations of the horizontal stripes along the entire house, others around the main windows. It 'a continuous succession of endless details and the look is always careful to notice them. Wandering through the narrow streets of the town have a unique feeling, like being lost in a maze of giants. Among the tall buildings I Jambiya stores, silver jewelry, textiles, incense, incense burners (clay and metal).
Some children refuse to be photographed, the demand for money, sweets od'altro is continuous, the group has some of the sweets, I extend to a child saying divedi, but here there is no subdivision, who takes hold, now on, everything will be sipping carefully.

Third Part

We leave Shibam, crossed the dry sandy bed of the river, we head to the village built on mountain slopes facing the country placed throughout the village and began to climb the mountain side, the rock is sedimentary, not compact, the ancient rockslide follow one another, but you can walk quickly and we are in the hill above the village, in front of us appears Shibam in all its grandeur. In the plain, surrounded by palm trees, you see the external walls and brown in them, the "skyscrapers of the desert" is really a mass of hazelnut and white skyscrapers whose profile shoot up towards the sky creates a striking contrast with the environment. Taking photos, then I sit on a stone, and admiring so much beauty, I update my diary writing down the emotions that I feel the wind of the desert is the setting for this vision where the sky is slightly dirty from the sand of the desert carried by the wind merges with the brown of the walls of the city. All around the green palm groves, limestone mountains in the distance with the sunset are changing color, a plain of sand seems to be so much beauty to a pedestal, like a living picture.
The sun is setting, in a few minutes it will be dark, descend the mountain side, we reach the SUV parked in the underlying plain. Returning to the hotel which are beginning to see the streets full of people: the effect of Ramadan is visible. We arrive at the hotel the sun has gone down and we expect a time to relax before dinner, if you live in the pool, who recovers up early in the morning.
Dinner is a buffet, appetizers, excellent Arabic bread, meat (chicken and goat, fried), fruits (melons, watermelons, oranges), the desserts are much appreciated by members of the group, especially the creme caramel.
E 'evening, Omar warns us that Ramadan is over, we hear the sounds of the festivities of fireworks and a few shot, people celebrated in the villages, Omar tells us that here the Ramadan ends, when someone sees the piece of moon in the sky and swear in public for having seen it and only then begin the festivities. Moreover, the Moslem calendar is based on lunar cycles and in the desert areas the "eye contact" with the moon is still very important.
From inside the walls of the hotel the evening passes peacefully, those dedicated to shopping in the store of the hotel, who talk, who plays cards.

First Part

Up at 8.00, breakfast and then we start to Tarim. The wind is absent and the blue sky you see some white cloud that dissolves with increasing temperature. Here the contrast between the sky and the mountains is very strong and the mountains to form and color, at least at sunrise and sunset, we remember the Dolomites, the Sella group especially with its flat side terminal, a huge terrace with steep walls and rubble at the base, the sight is lost in an unbroken chain of mountains, the eye sees no end, is an enchanting place, dozens of miles of barren mountains.
We leave the hotel and along a beautiful and smooth paved road and walk to our destination and the countries we see the effect of the end of Ramadan: people are extras, the shops are open, the craftsmen are at work at last a Yemen populated.
Go over ground already traveled yesterday to Sayun, then continue towards the airport and while exceeding it known that the square of the structure is deserted, no action is parked, it means that today there will be no flight.
We leave the road with a detour to the right and soon we arrive at a white wall, but the gate is closed, Omar went to talk to the warden, we are at the tomb of Isa Bin Ahamed (GE 216) (LP 268), a figure revered by local population. The tomb, situated at the foot of the mountain is a white building with columns and cupola, is surrounded by high walls and has a large square. The guard realizes that we are tourists and is inflexible, access is allowed only to Muslims, we can only take pictures outside the gate and start over.
We continue our journey and the road paved stretches are only the roadbed, the asphalt resumes, I do not know if they have completed the tar or whether there are the invisible work in progress. Fortunately we move off-road, or normal car would be really challenging traverse the section of road with rocks of all sizes placed as ballast. Note that along the way there are no bridges, asphalt follows the trend of land and near rivers is replaced by cement, this should facilitate the passage of the river water during the rains.
Continue the journey along the majestic mountains that surround the plateau, the palm trees alongside the road, the blue sky, the warm dry and pleasant complement this beautiful picture. Along the road through villages and scattered houses, and when the houses are covered with lime, especially in the distance you can barely notice them, they blend perfectly into the landscape, their color is one with the color of earth and the mountains.
We come to Aynat (GE 221) (LP 268), we stop at a yard where one side stands a house with a strange portal at the top, on the lintel painted white, you are stuck ten pairs of horns of the ibex, a taste very special for us Italians a display of many horns gives rise to various interpretations.
Across the square, the Muslim cemetery, one of the most important of the country. There are five chapels, all strictly equal, white, square, with a central door with porch, a window in the main facade, three terraces and then a dome. All around the simple graves where there are those of the men and women differ because women have a stone in the center of the tomb. On the headstone is engraved with the name, surname, date of birth, there are photos and the graves are simple structures and the same for everyone. The dead are buried, covered with a sheet, his eyes turned towards Mecca and also for those who are buried in the chapel, the burial takes place in the same way.
Leaving the cemetery, taking over the car, near a dry river we stop to photograph the village built on a hill just above the river bed, the first houses are white, are one or two floors, behind it houses four or five stories tall hazelnut and after a mountain village halls triangular with gentle slopes and finally to complete the background, the blue sky. The houses show the minaret of the mosque, slightly off-white sand of the desert, even the walls of the mosque are a little nutty. The windows of the houses are wooden, and some are placed in the upper part, the white curtains, windows are tinted blue.
Resume the path to Tarim, on the way we see the ovens are the factories of lime. The extracted ore is transported from the surrounding mountains in this area and is set to bake in ovens made of mud bricks and fired with palm oil. Once the mineral is cooked and removed from the furnace and laid in some basins where water is added, there is a chemical reaction that produces the lime in the tank, the mixture is periodically moved, and then let stand until it becomes a White dough is then removed, placed in containers and sold. The finished product serves as waterproofing of terraces and walls of houses as well as to decorate the walls and painted.
We proceed on the journey and always cultivated fields and millstones come to Tarim (GE 220) (LP 267), we stopped near a building which was also an oriental style with the classic bricks, has a belt decorated with faux columns, fake porches and topped by a balustrade with balusters while the main door is surmounted by chapels decorated and has two columns on each side. The four-storey building is only visible on the outside, is in good storage conditions, its façade has double-and among them the columns that serve as decorative elements, surmounted by lunettes also decorated. The upper part of the building shows a decorative frame and the top floor there is a terrace with a balustrade on the main front five windows, always in style, but with two columns at the sides that recall the minarets, this spectacular building was the palace of the government When the Sultan reigned here.
Along the walls of the building, turn left and it appears another imposing building is six stories from its shaped, smooth, and after the wall, hidden by trees, there is the facade of the building that appears in all its grandeur and astounding beauty, is the entrance of the Sultan's Palace, consists of a column surmounted by two domes. The facade has windows with decorated wooden wall in Oriental style with a series of Greek geometric, carved in front, sloping upward, and placed between the windows are finely decorated rectangular columns.
Not far away stands the Palace Guard that compared to the previous structures is of lesser artistic beauty, but it's still an impressive building, has a structure with five-story, rectangular, massive. On the ground floor windows have the same shape as those of the palace of the Sultan, but less decorated, large windows on the first floor have a decor that recalls the domes of the minarets on top of the building and the terrace has some defensive battlements.
Turning to the town known that the revenue front of the houses there is a wall, sometimes placed parallel to side a few steps from both sides, or is made in the corner, but always with some step, this simple system allows those who pass on the road he can not look inside the homes but allow air circulation.

Second Part

We walk along the paths among the traditional houses, when suddenly appear the minaret of the mosque of Al-Muhd, the building soars into the sky, is 50 meters high and is the tallest minaret of southern Arabia. Omar in the narrow streets along the Tarim and walk to the car and arrive at a square where stands the modern mosque is Friday and called the faithful to prayer you are going to religious ritual, and even here, as in all mosques of the revenue divided between men and women.
We walk up the car and leave the city, along the road the driver stopped buying because they need to consume qat in the afternoon and evening, the room has two doors for entry, the interior is rectangular, the walls there are benches masonry and above them there are people sitting, the contract for the purchase takes place everywhere. Enter the enclosure even Luisella and Francesca, the looks of the men are placed on women to avoid western and looks "prying" it is better to go out, escorted out women and I stop to watch what happens outside the room where there are no cars and motorcycles parked, come the peasants with sacks of jute containing qat, the sale also takes place outside and saw the contract is for the tiny quantities of qat, which is poured into plastic bags for both the sale of the entire bag jute. The Yemenis chew qat to draw directly from the bag and when the plant closed, the bag is dropped along the way making the streets of the real landfill.
Return to hotel for lunch appetizer of vegetables, onion and tomato soup, fish or chicken, fruit.
During the lunch room from two Arab men who appear from clothing, to request clarification Omar and explains who may be citizens of Saudi Arabia or Oman, are considered rich in arguing that the Yemenis are poor. And 'their custom to spend the holidays in Yemen and thus bring hard currency in the country: the men have lunch in our room, women and children have lunch in another room.
After lunch a little 'relaxation to avoid the heat, then go back to the self-directed in Shibam, the expectation is to see a local festival for the end of Ramadan. We come to Shibam and the square is deserted the party was in the morning and ended at 13.00. We take the opportunity to do sightseeing in the quiet town, there are shops open and part of the group is lost in them for purchases. In a neighborhood of the city are the craftsmen who have been weaving on wooden looms mawiz the traditional, typical dress used by men, the handloom is running, what better opportunity to make photos? We wandered undisturbed Shibam is really pleasant to walk the streets of the town, between the skyscrapers of mud and straw. It 'a fun run for shops, where incense, textiles, weapons, jewelry, postcards, locks of wood (typical of Yemen), carved wooden windows are on display, the exhibit truly countless shops and fine craft items.
We note that our guide Omar, 65 well-worn, with hair dyed red with henna is hailed by many people and stopped to talk with them, curiously wondering how she could know so many people. It tells us that originate from a nearby village and that people are handing him their condolences following the recent death of a sister, a great sign of respect for a wonderful person as Omar.
Omar has learned the Italian years ago, when business is landed in Italy in Torre del Greek, initially made a lot of work before returning to Yemen imported Italian cars and trucks, why are his numerous trips to Italy and got to know her well, and his Italian is fluent with a few sentences dell'idioma typical Neapolitan.
The sunset surprising to Shibam, the houses are changing colors, the colors become crayon and then accentuate the sky and slowly begins to become more clear initially and eventually the first stars appear. And 'better return to the hotel because they take up the cars and take the long road to the airport, has four lanes in the middle are the poles of street lighting that works at times, left the road at a crossroads lit and turn right along the fields and houses, I notice that are stacked in a field of older cars are completely stripped of everything, this is only the metal casing, not an engine, not a glass, no interior, no thread, just the skeleton of the car, it is unbelievable the work of dismantling Carthusian.
As we continue along the road, talking with the driver, who speaks fluent English or Sandro tries to talk, but the driver knows little, however we understand that is called Mohamed is married with six children, three boys and three girls, have from two to twelve years old and lives in Taiz city about 350 kilometers south of San'a.
The drivers with the six that make up our car caravan departed from San'a to Marib direct (region currently not recommended to tourists for reasons of public order), then crossed the desert with a run of more than 400 km, all requiring more than a day's journey.
Return to hotel, entrance to the police greeted us, took the keys to the rooms and we retreat before dinner, I take this opportunity to settle the notes in the diary, check the pictures taken and, after a shower, dinner. You can dine outside, the temperature is mild, the wind is absent and it is the ideal evening for a dinner outside. Omar warns us that after dinner there will be a folklore show, dinner is a buffet with Yemen; yogurt, cheese, rice, meat, fish, potatoes, fruit and sweets; beer, for those who want to be strictly non-alcoholic. While we eat we go to two dancers and eight musicians with drums, flutes and other simple tools of wood starts to sound, movements of the dances are simple and actions are dictated by a regular harmonic music, they follow precise articulation, and during the evening few guests take part in dances. In addition to our party in the hotel there is another group of Italians who left with us from Fiumicino, then there are some European tourists, people dressed in Arabic that we saw at noon and finally to a separate table, two women and a distinguished gentleman.
After the dance, the evening pass pleasantly between music, dance and talk, someone in the group plays cards, the "burraco" has become a tradition, as soon as possible to play, ended the evening will go to relax.

First Part

Wake up at 6.30 this morning is predicted to cross the Wadi Daw'an (GE 222) (LP 268) for transfer to Al-Mukalla city on the coast of the Arabian Sea, a journey of over 300 km.
Breakfast and then loaded the suitcases on the SUV party, the imposing mountains come together to provide a landscape of acacia trees, palms, cultivated fields, houses and there are stretches of desert where the sand is very fine.
At one point, near a village, I see a flock of sheep led by a woman with straw hat tip, I stop the car and Sandro and I went down to photograph. Continue the journey before us stands an imposing mountain that is completely bare.
Walking along a stretch of road that crosses a desert punctuated only by a few plantation of date palms and occasionally in the expanse of desert known of the tents of Bedouins with the flocks of sheep grazing.
While traveling from one village, while the drivers make the inevitable break for the purchase of qat daily, I look at the license plates of cars and I see that are different colors, Omar and inquires to me that explains the colors:
• Private cars are blue plate (like Toyota where we travel);
• Taxis are yellow plates;
• the red plates are transport vehicles;
• plate green are vehicles of the Government.
Take the road and find a checkpoint, go beyond it, to walk a few kilometers through villages with mud houses high as five stories, until they start to drive along the mountain slopes rise to its numerous fortified villages, we are in Wadi Daw'an next to the dry bed of the river palm groves and cultivated fields arise. After about 100 km from the start we come to the shrine of Al-Mashhad (GE 222), a building containing the tomb of a sheik who died in the eighteenth century., A place of pilgrimage. The structure is simple, a square building about four feet high, topped by a decorative and topped with a white dome, adjacent to this building there is another identical, but slightly lower, and finally connected the two buildings, a small cemetery belt.
The door is closed, but Omar turning the bolt opens, take off our shoes and enter, there is a box covered with a green cloth with inscriptions from the Koran: it is the tomb of Sheikh. This is called the tomb of wishes, in fact, a legend says that upon entering and supporting the right hand on the tomb should be expressed a desire, if it materializes, it must return to the shrine to offer.
On either side of the tomb of wooden sarcophagi, are topped by a rectangular parallelepiped prism: enclose a different guise, the latter are made of wood, finely decorated, while the floor is covered with carpets.
Upon leaving the building do some photos to the group then go across the street to take pictures of the camels that are stopping short of acacia trees and some houses rising nearby in addition to the flowers that I noticed.
We continue the journey, the road winds through the hills and runs and is a constant up and down, sometimes in the hollows between the hills there are stretches of concrete, river beds are dry and when the driver crosses a stop the car, turn sharply right into a dirt road where only the off-road four-wheel drive can go up the steep slopes, and avoid being stranded in the sand. I do not understand where we're going, but we are moving in the desert near the mountains and shortly after the car stops, get off and Omar heads towards the top of a hill. While later known for the land of the pieces of pottery, just do not understand where we are. Once at all on the hill Omar tells us that we are Raybun (GE 222), an archaeological site dating from the fifth century. BC where once stood the Temple of the Sun was an important stopover for the caravans traveling along the Incense Route in the days of the famous Saudi Fenix. Today, only the outer walls of the temple are stone and a little further down some walls with mud bricks that slowly eroded by the wind are disappearing. When looking good on the slopes of the hill, something catches my eye, I'm going to see, is a board scarificale, broke in half, but it is very visible, I think it strange that an archaeological lie here in the desert and the photographer. All around the desert and the mountains, no one can see villages, palm trees, only the profile of the mountains from the flat top and down the desert sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy.
Let us take the car back on the road to continue our journey to Al-Hajarayn (GE 223) (LP 268), a village in the hills overlooking the entire valley, the houses from the colors brown / white brown and some rise to the sky and the top of the village shows the white minaret of the mosque. We leave the paved road and driving on a dirt road we approach the base of the mountain where stands the village, we climb the slope of the mountain on a cobbled street with steep switchbacks and at the end we are in a square, got out and start visiting the village.
Flanks of the mountain the houses were built on the rock outcropping, are narrow and high, exploiting the vertical space left more arable land available to farmers. Walking along the dirt roads, we meet children, women wearing the traditional chador and veil with the inevitable. The houses are tall three, four, five floors and are simple, no elaborate decorations and are of mud bricks. The eye sweeps upward toward the vertical and is lost in the architectural details. Most buildings are only facades plastered with mud and occasionally, the bricks are visible. Sometimes, in the more difficult to anchor good houses on the rock, there are bases made of stones, the key is always unique, the core, the color of sand, rock color, color of the mountain. Among the garden wall, and in the alleys between the houses, sometimes you can see the valley below the cultivated fields and palm groves and other villages far away and then .... the desert area, surrounding mountains brown and bare, and on a bright blue skies.
Around the village continues between newly built homes and some longer dated, the windows are all rectangular, wooden, do not have any form decorative architecture is different from that seen previously, the terraces of the houses sometimes have the battlements, the entrance doors are wood, some of them finely decorated and has a balcony coverage.

Second Part

Walking along we came to a square where we are attacked by children asking for pens or candy and do not always agree to be photographed, while the tour continues with the camera looking views especially among the gates, the narrow, between children, between the verticality of walls of houses or in the depths of the valley, the distances between the mountains and the beautiful blue sky. We return to the car and run away, leaving the hill we come to the valley and as we travel a dirt road lined with acacia trees, suddenly we find women wearing straw hat tip that are leading the sheep, I stop the car, Sandra and I go down quickly to take some photos, the women noticed us and as usual, are reluctant, turn away, hiding behind the plants, I can take some pictures. I miss the bustle of the spot lens cover photos, from now on should be careful to handle it and place it carefully in order not to damage the filter housing that already, conservatively, I asked for protection of optics lens.
We leave the dirt road and after a few hundred yards back on the asphalt. In front of us, under a triangular-shaped mountain with the top shows the stony village of Sif (GE 223) (LP 268); even built a few kilometers from the village above the houses look different, here are brown or white, brown houses the windows are decorated in white, the white houses are decorated on both the blue windows, and as wall decorations and in some cases have battlements colored.
The driver stops, they have to fill up on fuel, I would also look at the village located at the foot of the mountain and its huge castle, rising on a rocky outcrop, is located in a strategic position to control access to the valley. Lower down the valley, with the now dry river bed where the crops, palm and acacia trees give rise to a very special unique beauty, the colors create a strong contrast between the green plants, the brown houses, land, rock and the blue of the sky, it is impossible not to photograph so enchanting beauty.
We leave, we make a few hundred feet and enter the village where we stopped near a building to one floor only, it is noon and the lunch break, entering the room is a small round central bar with an adjoining door to reach another local the sides a series of tables, some round, others rectangular plastic chairs. The restaurant is built with mud bricks and has a tin roof, inside walls which presents the lower part painted light blue, then white to the ceiling, the cover plate and the beams are bright blue, even windows and other fixtures are blue.
We are greeted with a good hot tea, soft drink and definitely appropriate for the hot day as it is very refreshing and we sit at the tables and the band fills the room. Comes a unique dish, rice, peas with onions, flavored with cinnamon and cloves, roasted chicken. As we cutlery fork and spoon, the Yemenis have traditionally eaten using a common dish from which to derive the food with his right hand and then the dinner service and cutlery are only for tourists, no water to drink and those who want coke or beer clearly strictly nonalcoholic.
The food is tasty, we finish the meal with the excellent tea, then leaving the room we see a water well, a good opportunity to wash their hands. The water that flows from the taps is very cool and someone within the group was approached to open the tap, but remain in the hand from the well leaves a fine water spray watering the "unfortunate" that are in the vicinity at that time, a bit 'of water in the midst of so much heat is always welcome, will evaporate from the clothes in an instant. Forgive quickly tap in place and after a while off again to travel the final part of the Wadi Daw'an in the valley, the landscape features palm trees scattered around, but mostly desert and is seen only rocks and mountains as far as the eye can see.
Hamed, who is chewing qat leaves, gives us some to taste, to savor, the taste is slightly bitter at first, but then changes and it looks like our fresh licorice; not understand how the Yemenis are able to swallow constantly leaves. Those who chew or suck the leaves of qat, which puts them between his teeth and cheek, to make balls that eventually deform the cheek itself. This custom is only Yemen and the production of crops has a domestic market only.
We continue the journey and the scenery does not change, but it is not monotonous because the mountains offer more glimpses of the magnificent and after several hours of travel, we arrive at the village of Rashid, the houses are presented with particular colors and shapes, some are brown, without decoration, others are decorated with multicolored pastel colors, it is very unusual to see the walls of these houses with parts colored in blue, yellow, red, brown, and architecture is truly unique.
Shortly before the village take a road on the left going up the mountain, the path is very steep at times, the cars struggling to climb up the paved road that climbs very well even on the slopes of the mountain pass under ascending vertical walls and We come out the end, almost suddenly, the plateau that occurs desert, flat as far as the eye. We are above those from the low mountains that seemed to have days, you see only stones, rocks, soil with some small bush or tuft of grass, watching as the plane that appears endless, nothing is to imagine that in this desolate plateau may open the openings of the valleys with immense, we are at over 150 meters in height above the bed of rivers is truly amazing how the erosive action of water in thousands of years of patient and relentless work has dug these spectacular valleys: the "Wadi". We come to a place where there is a building under construction, Hamed tells us that is a hospital. Not far away I see the report of a "historic castle and the cars are heading in that direction, leave the road and turning right, walk towards a language of asphalt that leads us close to two towers and given the previous reporting, I think it is a castle, the land is fenced in and around the walls of the tents of Bedouins. Between the towers there is a bar, and then you will walk past the building under construction, cars stop and go downstairs and we're in a building site you are building a hotel, the facility looks very nice with a central and a series of small buildings used as bedrooms, each with the departments and a veranda.

Third Part

All around a stone fence that borders the huge area of the hotel, we come and magically appears a wadi, a few hundred feet below us in the flat bottom, you see the fields, palm trees, the dry bed of river and the coast of a mountain road in the middle of a rocky valley-shaped semicircle that large and imposing overlooking the valley and access to the Wadi itself upon this rock are of the houses is the fortified village of Arhab. The view is wonderful, truly a special position, strategic and difficult conquest in the past. Taking photos of the village and the Wadi, the walls are vertical, we are overlooking the empty, with sweeping views everywhere over the Wadi, where the cliffs end, the plateau extends to the eye.
I could stay for hours to watch this show, to catch the nuances, colors, to see the sun go down and see color the rock, but we must continue our journey, we go back on the car and we started walking back over the tongue of asphalt that c 'onto the road before we left, here the plateau is very flat and infinite, everywhere stones, sand only a few Bedouin tent handles the landscape, although the flatness is not monotonous.
In the midst of the plain, only when approaching the edge of the Wadi you can see the valley floor, but quite parallel to the plateau below.
For several miles we travel this vast plateau using a perfectly paved road, we meet a few cars, then we find a junction, take the road on the right and soon we begin the descent. The landscape changes and you change all the time, there appear acacia trees disappeared, the ground is still rocky, sometimes rocky, there are no crops, only fences for sheep grazing. The road, wide and well paved winding runs along mountain slopes and valleys, rises, falls, climbs, descends and occasionally glimpsed in the distance, the miles seem endless is a continuous travel between mountains, walls and desert terrain.
Suddenly in the distance are the clouds that are fast approaching, and shortly after, in the desert begins to rain, it rains copiously at some point we see a rainbow.
We begin a steep descent and place in a clearing between two curves, we pause to photograph the valley, but is also an opportunity to stretch my legs a little and take the bottles of water as well as picnic; by cars out of the cartons of bananas, which were purchased in San'a, and now after a few days spent in the car are very mature, Omar invites us to eat them, says we must finish them otherwise is to throw, but I eat all three boxes is to become of the monkeys. After the break off again and after a few miles of downhill we reach a checkpoint at the entrance instead of a village on the street are shops and some very basic housing, but above you see the shacks, Omar says that is a village of very poor people, stops, opens the door of the jeep, take the boxes of bananas and gave them to kids who meanwhile had approached the car.
After the checks and now we continue the journey, the landscape offers mountains, we descended the plateau have a lot of respect between the sides of the mountains we approach the valley where the space opens, and the mountains are dark with white sand carried by the wind, this means that we are close to the sea.
After a while 'the road widens and becomes four lanes, you start to see housing, farming areas, industrial areas, the coast is growing near.
When we arrive in Al-Mukalla (GE 223) (LP 257) caught in traffic and after so many miles of desert is almost annoying to see so many cars and having to stop and to stop at traffic lights. Near a square we stop at the sides of the street two buildings built on two rocks, and what remains of the ancient entrance to the city that was the former duty. The outskirts of the city is built with bricks of cement, only in the center keeps the houses made with mud bricks and the buildings painted white lend considerable beauty to the city.
Walking around we stopped to photograph this part of town overlooking the sea, the sky is always cloudy and dark sea, but the white houses are hit by a ray of sun and are illuminated in all their beauty. At the side of a ring road and within an English-style wooden building dating from the nineteenth century. shows the wear of time and the activity of salt.
On the waterfront there are many people, being the end of Ramadan is a feast for three days and at night people will come here to dine. We see little beaches with women and children, women and children wearing the chador with only her legs uncovered since the knee are the "bathroom".
The seafront has a very wide sidewalk with benches, tables are crowded with people and street stalls selling sweets and crisps, which is besieged by children.
Is drawing all sorts of means, overloaded buses and taxis, on the back of lorries are placed dozens of people and until there is a place you go up, the trucks stop at second, third, fourth row, people fall or rise, then the half again, it is virtually impossible to travel by car, we travel a few yards and then we decide to walk, the goal is suq.Arriviamo in the market area, but the desert, everything is closed, there is a shop open and then it take the opportunity to run undisturbed through the center of the city, to observe the homes that are decorated in a different way from those seen so far.
The houses are all white, wooden windows are rectangular and decorated, some are topped by a window at a time, other forms with triangular windows, others have just decorative masonry. But the decor of the houses means that all windows have at the top of the white curtains, infusing the city a very pleasant.
Going through the semi-deserted streets I can take pictures with people, even if sometimes it is really difficult to make the shots as people flee from the target.
Crossing the suq, detailing the car and after a short trip because we got another stop to the old port where a sea lit by the sun nears its sunset you see a few boats fishing boats, while on the dock of the networks are placed at dry. The view of the city is beautiful, behind the white houses, the mountain rises steeply with a brown wall as background and in contrast to the white house and on top of the mountain you notice the white buildings are the watchtowers.
We go back for the umpteenth time on the car and walk past a bay where fishing boats are moored, leave the city and head towards the periphery, we arrive at the hotel, the hotel "Holiday Inn" where we are greeted with a welcome cocktail . The air-conditioned hotel is too strong, creates a significant thermal shock, and this produces some problems "gut" to someone in the group. I take the room, the 505, from the balcony you can see the swimming pool, private marina and the sea temperature is warm and humid, the sky is always black and cloudy, the sun has gone down recently and the last lights illuminate the sky.

Fourth Part

Before dinner, I take more than that to settle the case, look for and select the photos and know that I have already claimed more than 300; also upgrade notes for the diary.
Dinner is a buffet at 20.00, Yemeni and international cuisine dishes really tasty and well cared for. While we eat, looking out the window we see that it's raining hard and it is truly amazing, this afternoon we are getting rain in the desert and now it rains hard here, too, my thoughts go to those who were on the coast for the festivities.
After the dinner I leave the hotel, the temperature is hot and very humid, drizzling again and this is an invitation to spend the evening inside the hotel, that goes through chat, some play cards and the inevitable visit to the shop 'hotel.

First Part

Up at 7.00, sanctify Sunday breakfast and then start with half the beach at Bir Ali (GE 214) (LP 259), which means "Ali's well" and announcing the first day at sea, the costumes are ready as much the desire to dive into the Arabian Sea.
We leave the hotel and the drivers take the road against traffic, here is custom designed to avoid long journeys to find a roundabout and turn around.
Along the way known other hotels, are all fenced and guarded by police. Every so often along the route, entering and exiting from the countries or areas occupied, we find the speed bumps that slow, here the shape is strange, they are thick ropes marine resting on the asphalt, but in spite of the form, fill out their task to perfection, in fact, drivers treat them with respect to the same bumps in masonry.
Let Al-Mukalla headed south-west, along the road that runs along the sea and how to Sayun, the roadway is four lanes with the lights in the middle of street. Reached the paved road up a hill and down and the landscape opens onto a bay of white sand and blue sea that turns to green, where they are neatly moored fishing boats, waterfront village and all around the desert first and then the mountains which surround. We stop for photos and Omar tells us that for a stretch of road we will be escorted by police, in fact, is not the first time traveling to Arab countries, I am escorted. However we continue the journey and reach the village we find the checkpoint, and we spend a little later comes the police car to escort us a long stretch.
The road winds through incomparable scenery where the mountains are the crown and the background and their conformation at times recall the gentle hills of our Apennines, and sometimes the harshness of other mountains reminiscent of the grandeur of our Alps. The speed of the cars is sustained, the bottom is perfect tarmac and the journey continues without any difficulty. The sea is on my left comes in all shades, from deep blue to white to green, the beaches are sometimes made of white sand are sometimes rocky, depends on the conformation of the ground around sporadically scattered across the desert from some shrub acacia. The road climbs, descends, turns, runs along the sea, the landscape is desert mountains far away, at some point the vast desert area shrinks, the scenery changes, the mountains appear black, clearly of volcanic origin, the layers are visible magmatic in conformations that are a delight to observe, vertical, horizontal, oblique. Black magma is interspersed by patches of brown rocks, sometimes the only shows the landscape of the outcrops partially covered with jet black sand of the sea and the desert.
Rest enchanted admiring the color and shape of the mountains, the color ranges from brown to deep black, the white sand of the sea and the desert lying in the mountains looks like black snow, a snow that changes color depending on exposure to the elements; the color depends on which deposited rocks shake. The landscape is constantly changing, the sight is lost between the peaks, troughs, desert is sometimes clear and sometimes black lava as it is an unforgettable sight and clear skies accentuate the colors.
The sea is crossed by several vessels and looking good we see dolphins that follow them, that having beautiful, magnificent, sublime. We arrived near a village and for the appearance of the speed bumps at the entrance of the car decreases. Here is a market and people will flock to, while many donkeys run undisturbed for the village, lots of them are also on the roadside, walking quietly. I notice the skin color of the people are darker than residents of other cities, features show that these different ethnic group, then read on the guide are from Somalia. We continue the journey and find a desert where the mountains are all completely black, a sign of a strong volcanic erosion I also see very regular, almost as if he was the man to shape the rocks. In fact some of the side walls can be seen sloping black lines line up perfectly, almost as a frame and the center put down in an orderly way with sand transported hazelnut and molded by the wind, very occasionally appear in the sand of the tufts of grass and some plants acacia.
The drivers slow down, divert the path onto a dirt road and after a short stop at the base of a hill. Omar invites us to climb to the top and watch, with the group beginning the climb up the hillside on a loose soil and rocky at times of magmatic deposits compact makes it easier to climb, reaching the top and look ... is not a hill is a dormant volcano and we are on the edge of the crater. The volcanic cone filled with water is green and the walls are a magnificent spectacle, are formed by infinite layers of magmatic material deposited over time, it is amazing to follow the lines created by nature. Over the volcano on one hand there is the blue sea, on the other shows a desert area consists of black mountains sprinkled with white sand, while another is still the white desert contrasted the blue of the sea bordered by a white beach.
Part of the group climbed the volcano using the SUV, we reunited and took pictures and admired the beauty of the place we descend toward the base of the volcano, there are those who descend on foot and those who use a lift by car will take the opportunity to do a ride on top of the volcanic cone, where the landscape is truly beautiful, then go down to the car where the group is rallied and in the meantime, drivers who are listening to traditional music Yemenite Invited by Omar will be challenged to dance with Jambiya.
Let's continue our journey, we arrive at yet another checkpoint, here known a muzzle-loading cannon facing a wall, probably a historical relic, the curious photographer. The stock stops so we can turn freely in the village of Ghanat where houses are built of bricks taken from the black lava and the walls are plastered with mud. Some houses are built with cement bricks and windows of all the houses are small, wooden, painted blue, topped with dark curtains decorations at the top.
On the coast we stop to see what was one of the oldest ports of Yemen, its origin dates back to 1000 BC, originally an important and strategic in the way of incense, but today looks like a small boat harbor fishing and its beach is a trash can in the open, completely covered with paper, cans, bottles and plastic bags. I leave this place with a little 'disappointment: we really want to keep clean little. Abandoned the old port we visit the fish market and also here, another reason we remain disappointed, the market is deserted, only to find empty beds for the exposure of fish and today is the third day after the end of Ramadan and feast .

Second Part

We find only a van with the fish, the fish are running low and placing it in plastic boxes, fish is very fresh, very nice. The van, on a mat, there are lobsters, I purchased 4 for lunch, the price is truly low: 6,000 Yemeni Ryal (about 24 €).
Taking some photos to the fish, the people, to children who literally take us by storm by asking pens and sweets we distribute what we have always very sparingly.
We walk up the car and leaving the village we take the paved road, when after a few km take a road on the left, walk along a trail of sand, where only the off-road bumps and can move between sand dunes. We arrive at the seaside near a fenced plot, which is a facility dedicated to tourists, some as cabin cabin, the beds made of wood and thatch, roofs, mats and in front of us a white sand beach, fine sand and lap the beach, the waves of a sea green water that invites you to dive, we are the beach of Bir Ali. I do not like the sea, facing such a spectacle not hesitate a moment, I put on my swimsuit, clothes and leave the camera on a table and I rushed into the water.
The water is green, blue, transparent, you see the white sand of the seabed, some fish swim between the legs of the swimmers, it is heavenly to be in this water warm. The time between a dip, a swim and chatter passes quickly and it is time for lunch. We go to a hut that Omar has prepared for dinner, a frugal but tasty meal prepared by the guide itself and the drivers. Rice, bread, grilled fish (sea bream and snapper purchased shortly before), lobster with vegetables, white melon, the. Omar help in preparing the dishes, clean the fish with the help of two spoons is fun, I quickly cleaned the fish are really cooked to perfection. All eat their fill and the lunch is really good.
After lunch we lie on beds and as I watch the sea, the sky appears some cormorants, enhance, hundreds, thousands, manage to obscure the horizon, stop the waters of the sea, the blue and green water turns black, I come again, this stretch of sea of the bay is completely covered by these birds: marvel at this wonderful spectacle of nature.
After a few minutes cormorants run on a small island not far away, the island is a few tens of meters from us, has a white sand beach and the center a small mountain of rock brown within minutes the white beach goes black, completely covered with cormorants.
We decide to make an extra bathroom and move to another stretch of beach that is just a few dozen meters from where we are, the more the water is green and transparent, the background is always white and the water is warm. As we walk in shallow water we are talking about and come across a lady who is coming out of the water, we say goodbye in Italian and she politely answered in our language, the question naturally arises, "Italian?", "Yes, but for years living in France," we stop talking for a while, someone in the group recognizes it, Sayumi was in our hotel, in the evening with traditional dances at the table sat three people, we recognize one another and the "barriers" to befall, comes also his friendly but speaks only French. E 'Italian, Calabrian origin, but for years lived in Paris, is host of the French ambassador to Yemen and are making a tour of Yemen, their tour is coming to an end and fall in a few days in San'a.
The two ladies out of the water and this stretch of white beach bordered by the sea remains "our own", dive and swim in this water clear and warm is a real pleasure. Islet, suddenly, the cormorants fly up obscuring for a moment the sun has finished their siesta and take over their perpetual migration, who knows where are they headed?
We continue in our bathroom, in the sea is just fine, but the approaching sunset and the cooling water invite us to leave.
Dozens of crabs on the beach white move, but at our approach they take refuge in their burrows in the sand. Between some rocks protruding from the sea we see other brown crabs, and also our approach to take refuge among the rocks, also in the transparent see the little fish that swim undisturbed.
It approaches the hour of departure, recovery clothing, camera and going off-road again for the Al-Mukalla, on the way the sunset tinged the mountains that we saw in the morning, the white sand changes color, turns pink, then changes again, the colors become strong, the shadows decided, it's great to observe similar hue.
At the first village we expect the armed escort that we follow for a stretch of road, we go back in, while the sun sets by reaching the darkness. We arrive in Al-Mukalla, which is a little after 17.30 and it is dark, the waterfront is popular for evening festivities, reach hundreds of families, it's just like the night before.
We cross the city, we arrive at the hotel, we all like shrimp reddened by the sun taken during the day. Shower, after sun cream and then dinner. The evening passes quietly between talk and card games. Then, in the room, we need to pack, tomorrow we depart for the island of Socotra.

First Part

The alarm clock rings at 8.00, but have already been around for a po ', I need to dry the swimsuit that I place on the balcony of the room where the temperature hot and humid it promotes. I finished preparing the case, since today has been transferred to Socotra (GE 226) (LP 260) and at 11.15 we have the flight, the airport is over 60 km from Al-Mukalla and visa controls, it is better to arrive with advance. On the road we find little traffic, cars, some trucks and some medium in contromano.
Even as this road is not provided with other bridges and follows the trend of the hills, but here near the river crossing we see a few yards of some bridges.
Along the trail runs along a military airport, you can tell from the plane on display near a gate, other aircraft are located in the desert and seem more designed to spare parts for an active role. We get to the driveway of the airport where some pennants waved flags worn by wind and sand of the desert. We finally reach the square, take the bags from the car, greeted the drivers who will meet again in San'a and entering the building we find the initial checks, a few boats over the bags cardboard box, an open and fall to the floor of foodstuffs ( fruit, biscuits, cheese) and inquires to Omar tells me that the island there is only fish and we must bring everything else a little shocked and a little intrigued by what we find in Socotra.
We spend more control and access to the area of duty free shops in some component of the group is dedicated to the purchase of silver jewelry.
The airport is deserted, no aircraft is on track, in the waiting room for boarding, only the Yemeni people, no other tourists, the men are watching us especially curious and looking Western women who do not wear their traditional and covering chador .
Pending update appointments in the diary and read the manual of the camera, the section of macro photography, because I think I use it to capture the plants and flowers of the island.
Comes a plane, but is too small to carry all the people present in the waiting room and, in fact, after a while landing a Boeing 737, and our air. Some passengers get off and go on foot to the airport. We go by bus to the aircraft, we sit and take-off from the window you see the sea and few minutes later we see many clouds appear and finally the island with the mountains covered with black clouds, it seems that we expect bad weather. However over the mountains you see beaches bordered by a paved road along the coast, while in the north west of the island are white beaches. From the island as a whole is desert, a few trees, no cultivation, only a few villages and main roads paved.
The landing on the runway of Hadiboh is abrupt, but the flight went well, getting off the plane, baggage claim with the usual organization, Omar withdraws her bags and boxes loaded in Al-Mukalla. We leave the airport and we load our bags on the Toyota Land Cruiser, the same as those used on the mainland and maintain the same composition of the group training that will remain unchanged until the end of the journey.
Island besides Omar will have a local guide is a boy of 21 who knows English well and speaks a little too Italian. A local guide is a way to increase employment and allows for active involvement of the population, creating development. The boy looks good and will prove to be careful, precise and orderly; make his knowledge and then loaded the bags into cars head towards the hotel.
The island has a barren landscape, beaches, desert terrain, mountains with steep slopes where they grew baobab trees that appear, but they are an endemic species called "bottle tree" for its distinctive shape. After a few kilometers, we come to the Hotel "Taj al Gazira" looking very basic and is partly under construction, seems to be arriving in another world, and, in fact, that's it, here are the amenities and comforts forget: you have to adapt to the best of what the island offers.
The staff tries to assign rooms, Omar finally brings us to the first floor and makes us choose the rooms, some with other services they have in common, they are in a room with three beds and share a bathroom with Don Mauritius. Of these three beds in my room one has a structure of wood, while the other two have a metal structure, and although they look like new hospital beds to long ago. The bathroom is also very basic and is composed of a Turkish, a shower wall with drain on the floor, while outside it is placed a basin.
If this structure, albeit looking a bit 'run-down is the best accommodation on the island, I dare not imagine how other spaces are intended to accommodate tourists, but it is clear that the effort being made to make your vacation more comfortable.
Place the bags we descend to the ground floor for the meal, the dining room has simple tables, with chairs and no table cloth, waiters are kids who are so basic: bring the cutlery, plates of iron and handkerchiefs paper to use as napkins, water is bottled and there is glass. Despite the impact we adapt to conditions on the island and reaches the dinner, vegetables, rice, fish, apples and oranges (taken from Al-Mukalla), hot tea and sugar. I see that I brought boxcutter pocket is very useful to peel the fruit. The dining room is full because there is another group: are Canadians in Toronto.
After lunch, we change and head for the first lap of the island and with the cars we drive east along the paved road that runs along the coast. The island is full of goats that over time have proved a real scourge, in fact, the palm plantations are fenced to protect plants from the voracious herbivores, animals introduced by humans some years ago to change the diet of the population are proving a magnet for many endemic species of plants and flowers that are eaten, probably in the future take some measures to limit the number of goats and growth of vegetation.
The landscape presents a sea sometimes blue, sometimes bright blue and the coast has white sandy beaches interspersed with a few rocky beach, while traveling to my right there are the mountains with steep and rocky slopes covered with "bottle trees" and flatter areas of the coast lie the fishing villages and some planting of date palms. Looking up I notice that the mountains are covered with black clouds that foretell rain, but towards the sea, where we are going, the sky is blue with some white cloud.
During the journey known that these villages have houses built with stones from the reddish color with a different architecture from those hitherto seen. I note also that all the machines that move the island do not have the plate: it's incredible the size in which we are just far from any scheme.

Second Part

We leave the paved road and take a track where the SUV moving at low speed because the holes and the rocks are a constant presence, at once on one side of a mountain by the color black appears massive sand dune and below a clear blue sea, we reached the beach of Delish, a long white beach with a wonderful sea.
On the beach before plunging into the water, Omar tells us something of the island of Socotra, and the origin of the name means "Market drops of frankincense and myrrh. Indeed, for centuries, the island was the focal point for the merchants of frankincense and myrrh, where they had gathered the valuable resins that were then transported by sea to the continent.
Every year the island is beaten by a strong monsoon that is formed between Somalia and the island, the place where born this monsoon is called "hit and run and is much feared by sailors for the violence of storms and wind that unleashed, the duration of the monsoon is three to four months incensanti with wind and rain, and during this period almost all activities of the island stop.
Island also can not use our cell phones because there is a network with a particular configuration and then work only phones of the premises.
The white beach is lined with what at first glance might be rocks, but is a mixture of stones, coral and shells and is like a long, long tongue that runs along the sand and the sea where the eye loses itself among the stones round polished by the sea, between pieces of coral in all shapes and sizes, including shells of all sizes. The white color of the sand s'intervalla with red, with white and yellow stones, with the gray of dead coral, with white mother of pearl shells; Omar warns that coral and shells are not removable.
After crossing the strip come to the rocky beach where the sand is white and thin and the deep blue sea invites you to a bathroom, and while some of the group would immediately plunge into the water, I take a walk on the beach to see such beauty. I see dozens of cones on the shore sand, intrigued I approach and find which are the burrows of crabs, just off a lot of gulls resting. As I walk, something catches my eye, I see a dead fish on the sand, I look good: there are many, are the fish stranded by high tide, a natural phenomenon that brings food for crabs and seagulls. Observe fish of various species and sizes, some very big, I notice a parrot fish, another with spikes, another with canine cells.
Return to the group, with Fernanda, Francesco and Luigi decide to go to the imposing dune overlooking the beach and while walking we spot a small lake where the water is sweet and transparent with the seabed consists of shifting sands where a stand still slowly sinks and water the fish are moving quickly.
Snap a few photos, trying to grasp the contrast with the black water that envelops the mountains to sunny days and I think this place must be really charming. Walking along the beach known lairs of other crabs and a dune really very high, over 50 meters, leaning on the side of the mountain, which has a semi-circle facing the sun playing hide and seek among the clouds creates evocative play of light colored . Near the sea cliffs are inhabited by gastropods, crabs and move undisturbed by some lizards. As we reach others in the group that had preceded us, Gigi, fitted with a stick made of palm leaves, salt on the dune, from the bottom looks like a lost in the desert trying the derailed, the photographer and then showing a photo others laugh fun for its expression. We return to the rest of the group who was taking a bath and while walking I see rocks eroded by wind and water with the particular forms and colors ranging from red to black with a thousand different keys, I jumped at the chance to make some pictures.
The sunset is coming and the sun disappears behind a mountain of pink coloring the dune, it is time to return the car to return to the hotel.
Our driver has a smooth ride, it moves in jerks, seems undecided, maybe a side effect of qat chewing constantly, does not speak English but only Arabic, and this means that the communication is totally impossible without gestures .
As we approach the foot of the mountain where the city stands, the sky is becoming darker, the mountain is completely covered with black clouds and it is impressive to see how the color of the sky forms part of the dark night sky and the sunset and making mountain one very dark and impenetrable wall.
We arrive at the hotel that does not rain, though the sky threatens water at any moment, shower and then dinner. We are no longer in the room where we had lunch at noon, Omar has done preparing the tables outside the restaurant, the tables are placed on the gravel of wood covered with Formica, the chairs are plastic, there is no tablecloth, we use paper towels as a placemat and napkin before eating cleaned cutlery (fork and spoon), the glasses do not exist and you drink directly from the bottle. We served with excellent freshly baked Arabic bread, potatoes, stewed, grilled fish (snapper and king Revenue), fries, hot tea and sugar.
During the dinner near the kids come in search of food, someone leaves the group, while others stretch them a little 'bread, wrong move: we are surrounded by animals who insisted he would still, the goats are then removed from waiters.
After the dinner we sit at tables which are readily cleared, the goats are everywhere and we get used to them around and someone chatting and someone plays cards. Armed with a flashlight going for a ride to the country, looking up I see the black and starry sky, there is no light pollution here, the feeling is wonderful and the look is lost among thousands of white dots and bright.
We reach the first houses in the country, are 21.30, someone is working in a shop electrician is carrying an electrical installation, a mechanic is working on a car, there's very few people around, the town is deserted, and after a recently returned to the hotel where we exchange a few words with Omar, seeing so many children and young people inquire about the school-leaving and we said that in Yemen goes to school who can and wants because there is no obligation of the studies, the school is divided elementary in the duration of 5 years, the average duration of 4 years, exceeding the duration of 3 years, then there are the university faculties.
It's late, we decide to go to bed, the mountains come the roar of thunder, maybe it will rain, and, in fact, during the night falls the rain.

First Part

The alarm clock is scheduled for 7.00 but the phone does not ring and the request for obligation is, will it work? Fortunately, being in a spartan structure just a little noise and the whole plane feels, I have the advantage of being woken up on time.
From the window of my room enters the fresh air coming from the mountain, looking out I see the blue sky and white cloud tops of some mountains, it will be a beautiful day. I get off the ground floor for breakfast that takes place in the dining room, Arabic bread, honey, jam, tea.
After the breakfast we prepare for his departure, which came out on the threads known to the outside and light poles are perched birds, birds of prey appear, Omar said that there are hawks in Egypt, moved on the island for a raptor 'enormous amount of fish. We climb on the jeep and head into town with half the fish market and the souk, we make a few hundred meters on the paved road, then turn left, hit on a dirt road in a cloud of dust, we are heading in households where cars are we stop and descend, the guide tells us that they are now realizing the coastal road to the east, then in two years, once completed, will start the asphalting of the streets. Met the group and we went from a walk down a street that has houses and on the other hand, sellers of fish, we came to the fish market where fish is unloaded from the boats, placed on carts and those transported to the local market where is lying on mats on the floor. We see some fish against the walls of dwellings, arranged vertically with the mouth downward, but usually the fish is placed on the wooden boards and knives are cut first and then the length of the additional cuts are made, the fish here is only cooked on the grill.
Let the fish market and turning between the houses and walk to the souks. I note that the one-storey houses are built with stones, the walls covered with mud windows with simple, sometimes, there are adjacent pens where animals are kept. We get to the souk, there are a number of shops where you can find almost everything and your goods arrive from the mainland, someone in the group is looking for a pharmacy to buy local products made of aloe, but the search proved fruitless. We ask Omar if you can find the stamps to send postcards purchased during the previous days and head to the post office is a large building with an imposing towers for communications, but the stamps are completed. So we go around to the town and then go back to the car and distributed. Path to arrive on a promontory a few miles and we stop to photograph a bay, the water goes from blue to white, the beach is white, the sea, there are dozens of fishing boats on the beach unloading their fish catch and load it on trucks while a few hundred meters away lies a village surrounded by palm trees.
We leave due west, we leave the paved road and head towards the mountains, we arrive at Wadi Ayhaft, a park naturalist who stands in the middle of a valley strewn with rocks shaped by the water where we can observe many endemic trees, constituting the forest Socotra. Some plants are really impressive and secular, with a large tree stretches to the sky and the size to remind our oaks, but these are special, in fact, in the spring when other plants bloom, they lose all their leaves.
The program requires that we should go back into the valley to a cistern that collects water from the surrounding mountains, but the road is interrupted by a landslide, it is therefore impossible to continue, then get back on our way.
Today the weather is ventilated and the strong sun makes the temperature of hot thank goodness we're in the cool season, perhaps in summer heat that's there.
Return along the coast going on towards the west. A few miles after taking a detour on the left c'immettiamo in a street steeply up the mountain. The landscape changes constantly, desert areas alternate with areas with trees and occasionally you see some houses, then other desert areas where there appear strange plants; cars stop, Omar gets out and approaches a plant grown near the roadside, is a tree about five meters high, has a smooth trunk and small leaves is a tree of incense. Here are nine island endemic species of tree of incense, of which three are only in the east of the island. Incense is a natural resin that escapes from the nodules of the plant and is harvested with a knife without cutting or damaging the plant. The gathering takes place only in summer when the plant produces resin in quantity, we can get some 'resin el'annusiamo: dried lemon scent.
We continue along the paved road that winds on the slopes of the mountain and as we climb, the landscape changes, the green takes the place of brown desert area, land is always rocky, but there are many trees and shrubs in this part of 'island there are few goats, perhaps that is what is so green?
Continuing the journey we get to the top of the mountain when the sky fills with clouds, white and gray, and sometimes seems to threaten rain clouds in the vicinity of the major findings are truly dark and menacing.
Among the green of the shrubs and the brown / black soil stands a strange plant, has a gray trunk, branches are directed toward the sky as if they were a cup and has a top hat with green leaves, which seems an open umbrella that covers all it is the dragon's blood tree, named for the red resin that emits and this feature also appears in the coins plant in Yemen. Down from the car to make the first photographs in this extraordinary stall wind and temperature are fresh, they are just fine.
The guide tells us the two legends about the origin of the dragon tree:
• Cain and Abel, two brothers fight, fight and are injured, the blood gushing from his wounds falling on the ground and ends in a little hole and there it becomes a tiny seed giving rise to the tree;
• an elephant and a dragon fighting a fierce battle the dragon bit the elephant, and this, mortally wounded, fell on the dragon and killed him, both died and blood came out of their tree.
Looking at the landscape we are struck by a strange phenomenon, not seen small plants, just big, asking Omar explanation and the answer is not long in coming: the small plants are not present as they are eaten by goats and for this, 'Island, were made of protected areas where they are all cultivated species endemic to the cultivation and conservation of the species.
Let's continue our journey, reaching close to a detour and turn left, take a dirt road that crosses a plateau with lava rock black and brown, above a village, we continue on the plateau and stop at the edge of a canyon.

Second Part

Known that getting out between the cracks of the black rock rose plants and sporadic as we walk through the bushes, Omar warns us not to go near a bush by the small green yellow and red flowers; plant is very irritating and who has the misfortune of touch feel its effects for about twenty days. We're due to distance and indeed, looking good at the map, I notice that is completely covered with thorns, stems, flowers and leaves with a white halo formed by thorns.
The plateau is slightly tilted being all desert plants are sporadic, and as we approach the canyon, a huge chasm opens beneath our feet, we are on the sheer verticality. Several hundred feet below us, there are valleys, while the canyon walls are eruptive and sedimentary deposits that alternate creating in the rocks of the play of light, where the colors ranging from black to gray to brown. We pass from the lava rock to sedimentary rock or compact basaltic brown and look at the many wonderful colors and shapes in the rock changes color continuously to sun exposure and action of the clouds, light and dark alternated continuously creating a fascinating spectacle and none.
While the team noted around the canyon between the cracks of the lava to photograph these flowers are red flowers of some succulents, flowers white and purple, yellow flowers of some green plants.
On a rocky outcrop in Egypt and see a hawk as I watched him get up in the air, is a sight to see him hovering in the air slightly, I can take some photos.
It 'time to leave, Omar invites us to climb in the car and says that we still have a long way to go before the break for lunch, we left and cross the lava plateau reach the village, but close enough to feel a bump a strange noise, like a blast: we punctured the right rear tire.
We stop, get out, Sandra and I give a hand to the driver to change the tire that ended up on an outcrop, is literally ripped open, while loosening the bolts, the driver inserts the jack and raised the car under it raises the rocks to stabilize it. It is difficult to remove the flat tire, but after a few attempts we succeed, we put the new system and the driver gear. While we are changing the tire, in our turn we become an attraction for the villagers, we are surrounded by children and some women curious about what we're doing, everyone smiles and given the lively atmosphere Sandro and I pull out the camera housings respectively and camera. The women of the village es'inchinano see us, will be a sign of respect? Fear? Fear? All! Collect stones and throw them there without saying anything! Given the reaction, we move quickly and we put all the apologizing, we leave the car and with great prudence and calm, photograph and some details of the village calf rests quietly doing very careful not to frame any woman.
The driver has finished storing the tools that are used for changing the wheel, get on the jeep and run away, in a hurry to reach the other five cars, driving fast, at least where possible, the road is always full of dirt and rocks sharp, must be careful not to puncture, yet, after some kilometers we reach a village where he exhibited a sign indicating that we are in the protected area where endemic species are cultivated. Reach out to others in the meantime, not seeing a car stopped and was coming to see what had happened, the cars are stuck on the outskirts of the village and around them has formed a swarm of children, we pause to tell that ' happened, saw the panorama shot some photos, just some kid sees the camera tries to escape, but I can "seize" the image.
Together we continue the journey we are on a steep dirt road that runs along the side of the mountain, we descend into the valley, the road is very steep at times and the brakes are put to the test. We stop along the descent, Omar shows us a map of the beautiful green with red flowers, is one of many species threatened with extinction because of the voracious and destructive action of the goats. We continue the descent, all around there is bare soil enriched and embellished by the dragon's blood tree. Another pause, the landscape has changed and appeared on the "bottle tree", Omar has seen some in bloom and stopped to show us, we see that the top of the tree branches are open and beautiful pink flowers five petals have the shape of a star, are truly wonderful, in fact, these flowers for their beauty and delicacy are called "desert rose". Bottle trees grow on steep slopes of the mountains and photograph the flowers is an undertaking, I have to be balanced on the rocks.
We leave on their way to the valley floor, the walls are black mountain for lava that creates a strong contrast with the brown sand and the white trunks of the trees bottle.
We reach the valley floor and find a little open space situated between huge boulders which allows for parking, we arrived at the bed of a stream that flows down from the canyon and that is where we will stop for lunch. Near the parking lot there is a hut, I see a camel lying they're loading of bags. These animals on a steep and rugged terrain are still a great and irreplaceable means of transport across the island, in the days after they meet others. The owner is proud that we photograph, allows us to approach and proudly invites us to see something are two newborn calves.
In the valley between black walls, stretches of brown wall, huge rocks, large pools of water carved out of lava rock, a stream of fresh water, palm trees and around homes, cabins, but are not well-built stone houses, the inhabitants were having lunch by the river, saw us arrive ec'invitano to see beautiful views of the valley floor.
I take a ride on the river bed for a few photos, when suddenly the hawks of Egypt are placed on a wall, I take my camera, m'arrampico a little and can not make some shots with the first floor of raptors are satisfied with the photos. I rejoin the group in the meantime on mats on the ground is beginning to have lunch, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, onions, tuna, bread, cheese, crackers, apples, oranges and biscuits, what you want most in a stop at the bottom of a Canyon? Part of the party is seated on mats, on the rocks, someone eats up and everyone is satisfied.
After eating, sitting on the stones, talk to Omar's life in Yemen and of the daily life of the Muslim religion with its rituals, customs and traditions.
After the stop, the drivers collect the mats, wash the containers, load all the cars and then again, we return to the road from where we are, the climb is steep and rough shows, the cars go up at low speed on the slopes of Mountain bottle trees, their trunks with white and green leaves positioned near the dragon's blood trees, they create a fascinating and magnificent view, is a truly breathtaking panorama. The colors of the mountains and the plants are alternated, black, brown, gray, green, the sky is cloudy and more on the way up a few drops of rain fell.

Third Part

Our driver, perhaps for the lack of qat, shows some problems and uncertainty in the guide, we must speak loudly and in tones decided to keep him awake and alert as possible, we come closer to the city and turned on the radio, seems to give signs of life and the look seems a little 'less tired, or so it seems. The radio at high volume tries to sing the chorus and so avoid any distraction. Find that 42 years old, but it shows many, many more.
We arrive at the hotel, a chat room, and before getting a cup of hot tea is just fine, since lobsters this morning wondering if it is possible to have for dinner tomorrow night, the hotel confirmation, and we agree to head for half a lobster, but appointment only and subject to charges.
I go in the room, showers and water appears to be a nice mix between warm and cold, but maybe it's just the effect of the sun took the day, my shoulders are red and after showering spalmo soothing cream will. During rest, waiting to rejoin the others in the group, I look at the photos of the day, some are just beautiful.
We have agreed an appointment at 18.50 outside the hotel, the sister of a driver runs a shop in a cooperative development of the island where they sell incense and collect. As a group we go at the shop and find frankincense, myrrh, burners for resins, fabrics, manufactured cotton and straw, pottery, and we are in the realm of incense and to help even the local cooperative to buy the products here rather that from other parties. One pack very intrigued me is "Blood of the Dragon," a granular resin, red, plant extracts we have seen in previous days, the written report that is an excellent healing and is also indicated to fight fatigue when used as footbath, nor buy the packs over all'imperdibile incense.
Return to hotel for dinner, hot bread, rice, baked lamb and chicken, fish (King Fish), crisps, tea. While we do list for lobsters tomorrow evening, the situation is always welcomed by the kids who insistently asking for food, but now we have learned to feed them over for dinner so may have some unexpected and voracious diners at the table .
After the dinner, cleared the tables, the inevitable game of cards and some trick to remove the goats that also want to appropriate the cards.
Tomorrow the alarm will be at 6.30, we expect over 100 kilometers of road, Omar says that we will see dolphins, knowing the creed, so far what he said was always true.

First Part

Up at 7.00, warm Arabian bread for breakfast, tea, jam, honey, sweets, fruit. We are preparing for departure, on arrival of the fishermen bring their catch to the hotel, also the beautiful lobsters and it is impossible not to photograph such beauty. Without photos, we climb into cars and along the coast to the east, the sun is high in the sky, there is a cloud, stone ground pinkish color gives a hot air environment, known to the homes of villages are made of stone and are decorated in white, while all around there are palm trees.
A few kilometers further we take a detour on the right and pointed towards a village, and passed him in a clearing we find a surprise, a natural swimming pool with water from the deep blue color and is full of children enjoying themselves. Omar tells us that this is the only village where all inhabitants know how to swim, in fact, we may well see that all children are engaged in diving and swimming, they see us coming and we become the attraction, leaving the water and are meeting asking for sweets. Someone wants to be photographed, while others refuse, some kids are performing in dives. We remain a little play with them and then we moved on foot into the sea, is a bay, the water is clear, transparent, there is a strip of sand that divides the bay from the sea where it is the intense blue of the Arabian Sea is truly impressive. The boys of the village continue to play with someone in the group, are carefree and pleasant moments but Omar invites us to climb on cars, we must leave. We leave the village, we cross the coast and a few meters later we stop and in front of us, in flat terrain, opens a chasm, a huge hole, a round crater with a diameter of about 100 meters and the depth of about 20, on bottom of the tanks have been built round that slope from the outside and there is water, it is a natural saline. The water of the sea at high tide can filter through the rock to here, is deposited on the bottom and then, during the days of sun, evaporates leaving the salt on the bottom. Here the rock has all the shades of brown and is a pleasure to watch the mirror effect of water on the bottom, while the side tanks, the highest that are partially flooded, the presence of salt is visible.
We leave the salt and continue the journey to the east, continue on the coast take a road on the left pointing to the mountains, we climb in altitude, and soon after passing through a crossing point coming on a barren plateau where there are plants: the scenario is special. The area is constantly beaten by wind, the plants grow tilted in the direction of the wind are dragon's blood trees, and trees bottle, but they are all very small, the wind slows down and slows their growth, there are many bushes around Green and among them the ubiquitous goats, but the animals are few and perhaps this limited presence enables vegetation to survive. We stop to see this show and while we are still, Omar shows us the plants of incense, are different from those seen yesterday, the smell of incense resin is precisely that characteristic that we know, a scent is completely different from the other resin we have seen that smelled of lemon.
We continue the route through the plateau, go down and find another, we are traveling on a series of plateaus parallel, the ground is bare, red color of burnt sienna, and the vegetation changes, as does the structure of village houses. Sometimes the houses are built with stones and are rectangular or square, sometimes round, the roof is made with wooden beams and covered with mud, the eye never tires of watching.
All the villages we see are equipped with drinking water: it is captured in the mountains and through pipes of iron or polyethylene is piped into the houses, the pipes are placed on the ground and then walking the streets, crossing the plains and mountain slopes, walking in the villages "natural" running into the pipelines or derivations that go in homes.
The road descends toward the sea, we reach a flat area where rise the villages surrounded by palm trees, through the last village on the coast we are done by rocky mountains and sand dunes. On headlands are tanks with guns pointed toward the sea, we had already noticed in other parts of the island, who knows what will? As defense system does not seem like much, but since I am not here to investigate the military, I take to observe the natural beauty of the island.
When outside the village we stop, to our left, a rocky mountain to our right and a rocky hill covered with sand, while behind us there is a village surrounded by palm trees, in front of us a beautiful white beach, made from fine sand and the deep blue sea where fishing boats are moored. Omar tells us that soon take over the car and as we climb the hill we need to keep our eyes closed and open them only when I tell him. We walk up the cars and began to climb the rocky hill covered with sand, the cars are advancing on the sandy bottom, rising slowly, and as you said Omar, keep your eyes closed. I hear that Toyota is hard to climb, then stops, the driver says "ok", I open my eyes and I see a magnificent spectacle, amazing, fascinating, over the hill overlooking a bay where the beach forms a crescent to the left, creating a tip, the sand is white, the sea water ranges from transparent to blue, through green and a thousand other shades in the distance the deep blue sea, a vision is seductive and memorable for its enchanting beauty is Beach Qalansia.
We descend the hill and headed toward the beach and from the seashore the view is even more attractive: the beach area to the left two small pyramid-shaped mountains of red rock cliffs of the hills behind us, black and brown partly covered with white sea sand while the right, the beach stretches gently closing a semicircle. Central to the vision the sea, where the clear water allows you to see the white backdrop, then it becomes green and finally blue, pale blue that slopes gradually toward the deep where you see the fish swim wineskin that some fishing boat. It 'impossible to resist a bath, the water is warm, it is a pleasure to swim, the sky is blue, cloudless, there is a cloud, the color of the sky merges with the water and swim while we see the fish jumping out of the water is spectacular to observe the silver scales hovering in the air and then fell quickly into the sea.
We decide to leave the water and to close the beach and walking on this white sand, the shoreline is full of holes, crab holes and identifiable by their inimitable conoidali pyramids, as we approached the yellow crab hiding and fatigue can to photograph one near his lair.

Second Part

While walking along the water's edge, someone in the group fitted with fins and diving mask turns to admire the colorful fish that swim near the bottom of the rocky headlands.
Take this moment to do some photography at beautiful and charming bay, approaching the lunch hour and we have to leave this fantastic place and while I wait for the group to meet, get on a mountain climbing on the rock and from the show is even more beautiful and charming. There are some spots created by the rocks that make the spectacular play of shadow with the background of the sea on the horizon, the blue sea and sky come together. But unfortunately it is time to leave, get out from the rocks, being careful not to slip, I would avoid hurting right here.
By car head for the lunch stop, we cross the village and arrived in the palm grove, along a dry river we stop, the drivers were lying on the floor mats to sit; goats graze close to us, hovering hawks' s Egypt. People eat, cut vegetables in salads, canned tuna, cheese slices, cheese, apples, oranges, boiled eggs, bread and a local sweet made with sesame seeds and pistachios.
During the break I did a spin to see how the village, the houses are built with stones, well squared in red, while the cornerstones of gray concrete bricks and have a dual function to provide stability and the decorative.
After the stop off again straight to the beach the turtles, following the road this morning.
We come to a crossing point, we begin the descent that will take us to the coast, we come to a beach enclosed by a stretch of coastline with rocks and shells, the turtles are on the beach, a long white beach, fine sand where those lovely spring Animals are to lay their eggs.
Let's take a bath and then we allow ourselves a little 'to relax on the beach, but the sunset is approaching, some photos and then off again, we must travel over 40 kilometers to reach the hotel. When you travel beyond the villages where, illuminated by the setting sun, are enhancing the colors of stone, the red and white create a special and fascinating play of light. On the way we meet camels grazing, and the inevitable, ubiquitous goats, while the children play near the roadway and greet us as we passed, with their smiles brighten and enliven the already attractive environment for the colors of the sunset.
Our driver, perhaps for the lack of qat, shows some problems and uncertainty in the guide, we must speak loudly and in tones decided to keep him awake and alert as possible, we come closer to the city and turned on the radio, seems to give signs of life and the look seems a little 'less tired, or so it seems. The radio at high volume tries to sing the chorus and so avoid any distraction. Find that 42 years old, but it shows many, many more.
We arrive at the hotel, a chat room, and before getting a cup of hot tea is just fine, since lobsters this morning wondering if it is possible to have for dinner tomorrow night, the hotel confirmation, and we agree to head for half a lobster, but appointment only and subject to charges.
I go in the room, showers and water appears to be a nice mix between warm and cold, but maybe it's just the effect of the sun took the day, my shoulders are red and after showering spalmo soothing cream will. During rest, waiting to rejoin the others in the group, I look at the photos of the day, some are just beautiful.
We have agreed an appointment at 18.50 outside the hotel, the sister of a driver runs a shop in a cooperative development of the island where they sell incense and collect. As a group we go at the shop and find frankincense, myrrh, burners for resins, fabrics, manufactured cotton and straw, pottery, and we are in the realm of incense and to help even the local cooperative to buy the products here rather that from other parties. One pack very intrigued me is "Blood of the Dragon," a granular resin, red, plant extracts we have seen in previous days, the written report that is an excellent healing and is also indicated to fight fatigue when used as footbath, nor buy the packs over all'imperdibile incense.
Return to hotel for dinner, hot bread, rice, baked lamb and chicken, fish (King Fish), crisps, tea. While we do list for lobsters tomorrow evening, the situation is always welcomed by the kids who insistently asking for food, but now we have learned to feed them over for dinner so may have some unexpected and voracious diners at the table .
After the dinner, cleared the tables, the inevitable game of cards and some trick to remove the goats that also want to appropriate the cards.
Tomorrow the alarm will be at 6.30, we expect over 100 kilometers of road, Omar says that we will see dolphins, knowing the creed, so far what he said was always true.

First Part

The alarm sounds ... .. or Omar who is running for the hotel singing "The captain of Company", the question that arises is me, but how does a Yemeni who has learned Italian in Torre del Greek, to know a song of the mountain? Incidentally intonatissimo is not a wrong note or a phrase, is really an eclectic character and incredible.
Breakfast, hot bread, jam, honey, apples, tea and coffee for those who want sprinkled with milk. After the breakfast, Fernanda asks me if I can help a doctor, two guys last night were grilled were burned her eyes, with appropriate drugs doctors to carry out the unbelievers patients, no one would have expected an immediate and competent.
We climb into cars and head north-east along the coast past goalkeeper Sea island that is virtually a pier with a crane, where the ships dock, the trucks are parked in single file waiting their turn, nearby ship is making the maneuvers to dock and unload its cargo.
While travel beyond the villages made of stone roses and see the blue sea we can see groups of dolphins that swim freely. After a few miles we left the coast and along a sandy dirt road that runs parallel to the coast we arrive at a rocky point, we are in the protected area of The Ert, a white sand beach that ends in a rocky peninsula with two spikes and a red rocky bay, we are on the beach Dihamri. A flat rocky terrain that provides access to the bay, watching from the west, has one side the mountain that plunges into the sea and on the other side of the peninsula with the two rocky hills. The beach is constantly changing, sometimes it is rocky, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy, and the name of the beach seems to be of Portuguese origin. A segment of beach is equipped with shelters for those who want to change or stay overnight and, in fact, under a canopy of tents where we see someone is still sleeping soundly.
At the suggestion of Omar someone in the group plunges into the water to see fish and coral found on rocky bottom, while I take this opportunity to take a stroll along the shore and take photographs.
Looking into the distance I see the beach delish, the beach we saw the first day of stay on the island is recognized by the impressive sand dune leaning against the mountain.
Scrutinizing the profile of the mountain in the part that turns to see that the east side ends with rocky hills, whose color ranges from black to brown and the hills sloping gently toward the sea is both internally where there is a desert area. In this section of coast there is the red rock that slopes into the sea and occasionally emerges from the white sandy bottom. Walking on the shore known gulls and dead fish to the beach while the water clear and transparent I see some fish that I can take pictures with gastropods and some crabs.
While the group goes to the bathroom I head toward the east of the bay where there are two rocky crags and notes that in some caves on the shore the water is deposited on the high tide during the day evaporates leaving the salt. I admire how you walk the coast offers sandy beaches, very hidden from the eyes of many as if the same bay would protect these small and beautiful coves where the water is transparent so I get close to a rocky outcrop and climb among rocks and shrubs can to reach the top, the view from here is wonderful and well known that this bay to my right is a white beach as far as the eye, populated only by gulls, the sea is deep blue and transparent is a delight to be here see so much beauty. Come down from the outcrop and returning to the group known stony ground that has places where the goats are to stop for the night.
I join the group and shortly after we leave this protected area along the white beach view from the hill above. Back on the coast we pass through the villages of fishermen and travel can be spotted dolphins that swim undisturbed in a sea that is always, always, blue turquoise white beaches bordered by creating a place of breathtaking beauty.
Along the way we stopped several times to admire and photograph the sights of the island where the landscape presents across the desert, surrounded by palm groves and villages as we approach the mountains the trees appear bottle. Because they are so close, we stopped to photograph them, they are just curious trees, the trunk part off the base and quickly narrows to a cone, giving the impression of just one bottle, the leaves are present only at the top of the branches and are oval , fleshy and grouped in small tufts, while the color of the trunk is light brown, tending to gloss, that from afar looks silver.
In the villages observe the structure of the houses where the walls are erected with stones and well-worked team to art, while the roofs are roofs made of beams and then covered with mud. I realize that there are some houses adjacent to gardens where vegetables are cultivated, fenced to protect the crop from the goats. Surrounding villages and on the flanks of the mountain, as noted above, sometimes you see the pipes that carry water to homes.
Continuing on the journey known of the bulldozers in the distance as we approach and suddenly the paved road ends, we begin to travel a dirt road in the beginning is very wide, but soon narrows and soon after arriving in a yard where there are means and workers they are building the roadbed of the coach and then asphalt, and it is just like the guide told us the other morning to Hadiboh: they are building the coast to the east.
Continuing the journey, we meet other villages and one of these catches my attention: the fishing boats are at anchor in a sea green surrounded by a transparent white beach. An excellent shot camera and it is impossible not to take photos with these colors ranging from white sand to the blue of the sky through a thousand shades of blue and green water.
Back on track and head towards a mountain that slopes massive lava into the sea, its sides are backed white sand dunes that gently slopes towards the sea at their feet and a white sand beach, flanked by a stretch of red rocks where cars stop: we have come to Irisseyl. Out of the car and go over the rocks, we find ourselves on a long white beach of fine sand, lapped by the clear waters of a charming sea where it is impossible to resist the urge to dive into the water is hot and is a great pleasure to be immersed, while are visible in the clear bottom fish that swim freely undisturbed. Swimming and chatting lunchtime arrives quickly, leaving the umbrellas and towels on the beach, we take the car and head toward the side of the mountain, where you open a huge natural cave in which drivers have spread out the mats and sit on them or we can have lunch on the rocks, rice, vegetables, canned tuna, cheese, biscuits, apples, oranges, tea with cardemonio, cinnamon and cloves (very good and tasty).

Second Part

Next to the cave comes another Toyota, carrying three tourists, feel the spoken Italian and stop to exchange a few words are in Verona.
After lunch we quickly return to the beach where we expect the boats that Omar has booked and the program is sailing along the coast to see dolphins. Back on the beach, only a part of the group sign on, while others decide to stay on the beach enjoying the sea, blue sky and warm sun.
We climb on two fishing boats, long and thin and quickly left the beach and head towards the open sea and then east towards the tip of the island, where they say there are dolphins. After a few minutes of browsing, we see a fin that comes out, but it is far away, fishermen are doubtful that this is a dolphin and, in fact shortly after we see a rush of water heading towards the sky, it is a whale that is swimming close the shore. Navigation continues to the east tip of the island where we get almost an hour. Here for the presence of some clouds on the sea appears dark, we are at the top end of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean dolphins even the shadow. We continue in shipping and fishermen are disappointed at the lack of mammalian decide to make a turn near the tip of the island, but are not very convinced, when suddenly the sea floor seems to move, it seems closer to us something black is moving under water is a huge manta that gently floats in water. Dolphin really no track, now we decide to return to the desolate beach when suddenly the sea goes out a fin, another and another still, it is a school of dolphins that appear out of nowhere. We move with the boats and they follow us all of a sudden the incredible Omar began to call "Gaspar" and a dolphin appears to listen, seems to be constantly close to our boats. It 'a continuum of emerging and diving by these beautiful animals, Sandro resumed with the camera, I try to do some shooting, but shooting in these conditions is very difficult to follow along with dolphins, they are really beautiful and unforgettable moments .
The sea is transparent, you see the sandy bottom place 10 feet below us and a fisherman while diving in the beautiful clear water and the other boat, where first arrival of chatter now at the absolute silence, what happened? He will only know on the ground, following a sudden movement, the boat was dangerously skewed and was about to capsize, only the alertness of the fishermen go out, and managed to straighten it, but the scare was part of all high. In fact, while browsing, some fear of falling into the water it took me well, I was worried not so much for me but for my camera and my precious Moleskine ®, which would irretrievably sunk.
It's getting late and time of return is approaching, we return to the car and as they returned to shore in the distance we see again that the whale is heading out to sea is a truly unforgettable day!
And fall with the boat, we pass near a stretch of coast and fishermen make us notice a pipe coming out of the mountains and pours water into the sea, here called "shower" is a source of fresh water that was dumped at sea. In a land so barren it is a waste, I note that the cast is remarkable, seeing the water coming out the pipe, estimated to have at least ten liters per minute, or six hundred gallons per hour, and 14,400 liters per day freshwater that is cast into the sea. A waste immense! Used for agriculture, with a climate so hot, would give the opportunity to have fruits, vegetables and fresh vegetables for most of the year and so substantially integrate the power of the population, as well as reduce dependence on the mainland, we hope that with the coming of the paved road a few find it rational use.
Landed on the beach and the sun is approaching the sunset, we pay the boatmen, and we join the rest of the group and find a surprise, they dragged out of the water a swordfish of about two meters. Talking with the fishermen who are observing and examining the wounds on his stomach and gills, are telling us that the fish has been injured off, probably by some network and once dead man was dragged to shore by the waves of the sea will be a good meal for crabs and birds.
We are close to sunset and snap a few photos before going to sea, the boats having as background the mountains, and then got into the car head directly to the hotel and back over the dirt road on the horizon having the pink color of sunset, clouds and dyed deep blue sea, taking pastel colors, everything is incredibly fascinating. It seems to be traveling in a painting and delicate colors, the brown of the mountains change in intensity as the pink houses and stones. Meet and exceed the road construction site, among the huts, I see a person walking with a goat on his shoulders, his head bobbing in animals is covered with a handkerchief, probably the goat was killed according to Muslim tradition, her throat cut with the head turned toward the Mecca.
Shortly after we take the paved road is already dark and the light bulbs light up the houses of the village showing the red and yellow stone, the road is dark and the headlights are turned on, the speed of movement varies according to the road section to 80 km / hl 'car is stable, at 90 already the perceived slight, but there are sections where the driver drives the car up to 120 km / h and we are not peaceful at all because, in the vicinity of the corners, makes hard braking, less evil that we are in the column and can not exceed the cars in front of us.
We arrive at the hotel that night life has already begun, here the sun rises at 5.30 am and sets at 17.30 and the 18 people start to eat, we sit at the tables and while sipping the excellent hot tea, look at the photos taken during the day and particularly those of dolphins and still see the picture, Omar and tells us that lobsters did not arrive, so tonight you will only have fish for dinner, it promises to be very good and fine, pity we can not taste the shellfish.
I get in the room and no electricity, get off at receptions and in my broken English I can make myself understood, but who between me and the boy knows best receptions of English is a good bet, however, after several attempts made on the framework General Electric, the energy comes.
Shower and then a nice layer of cream on her back and shoulders for reddening caused by the sun. I'm lying in bed thinking of the day today, having regard to the beauty, the beautiful white beaches of fine sand, clear water, dolphins and colors of the sunset, a real romance. The incredible Omar was right when he says that in his opinion the last resort that we would see would be the fairest of them all, and now I can only confirm and share his statement, Omar was right even when he implied to rent boats to get closer to the tip of the east to watch the dolphins, just a great and unbeatable character.

Third Part

As I leave the room I remember the morning I gave it to Omar T-shirts did not want to take home and that Omar gave to the boys when I get to the restaurant is a surprise, two waiters wear my shirts, to be honest are a little 'heavy' for them, but I am happy to take them.
Comes time for dinner and we still want the lobster, served us a tasty and peppery soup, fried potatoes, fish at will (snapper and grouper). It 'a cloudy and windy evening, after dinner they chat and play cards, the clouds in the sky of Socotra leave a little' space at the sky and this allows us to observe the stars, to the 22 we go to sleep, we to pack because tomorrow we go back to the continent.

First Part

The alarm clock is pointing to 6.00, but I am awake because I have to put some cream on my back is red, the sun of yesterday did not affect my tanned skin. I look out the window and it's all cloudy, I look better ... it's raining and raining profusely, out of the suitcase and pull out the KY-way trek from wearing pants, they'll change when I get to San'a.
Breakfast; warm Arabian bread, jam, honey, local sweet pistachio, the. And as he approaches the hour of departure, I get in the room to pick up the suitcase and looking out the window, under a light rain but relentless see a guy who is busy bending in "personal needs", when that is finished to clean? Search carefully for stones, choosing them round, wipes and then threw them on the ground. Say, Different countries, different customs!
Note the particular on Moleskine ® and leaving the room, laughing, then we all come together outside the hotel and load your bags into cars while you are recovering to rain hard. After greeting and thanking the waiters, we are approaching the airport, meet lots of puddles on wet roads, some really great and we note that in some places the mountains and rocks and landslides are on track so the speed is not high even because the driver sparing in the use of windshield wipers. Every now and make some thrilling overtaking, before such a mound or on a straight line while in the opposite direction comes a van (which fortunately for us turns into a side street), however we arrive at the airport safely, but it continues to rain and temperature is warm and humid.
We go out where we can accept a warm, humid and no air circulation. Do check-in and Omar should embark bags, they are part of Yemen Old Splendor of equipment that were on the island and have curtains on paletteria. Passed the check our bags are loaded onto carts located outside the building, but it continues to rain and carts are without coverage; Employees are frantically searching for something and in fact, soon after arrival of tarpaulins to cover their luggage.
To access the waiting room here too we must overcome meticulous checks, the men are inspected at the entrance, while women are invited to enter a room where they are searched.
During the wait take this opportunity to record speeds of loading considerations: we are about to leave the island is a real and unique botanical paradise, with endemic plants and flowers are truly spectacular, pity that the introduction of goats is putting in great risk this enchanting place. The whole island is in full development, tourism, limited, educated and aware is definitely an indispensable help for the overall development.
The plane is a Boeing 737 arriving and landing on a wet track raises a great cloud of water, then it stops, get passengers and their bagnagli are downloaded and then the cart with our bags and moved by hand until all ' plane, while in the waiting room airport staff tries to open the exit door to allow our transit to boarding, but the lock will not open and only after several attempts, the door opening allows us d ' go out and direct us, walk toward the plane. We embarked and took off with 10 minutes earlier a last look at the mountains covered by clouds and then, rising in flight, the plane veers to the left of the window and see only the sea, while the other side I see some beach, but the climb is fast and soon we reach the clouds where everything becomes first gray, then white, and after few minutes appears the blue sky, who knows what time we will find in San'a?
During the flight I update the diary writing the final details, after half an hour's flight is the desert coast of the continent, we will make a stopover in Al-Mukalla, the plane begins its descent over a blue sea dotted with white clouds and the distant brown desert, the window you see the coast and its beach flanked by a thin strip of plains and then the vertical walls that form the plateau. Shortly after we landed and someone goes down then another climb, the plane fills up and we're taking off in flight to San'a. We fly over the plateau which stretches as far as the eye is interrupted only by digging water in Wadi millennium shows these immense valleys can be seen only from above in all their splendor. The winding paths of the Wadi are as huge cracks in the flat land on either side of the plateau with vertical walls and cliffs that plunge to the bottom plate where villages lie surrounded by palm groves, where the green is clear from the core of sand and gray rock the plateau and on the bottom you notice the white / hazelnut paths of the rivers now dry.
After the plateau, the "fourth dimension": the desert. A single color to the eye, seeing it from above understands the difference between the desert area and the desert proper. In its sandy surface, there are, as engraved signs of Groomed by jeep passing through it, but the look is lost in the emptiness, all is sand colored and only occasionally of small rocky outcrops. Are miles and miles of sand dunes and uniform, with some on the edge of the desert oasis of all sizes and between them the link with a paved road.
After the desert, the desert region starts and then a bit of greenery with a few villages, after the mountain range where the mountains are sometimes impressive, rocky and the color gray.
Finally, we note houses, towns, farmland, industrial areas so we might be close to the capital, and in fact, shortly after we landed. Leave the plane, we enter the airport building, the lobby for international and domestic flights is the same, but the difference is that now lack the customs controls. We'll collect the bags, we go out in the parking lot and find our own means, the Toyota? We find the buses of the first day and as was done previously, on a load in suitcases and on we go up. We leave for the city, the Ramadan is really finished and there are many people to the streets, we are treading a path, when we see an accident at an intersection just happened, an SUV on a car, the SUV overturned and injured were extracted by chance passers-by. Shortly after we come near a playground that is very crowded, we continue to arrive in San'a, where climbing the hill we come to the hotel. The usual, ever present controls the entrance, then we are greeted with a welcome cocktail. We assign the rooms, I have the 304 and this time the window San'a but I do not see the mountain that dominates the city and imposing hilltop is visible in the fortress.
I return, leaving the clothes she wears on the island used to clean, I go for lunch is a buffet and after four days spent on the island, so it seems incredible selection, appetizers, pasta, meat, fish, vegetables, desserts.

Second Part

After the meal, a moment of relaxation, who goes by the pool, who unpack, the meeting is scheduled at 15.30 in the hotel lobby and departure for the souk in the city, provide a wonderful opportunity to devote to shopping. Let's go and along the outskirts of the city quickly arrive at your destination, are on the side of jewelers and Omar explains that traditionally, the purchase of jewelry is reserved for women, even if a man wants to make a gift, to be themselves jewelry and when you go to purchase and give to man, often going into the shop to change it.
We are shooting for the suq seeing a bit of shopping, those pots and pans, where the pots of brass and aluminum exposed shine affected by the rays of the sun, those of blacks chador with decorations on the sleeves, and is quite impressive to see a single shop tone among many other colorful. Continuing the tour of homes of mud bricks where the atmosphere is fabulous. Let shops plastic flowers, colorful fabric shops, shops where they sell the nargileh. A curious shop caught my attention; seem baskets, but they are not, have an odd shape, presenting with a hemispherical part made of fabric, on a plate made of woven hemp and placed at the center of the plate a doorknob. Intrigued I asked Omar what they are and tells me that is the instrument used in the kitchen to put the bread in the oven, in fact, this tool I had known, I had seen more than once, here the bread is baked in ovens terracotta pots that are similar to the giant round and curved walls that slope upward. The fire is at the center of the oven and the dough once rolled and wet, put on these instruments is leaning against the walls of the oven where it bakes.
Today is a real pleasure to wander through the streets of the souk, the streets are clean, there were few people and it's really fun to walk and observe; some stores photographer Jambiya where sellers are busy chewing qat and have the classical bulge in his cheek .
We go among the wonderful houses in San'a directed towards the central part of the souk, where there are vendors of intent to cut tobacco leaves, shops with henna designs that are used by women to decorate the hands, the Arab headdress in dozens of colors. At this point I completely discounted purchases: textiles, miniature houses of Yemen that is well adapted to our cribs, silver jewelry, Jambiya and Shum (especially the dagger used by nobles and personality).
The sunset comes and announces of approaching darkness and near the time of return, then return the buses back to the hotel where to go for a nice hot shower with a feeling heavenly. Dinner buffet and evening we are all a little disoriented this morning we were having breakfast in a completely different dimension, we are now here in a luxury hotel with all the amenities you need, the contrast between the two worlds is very strong. Thinking about what was seen and lived in Socotra, what first looked like dirt, now it seems almost clean. I can truly say from the goats at the stars, while at the end of a meal that is missing is a bit of tea served in glasses and freshly baked bread on the plate.
After dinner, the inevitable game of cards, some talk and then we retired to rooms, sleeping under a duvet is a wonderful feeling, is really a nice sleep and I have to fight too cold I took a few days ago for the thermal shock between the outside and air conditioned hotels.

First Part

The alarm was ringing at 7.00, but the phone of the hotel has remained silent, and fortunately for greater security I point my alarm clock. We have breakfast and then we prepare for a hike in the mountains of Yemen, in fact, the program provides travel for more than 270 km and will be a long day, armed with a guide, Moleskine ®, camera and hat childbirth. Hamed find the square of the hotel and all the other drivers we had Sayun, we're happy to have found 4 Hamed and no longer have the driver of Socotra. Let San'a directed to the Haraz Mountains (GE 167) (LP 232) to over 90 kilometers west of the capital.
Traffic through the city where they always played and supported as we move from side streets of the vendors appear that you are going to the souk on wheelbarrows carrying corn and prickly pears and through the traffic must be cautious about these people that move suddenly. The carts are also a feature of the suq, in fact, wandering the narrow streets need to pay attention to these means of transport, to avoid being hit in the knees.
Leaving the city we arrive on a hill, from where it dominates much of San'a and here we make a stop at the Chinese cemetery, the monument has a Aera, graves with flowers and hedges and manicured lawn, instead of ' grass, are grown cacti. In this place lie the remains of Chinese workers, sent by Mao Tse-Tung in the construction of the road from San'a to Aden port, the road that connects the capital to the sea. At the time, Yemen was part of the communist bloc and aid for development received from China was composed of both an economic part, and is a part of the workers needed for the design and implementation of the road that bears the name of Mao Tse -Tung and in this cemetery every year is commemorated the work of Chinese craftsmen. Omar tells us that many Chinese workers are not dead for the job, but due to the bite of a poisonous snake in this mountain that resembles a harmless species in China, was underestimated.
Just below the hill stands the Egyptian temple, it is the memory of the Yemeni civil war, between monarchs and Republicans, the war that caused more than three million lives and is now considered useless.
Leave these places and continue the journey to the mountains dell'Haraz. Just left the outskirts of San'a, the road rises toward some hills made of basaltic rock brown and where there is land there are terraces planted with corn and sorghum. Strategic points and on top of the hills rise the fortified villages whose homes are built with stone and white decor. These villages seen from a distance resemble small cribs and the eye is lost nell'altipiano cultivated and dotted with these villages.
Continuing on we come to a pass and superatolo find another plateau, the road winds through terraced hillsides, here we are at almost 3,000 meters above sea level and the landscape is completely bare. The mountains are entirely terraced with dry stone walls and the dominant color is brown earth, while the green is only present in some fields and taken in some houses.
In the highlands, the presence of fortified villages and settled, there are everywhere, always perched on the tops of mountains or hills, and their color is camouflaged very well with the environment bleak and sometimes hard to spot them.
We arrive in a village: open shops on the street and drivers stop to buy qat daily, we take advantage of the halt to a walk, but we are literally assaulted by people asking us money, we distribute pens and candy. Note that in this village, on the road are secured plastic bags, paper and other contamination in substantial amounts, it is strange to find so much filth, the other villages were much cleaner.
Share and the route crossed a lot of trucks overflowing with merchandise traveling in the opposite direction to ours, and the goods from the sea direct to the capital. The media is slowly moving upward, but especially downhill where the brakes are subjected to a great job. Without the side of the road we see a truck loaded with sacks of which has moved into the back and now hangs dangerously outwards, in fact, some bags fell a hairpin and the drivers are discussing what to do.
We come to a crossing point and below us is a deep valley completely terraced, a stop for photographs is mandatory and then the eye becomes prey on the terraces and green crops. Below us there is more than a thousand meters in altitude and it's all completely terrace, while the tops of mountains and rocky crags which rise the fortified villages, it is a breathtaking spectacle.
We leave right away because the way to go is really great, sometimes we find truck carrying goods and people and sometimes overloaded, there are people sitting on the chest, on the shore, standing on the bumper here any means of transport is fine .
We continue our journey to Manakhah, when on a downhill section, we see a herd of camels and goats stopped to drink from a circular well herdsmen raise hand buckets of water are then poured nell'abbeveratoio below, all around green plants in whose shadow there are men who rest. Snap a few photos and then back on the road always between cultivated terraces. At one point the landscape changes, it becomes rocky and crops end. Now we are in the presence of black basalt rock and the contrast between the black rocks, the brown earth, green plants and the blue of the sky is really strong.
This stretch of road is full of prickly pears, cactus, acacia plants, shrubs and green yellow and even here the fortified villages they blend perfectly with the environment. Soon we reach a crossing and in front of us, as resting on a summit of the mountain, there is a village whose verticality is unique: we stop for some photos.
Let's continue our journey and along terraces planted with coffee, sorghum and qat, we arrive at Manakhah (GE 167) (LP 233); entrance of the town perched on the mountain there is a "Tourist Hotel" where we stop for a break, a glass of tea is always well appreciated. Outside the hotel there are stands of silver items of Jambiya and we are besieged by vendors and, surprisingly, some of them speak Italian, took pictures of the landscape and then taken by the soul of trade, I enjoy negotiate prices by purchasing bracelets and necklaces.
The stay ends and going on the cars we drive to a village 5 kilometers, we have to go through the suq, but we remain literally stuck in traffic, barely able to spend and when we leave Manakhah a guy gets on the rear bumper of the car, but Hamed it sees in the mirror told to get off, there is a little bit tense and his voice rises, but eventually the boy abandons his post, whereas the road we are taking is bordered by a ditch and is without side rails , where the boy fell off the road or we dare not imagine what could happen.

Second Part

Continuing in the short to arrive fortified village of Al Hajjarah (GE 169) (LP 234), where we are greeted by a swarm of children who speak Italian, the houses of this village are very special, they are massive towers and tall, imposing walls and are made of basalt stones worked perfectly, windows and facades are decorated with white chalk. Verticality here is the common denominator between steep mountain walls rise seamlessly shoot up towards the sky these beautiful homes.
Turning outside the village, shooting photos, but the insistence of the boys who besiege us inviting us to buy something or go to see some really stand too much and exceeds all limits of endurance, not even Omar is able to remove them. So after doing a tour and have admired the grandeur of the houses, we decided to leave the village.
We find our way out of the children with his satchel over his shoulder and back from school on the edge of the road known donkeys laden with material ridden by children, a truly useful to understand that school is optional.
Return to Manakhah, we enter the town and turn right, downhill go to another valley where we go and then go back around us always cultivated terraces. After a few miles we come to Hoteip (GE 167) (LP 233), a village perched on a hill, where there are a tomb and mosque white: this is a sacred place for islaimiti, a branch of the Moslem religion, present here and in Pakistan. In this area the green fields is the only coffee growing, since islaimiti not make use of qat.
As we stand firm, Hamed invited me to go to a cliff to make images, approached me and below me, the absolute vertical, open valley, everyone is served, and full of houses that resemble in size and grandeur of castles real own, the show is fascinating and the eye is prey between terraced houses, while on the other side the mountain has a very dense vegetation which recalls, for conformation, shapes and colors in the mountains of the Peruvian chain. It 'really remarkable how one side the mountain is bare and the other is green, lush.
After visiting the village and the outside of the White Mosque, which returned to Manakhah for lunch along the road village photographer Kalibo, which stands on a rocky outcrop and its houses soar into the sky, creating a beautiful vision with black housing the brown earth and the blue of the sky.
We return to the Tourist Hotel Manakhah, we climb the first floor where you do log on to a room whose floor is fully carpeted and must remove their shoes to enter. On either side, lying on the floor and the walls are cushions to sit, the cushions are low and the legs are stretched toward the center of the room where it is spread out a mat green and red plates, napkins and cutlery as a single spoon.
While we take each his plate and we sat on cushions placed on the floor, the waiter arrives with dishes of flow, transporting them in a huge tray of aluminum, at least 70 centimeters in diameter, placed on his head. On this tray are arranged in a pyramid, the plates of food. The waiter quickly and longer journeys on the mat are laid dishes containing rice, croissants stewed, stewed potatoes, stuffed zucchini, beef with vegetables, soup, Yemen, while the cake is a cake made with a round pastry type dough with above honey (very good), then tea and bananas.
The room has walls painted in yellow up at eye level and above white, the ceiling is also decorated with white stucco. The walls and rectangular windows on some other arch windows with decorative brick and stained glass, the corners of the walls all decorated with stucco angels holder.
We eat sitting or reclining on cushions, as tradition Yemeni and finished lunch the room is cleared and there comes a band with dancers who perform in traditional music and dance with jambiya. During the show some component of the group is invited to dance and basically gets along well.
Manakhah start from, but after a few hundred meters, the first car stops and the driver then reversed ago told everyone to follow him, nobody understands what's going on, retracing our steps and head toward the center of town where we stop, Omar We would also walk through the narrow, winding streets of Old Manakhah and soon came out into a square. Here the houses are all of stone, two stories and they all look alike: the ground floor appear the doors of the shops and on the façades open windows all alike, we are in the square of the coffee market. Here, in 1600, was the most important world coffee market. Every door, which was made of wood, he carved a symbol of who they represent, it could be buyer or seller and this is where the genesis of modern economic exchanges, although here it was only coffee crop from this area. Among the old doors still exist, a symbol attracts the attention of Omar, is the symbol of the lion of St. Mark, which is the symbol of Venice, which had its representatives here. Wandering through the narrow streets, we leave the town, then off again in the direction of San'a, the journey is long and we have to retrace all the way this morning made of bends, curves, passes, valleys and plateaus.
Getting closer to San'a, on a plateau, I stop to photograph the sun terraces for taking strong colors and intense, there are beautiful views of the terraces between the cultivated fields and walls made of dry-create plays of light, perhaps never as now the contrast between the brown rocks, green plants, yellow corn and sorghum create a palette of colors fascinating. I note that some fields of straw, lit by the sun is setting, looks like gold.
Overcoming crossings along Highlands, we come near San'a, in the hills surrounding the city have stopped dozens of cars with people on board waiting for the sunset and want to enjoy the spectacle of the sun disappears behind the mountains leaving the last rays hit the brown and white houses of this wonderful city.
As we approach the city on a square we see cars all the same, there are dozens, it is the taxi rank of San'a direct Aden on the coast.
We arrive at the hotel and we have offered a welcome cocktail, then as I have time I enjoy a sauna and swimming pool and we really want to relax well. Shower and then dinner buffet where we find a great stew of meat and freshly prepared meal, the cooks are really good.
The evening, using the musical entertainment of the hotel, spend between dance, play cards and talk, then I go in the room, I have to arrange the notes, read the roadmap for tomorrow, check the photos taken and put in charge of the battery camera.

First Part

I wake up at 4.00, while the night echoed the voice of meuzzin which calls to prayer, his voice amplified through the speakers came to me, neat, and shortly after I see the sunrise, an alarm is scheduled for 7.00, sanctify Sunday breakfast and at 8.30 we start, the program provides another day when you travel a long way, we leave and head towards the outskirts of town, toward the mountains located north of the capital. The streets are crowded due to construction work in progress and some deviation is a must. Leaving the city going up on a plateau that has as its base of black rock and even here on the tops of mountains and rocky cliffs on villages have been built with black stone, only a few houses have simple white decor.
After a few km we stop at a checkpoint where to place the documents in the group and ask us to park at the side of the road, it's not clear what happens, but it seems that some did not get permission. Omar gets on the phone and tells us that is a normal police check and are checking references and, in fact, after some minutes of waiting comes the transit and thus to split along a plateau with a landscape of cultivated land to sorghum and some sparse acacia tree which moves some scenario. The fields are all surrounded with walls made using dry black rock.
Even today the road is busy and you miss the days of Ramadan, when no one and did not circulate, among other things, we are traveling on a road that at times is unpaved, but there is street lighting.
On the way we see half broken down and we can observe here the triangles do not exist to report the difficulties in half of the stones are placed in the middle of the roadway. On your way there are many truck loads of cargo traffic and because it is sometimes difficult to overtake, among others, the journey is slowed by the many checkpoints along the posts towards the sea. We arrived near a village, we must slow down for people going to the souk invades the road used as stand: the cars are stuck in second or third row, while we slow down we see children who are going to school, wearing an olive green uniform and the folder is a bag placed on his back and shoulder straps are simple strings.
Along the road cars, trucks, vans diesel sometimes emit black smoke at certain times makes the air breathable, but also encounter means gasoline that burn oil, emitting an intense white smoke; really on these roads is all but The important thing is to move.
We come to Amran (GE 170) (LP 235) whose periphery is made up of modern houses, the driver stopped at a store to buy a daily ration of qat, taking advantage of the break to see how many pictures I have left in the sim small number, and then put a sim empty these days I made over 700 shots: that the great convenience of digital technology.
Continue the journey and shortly after, having deviated from the main road, we arrive in the old part of town. And 'all fenced and access must transit through the impressive and massive stone portal. Even the walls are massive and it's nice to see how the rocks and the walls of the entrance are ordered with majestic wisdom and the eye is satisfied by the beauty and geometry of manufactured products.
Entering the walled city, we see that the houses grow in height up to 6 floors with a red base in well-squared stones, while the upper floors are built with mud bricks and straw. Turning to the town entirely on paved roads, we note the particular: in all other villages, the streets were dirt. Walking observe the collection of waste, and even in this case is the first time we see half of the garbage collection, but despite this, turn to Amran, means walking between various odors, sometimes unpleasant. Note that chamber pots were emptied from the windows directly on the street and I had already noticed this custom in other villages here creates an unpleasant odor.
In the village we are greeted by a swarm of children asking for pens and candy, but looking good we see that the children are dirty. Actually I have never seen so many people so dirty and untidy throughout Yemen, the cleaning staff here seems optional. But despite varying odor and dirt, turn to old Amran a unique sensation, the houses stand out high into the sky, the color pink rocks, the brown of mud bricks, some of the windows is painted white or other colors and have different shapes, rectangular, square, round arched handle, the architecture of the houses. Even the decorations create movement, in fact, sometimes they are just around the windows, sometimes geometric designs are placed on the facade of the houses here are walking among a myriad of views, one more beautiful than the eye is lost in many suggestive detail.
Leaving the old part of Amran arriving in a different dimension to odors and cleanliness, in fact, after a few tens of meters is the souk with people who are orderly and clean, the dirt was just a localized phenomenon in a few homes.
Suq someone in the group saw a pharmacy goes in search of products made of aloe and while waiting for our cars well known and within an antique shop for a look. I find a large assortment of silver jewelry, weapons and Rifles, pistols, revolvers and rifles vary. Adjacent to this there is a hardware store where everything is stored and the impression is to be reached in one of those places where if you search for something special definitely find him.
We continue the journey, leaving the outskirts of modern Amran and shortly after arriving in a village near the souk, where we stopped, all traffic is blocked in both directions and only a few minutes later we move slowly, in the middle of the street vendor beverages has positioned his cart and quietly selling its products. Again, these cars are parked in second and third row seats in such a hurry just does not exist. Continue past the village on a giant plateau farmed fields some people are working on, fortified villages they blend perfectly with the environment, the only color that creates a strong contrast and the green plants.
We come to the nth checkpoint, we still stop to these tests that follow each other cyclically, then distributed along a twisting road between hairpin bends and curves and come to a pass and we stop, before we start the immense valleys where everything is brown is the earth or rock. The mountains are completely terraced, only a few outcropping of rock breaks the harmony of the terraces and on some rocky outcrop or on the tops of the mountains which rise the villages that in some cases are real, impregnable fortresses.

Second Part

Sudden arrival of the boys who want to sell silver jewelry and fossils, a gift to a boy a pen and as thanks, gives me a fossil bivalve; enrich my collection. The boys have good fossil bivalve from the perfectly preserved on the smooth sea stars, given the price and the beauty of fossils, I propose to someone in the group to buy as souvenirs.
We continue the journey and begin a descent that winds through valleys, cultivated or barren then finding a parking we stop to photograph the imposing fortress of Kohlan, a building that stands on top of a mountain, all around you see only the bare mountains of origin where sedimentary layers are visible and landslides geological features of this conformation. Below us is opened in all its immense depths of a narrow valley and steep so far never seen a wild beauty, where are the barren, desert and steep mountain walls and, as already seen, on the rugged rocky outcrops rise the villages.
He got into the car and continue the journey we approach Kohlan (GE 170) (LP 235) where more and more impressive, majestic and massive black fortress appears that the Turks used strategically to control the entire valleys surrounding the conquerors with a single gun controlled all the territory. Today, looking at the top of the mountain, in addition to the impressive and historic fortress, appears to his left a mosque with its white color stands out among the brown and black rock.
Along a winding road we approach and enter a Kohlan, park the car there also walk between the houses and observe that here too the verticality is queen architecture. The sides of the mountain are very steep and where it was possible, stealing cm to the rock, the mountains have been terraced and behind the camps have been built houses that stand out among the mountains and the sky. While all around the live rock have grown hundreds of plants of prickly pear that make the whole characteristic, the view continues seamlessly switching to green qat plants grown on the terraces.
The houses placed under the rock, the fortress appears in all its grandeur, tall, massive, square, dominate the valley. Running between houses and along streets carved into the rock, back to the cars and continue their journey in the vast valley descend on a winding road where a succession of twists and turns makes the trip interesting for the glimpses it offers and also here is an uninterrupted succession of scenarios and different landscapes.
During the descent we stop, we are in the column, the cars in our direction surpass other means: there is a crash, but nothing serious, even if we slow down a lot.
We continue toward the valley and the scenery changes radically: Here appears the green plants and crops, is truly impressive as the constant presence of water makes a green earth that only a few miles before it was completely bare.
Now we continue to go up and leaving the lush valley floor back to the mountain, it is also dominated by a hilltop fortress, we arrived at Hajjah (GE 171) (LP 236).
Reaching the center of town and head towards the restaurant for lunch, with 14, the hotel is located in a panoramic position from where it dominates the city, the valley below and the mountains that surround the city like an amphitheater.
Finally lunch; chickpea soup, potato stew, baked chicken (but not all is well cooked and must ask for a moment to put it back in the oven), rice with cinnamon and cloves, oranges and bananas.
After lunch I go out on a terrace to admire the view: above the city, the highest point of the hill is the castle which with its high walls, round towers and the imposing central building stands dominating everything on the slopes of hill you can see the ancient houses made of rock, brown and gray, while new homes are built with cement bricks and all are decorated with white lime. All around, huge valleys and towering mountains completely bare, with no green except some sporadic acacia tree and just looking around I see the green cultivated terraces: these are the ubiquitous qat plantations. Gaze is lost in the infinite in brown / gray rocks and villages that they blend into the environment.
Time passes quickly, we are late and we must finish the round of Hajjah and then back to San'a retracing the same winding road traffic.
We leave and head to the souk, but given the chaotic traffic and this many people abandon the idea, while we are in the queue, we note that the suq is subdivided by sectors. Along the way in a number of shops of barbers look fun furniture in some there are plastic chairs, barber chairs of the other obtained with planks of wood and foam, and dated in other real barber chair .
We decide to climb the rock to admire the view, we approach and we must travel to access a section of trail that climbs the hill where the pavement is made smooth by the passage of people and animals over time: the entrance to the fortress is difficult today as then. We get the huge door is closed, Omar knocks and appears attendant asks us 200 rials (1.25 €) to enter, pay and access to this impressive fortress. Inside the buildings are quite neglected, as it neglected the lawn but I could say more than grass weeds. At the center of the square stands the palace of arms control that is accessible and visitors enter and ascend a steep staircase to the terrace where you can admire the entire valley below us, we can see the homes brown / gray of town, on the rocks a few prickly pear plant, then you will behold in the vast valleys and towering mountains surrounding the bare gray color from the slopes and rocky terrain of the sun that create the games of shade, while in the sky blue, towards the sea, appear white clouds that sometimes turn gray.
Coming down the hill leave the rock, go back to the car and off again, leaving the town in the direction of San'a following the road this morning while the setting sun paints everything in a suggestive way bringing out the yellow of the trees cut sorghum, brown / red of dry stone walls on the brown earth. The view changes constantly, and note also the work of the man who works with his constant and meticulous attempt to steal even more space to the rock using all his options at his disposal.
Continuing in a series of highlands rocks sometimes brown sometimes black where there are endless plantations of qat and every land is bounded by a tower that has a control function. This region is just fascinating for the beauty it presents. The running speed is limited, we queued for trucks carrying merchandise from the sea to the capital, and as this morning, overtaking is difficult.
The sun finally set and the evening falls, we are all tired, especially the drivers who are driving on these long, endless roads where even the chewing qat brings them benefit.

Third Part

We arrive in Sanaa, which is dark and the traffic is maintained, driving here is really a lottery because, as always, it is not clear who has priority, all sound, all pass. We finally arrived at the hotel, quick and refreshing shower is expected to start at 19.30 for the restaurant in town. We walk up the car and after a few minutes we arrive at the restaurant "De Luxe" where, for dinner we serve a sauce made with garlic and parsley, vegetables (cucumber, tomato, onion), Arabic bread, baked snapper, chickpea soup, pie beans, bananas, tea. Someone in the group asks spicy fish not arriving until after the fruit. During dinner, the waiters bring a lemon sorbet, but the amount is enough only for half of the group. The service is not the best, and even Omar remains dissatisfied with the treatment received. During the evening, Abdul comes to visit, to ascertain how was your trip and finds that we are all satisfied, in fact, everything went well thanks to the meticulous planning came from Yemen Old Splendor. We also leads a tribute, a package containing incense, coffee, houses a statue towers characteristics of Yemen, but in the pack there is also seen to be filled for leaving the country, truly a great and meticulous organization.
Return to the hotel and we are all tired, especially the drivers and tomorrow again for the last trip to this wonderful, wonderful and beautiful country

First Part

We have reached the last day of this tour, the alarm is scheduled at 7:00 but as in previous days, the phone in the room remains silent. Looking out the window I see the blue sky that foretells a wonderful day for the time, both for the program.
We start and along the outskirts of San'a are as always heavy traffic, in addition to the vehicles on the roads we encounter the usual carts loaded with agricultural products direct to the souks. Leaving the city begin to qat fields and paths few miles where we stopped on a hill below us, surrounded by vertical walls, opens the spectacular Wadi Dhahr (GE 161) (LP 229), a green and lush plain where 're beautiful view and well-ordered fields, the green plants and villages brown color of the rock. Looking at the plain good, it is an outcrop of rock on which it was built a palace is the home dell'Iman. Built in 1930 is one of the most famous images of Yemen, the building emerges from the other houses that blend in with the green of the acacias, palms and plants of qat.
We climb up on the car and we sat in the back seat George and Scarlett, who are here? Their car has laundry and while the driver changed the tire advantage for a ride, excellent choice as the company's Toyota increases. We leave and after a short drive along the paved road we enter the dirt Wadi Dhahr, a few hundred meters and we are in Dar al-Hajar (GE 161) (LP 229), the house dell'Iman. Situated on a cliff 50 meters high, stands this impressive 5-story building that appears in the front square and massive. The facade, built with stones blacks, set against the brown stone and is decorated with white windows, a beautiful terrace with Central Greece and the arches. The sides of the house are built on multiple levels achieved with brown boulders and all the walls are tastefully decorated with white: a place like this deserves to be photographed.
Part of the group decides to enter and visit the interior while a few remain outside to the difficulty in meeting the steps of the building, entering through the front door which is behind the facade and climbing a steep ladder sometimes known environments for all'Iman and those for the servants, who are placed on either side. Inside there are two separate scales, the main one, the master was well groomed, while the level of service has been roughly hewn into the rock and its steps are irregular. In the palace have been reconstructed environments using some period furniture and that makes sense the richness and sophistication and beauty of original quest'abitazione. In the walls you can admire the arched windows decorated with stained glass that give the home a magical light, while climbing the terrace you can see an enchanting landscape where every window present on the outer battlements the view changes constantly and it is like to be in a gallery of paintings and watch in sequence with the blue sky that creates a setting unsurpassed and the rock as a background, brown fields and green plants.
We leave the building and looking up I see the massive walls that shoot up towards the blue of the sky and the rocks of the walls, creating a multicolored effect embellished with white decorations.
Not far from a garden encloses a fountain, also the subject of many photographs on various publications; the fountain with rounded shapes and the three dashes, shows its beauty, adjacent to it a column, enter in some local environments today containing reconstructed . All around, beyond the walls of the garden, stand the walls of the mountains and being in a place so beautiful, I stop to photograph the details.
We are called by the group waiting outside the palace, it is time to leave, the day will include visits by others and the way forward today is long.
Let the Wadi Dhahr ec'inoltriamo for an initial plateau, the terrain well, is fully cultivated with qat, and there is a lot of green, above a pass and found ourselves on a plateau of red rock is completely terraced and cultivated, we cover it completely, others pass and is unbelievably third plateau, made up of black rocks. Here the Carthusian and precise work of man is more noticeable than in the highlands above, the conformation of the soil with large rock outcrops throughout the centuries has meant that men with well-designed terraces take advantage of every possible piece of land and fields well maintained see sorghum , maize, while the ridges of mountains and rocks rise the villages. At the bottom of the plateau, it is imposing a rocky rectangular, which can be seen on top of the fortifications, we approach this massive outcrop at the foot of which lies Thula (GE 164) (LP 230), a town surrounded by imposing walls and built with stone houses. Let's login to the old through the front door and inside is a square where a wall surrounding the water tank that serves the entire city. Here to draw water for common use have been placed outside the tank hand pumps that create a beautiful urban design.
The village is dominated by the imposing tower that controls the plateau, centuries ago, the Turkish conquerors besieged the village, but the Iman who was barricaded in the fort atop the spur resisted: after months of siege, given the impregnability of place, an agreement was reached el'Iman remained, while the Turks retreated from the area.
All the houses built with stones Thula, appear as small fortifications, tall, massive, powerful, where the brown stones is camouflaged with the rocks of the mountain. The houses have rectangular windows topped by circular windows sometimes decorated in white.
As we reached the square, we are besieged by kids who want to accompany them in the shops of some relative, it is amazing to hear that one of them speaks Italian fluently, is amazed by this linguistic knowledge. Thula around practically escorted by these guys who are intrigued by my watch constantly the views of the town and the fact that they are not attracted to shops, but they are intent on scrutinizing the hidden corners to photograph the details of the case: I saw that accompany to see the bigger house in the city, huge, massive and imposing structure, with open windows and pierced, I think it is a minimum of 8 floors. They tell me that live here more than 100 people, all belonging to or derived from the same family. The houses have a special structure in the lower level of the street there are stalls on the premises of the houses, while the top floor is reserved for men and here are found to spend the afternoon to chew qat and chat. Continuing around to the village boys make me see the house dell'Iman, also massive and has a beautiful top floor window decorated.
As I walk, I feel that Omar says that at Thule there are some 25 mosques, and we see some very small with its white structure between the brown of the houses.
Along a path a number of shops, that's where the boys wanted to take, each has his own shop benchmarks, including the shopkeepers know the Italian ec'invitano kindly to enter.

Second Part

A given characteristic throughout Yemen, or at least in the historical part of the country outside of the stores have iron doors in blue or green, while the interior seems a standard, every room is about 4 feet by three, some shop occupies two or three adjacent spaces.
In the shops are Jambiya, silver jewelry, textiles and the group stops for shopping, but time has passed and it is time to leave. Got into the car we find that missing Marine. While Omar is looking for her to take the opportunity to make some shots to the houses of the city and the surrounding countryside planted with cereals.
As a photographer, a special housing draws my attention here, there are no chimneys, but inside each house there is a log fire lit and the smoke comes out of some round holes in the wall: they are easily recognizable for their walls blackened by soot. Then the group comes together in what has been found the "dispersed" was in a store to shop. Let Thula and retrace part of the plateau, we turn to the right and after a few kilometers we arrive at Hahabah (GE 165) (LP 231), a fortified town surrounded by walls of stone, but as we come to the village children out of school and what time best if not the tourists ask for pens, sweets and money? Basically we are surrounded by a swarm of children who do not abandon us again until we left the village. The children wear uniforms, the smallest color olive green, while older ones have a uniform beige color, maybe the split is to leave school?
Even this village over the boundary wall has some homes built with stones and have an architecture which has never been particularly sight, although the houses have developed in height geometric decorations made of stones. On the facades of the windows are rectangular, round windows, and the top floor, where they meet the men, large windows topped by a canopy from a crescent then decorate.
We enter the village not just to observe the holiday, but to see the largest reservoir of water in Yemen is surrounded by a containment wall appears blue water, it is reflected in the high houses that rise around forming a beautiful theater; snap some photos, but, still besieged by children, leaving the village we see all around plastic bags and scraps of paper left on the ground. To be a place where you do one of the best photos of the country is just overlooked, however, one thing we learned: never go somewhere in the time of closure of schools.
We leave the village and along a mountain with vertical walls on top of which we see the village of Kawkaban that looks like an eagle's nest overlooking the entire valley. On the hills behind the imposing walls lies Shibam (GE 163) (LP 229), pre-Islamic place famous for its caves.
Arriving in town we stopped for lunch. The restaurant looks out a bit spartan, but after we come across a courtyard in a traditional building made of red brick, let's go and make us sit on the second floor in a room where the floor is carpeted, while the center is a low table and cushions to sit close to the walls. Here, as tradition has it, you enter the room bare.
Here comes the lunch, white and yellow rice, potatoes, eggs with tomato and onion, eggplant with zucchini, beef, Yemenite soup (meat, potatoes, with a slightly spicy green sauce), the Yemeni flat bread (always welcome), bananas and grapes. Lunch is tasty and acceptable, much better last night and for cleanliness, quality and quantity.
The room where lunch has a wall with no windows and two other open windows from other luminous arc topped with stained glass, while the walls are colorful decorations and photographs. Seeing a woman portrayed in many photos we ask for explanations and Omar tells us that the hotel is owned by 24 year old girl we met at the entrance and gave us the welcome, the older woman on this picture is his mom or the creator of this restaurant. The mother originally had a hotel where even tourists were staying and at night, try the local traditions, colored with henna hands of Yemeni women and tourists who inquired. Years ago this was threatened by his kindness and processing done to his defense and foreign fundamentalists also intervened saying that if foreigners choose to stay here was because they are good for the hospitality received and that bring benefit to the community since then the place has become a point of reference for those who pass in the area.
In fact, the quality and quantity of food is really good here and even the waiters arrive with huge aluminum trays placed on the head, where they are placed several dishes placed in a pyramid.
After lunch, I make a tour of the premises in a room next to us there are other tourists, while in another there are only men and another Yemeni women and children dining.
It 'time to leave, greet the owner, thanked the hospitality and go back on a self-directed Kawkahan, placed on top of the vertical wall overlooking Shibam, the road that we travel is extremely steep and off-road it hard to climb, we stop; opens at our feet a Wadi green and is surrounded on three sides by vertical walls eroded by water in front of us opens up an enchanting spectacle in the distance are the mountains that resemble the American Rockies, the contrast between Green Wadi and mountains bare is really strong, the colors of rock ranging from brown to gray to black in the distance the desert area, the whole is surmounted by a sky blue horizon becomes whitish.
During the break we observe also Kawkaban (GE 163) (LP 229) on top of the wall that looks like a place inaccessible and impregnable, in fact, the steep road winds through a narrow gorge.
Going up into the throat can admire a black basalt conformation pentagonal and hexagonal crystalline forms, the development makes it look like organ pipes. Speaking with Omar tells me that a similar conformation mineral is found only here and in Iceland, a true paradise for lovers of mineralogy and geology.
We arrive at 2900 meters s.l.m. and access to a barren and desert plateau where we come in short walls of the village, we enter passing through the main door and we get along dirt road near a tank of water, we stop and descend from the car. The village has houses built with stones where the soil is red and dusty, and the action of the wind carries it on the facades of colorful houses. Note that some building is inhabited, others are abandoned, some are under renovation or construction.

Third Part

Not far from the tank opens a precipice, we are on top of the wall that we have seen from here, the empty feel its effect and we must be careful not to lean too much because of the stony ground and crumbly. While the photos do I feel incredibly drawn to the vacuum, and, in fact, from this wall, even in recent times someone has fallen: a flight of several hundred meters.
Below us, at the foot of the wall we see Shibam, on a hill you can see the pre-Islamic caves, beyond the town lies the vast plateau marked by cultivated fields where the different shades of brown mix, alternate. I recently plowed fields with a more intense brown that gradually degrades, while that of hazelnut cultivated fields, scattered to create a nice green vegetable plantations, and finally to top it all off in the distance are mountains.
As we observe and photograph, on the plain appear, as erupted from nowhere, the boys on carts carrying the case containing silver jewelry and minerals, and their incredible ability to materialize just arriving tourists.
We leave and return back over the same path taken in the morning. Once in San'a while we head towards the souk, we encounter the usual chaotic traffic. Login to the ancient souk and only door remained as the sun is illuminating the buildings and for creating soft pastel shades that enhance the white decorations, it seems that we should greet the sun, I take this opportunity to take pictures with these beautiful shades of hazelnut, white with the background of sky blue turquoise.
Turn to the souk with little people are really nice, now I know next to orient among the narrow streets failing to identify the points of reference, and then I stop at your leisure to photograph shops and people and take this opportunity to make the final purchases. To reach the evening the lights coloring further suq, but it is time to return to the hotel, shower, and it is time for the preparation of the final heavy suitcase and clothing to be worn for going back to Italy.
Dinner buffet, then Omar arrives to pick-off at 19.30 and load the bags into cars and head towards Old San'a where we stop near the main door and started the final round among the houses, illuminated by a light brown yellow enhances the colors. I prepared and I use a tripod for some night shots, the children who see me want them photographers, I have a lot to do to make the photographs, place the tripod, frame, adjust and shoot.
The facades of the houses, the lights lit and the windows above them appear in a story arched windows with decorations and colored glass, is truly charming, delightful turn in this city of a thousand views, with a thousand colors and scents.
It 'an intense moment when, at the end of the promenade, in a square lit and placed between the town houses greet Omar and drivers, so many days spent together have given a good knowledge, Omar is more than just a guide, let's say a " old "friend, useless to deny that some excitement was visible in the group.
We climb up on the car and head towards the airport where we retrieve the bags and inside the structure definitely salute Omar, as we move towards the check-in, where the agency has a person of his confidence that gives us a hand.
The plane should start for Rome at 23.00, but appears on billboards 00:50, seeking clarification and confirmation comes only after a while, tell us that the departure is planned on time. We get to customs control and in the row where I am not working on an optical reader for passports and it takes time before you can access your waiting room where the puzzle by departure remains.
Are 19.15 and call boarding for Rome, we must pass a further check, very conscientious, yet expect to finally go to boarding, but we get the plane is ready and waiting on the stairs, go up and finally take place. The plane is not full and this allows some small shift in order to travel in the company of people known by the end of all take off with 40 minutes delay. In flight, the lights of cities and countries, the commander tells us that in-flight fly Medina, Sharm El Sheikh memorandum, Cairo, Greece, Naples and then landing in Rome. Looking from the window you see only darkness, the lights of the city and coast, but I have for understanding where I am. Encounter a disturbance, I'm sitting in the queue, the seat's backrest that does not stand still and during the disturbance seems to be in a blender, it is almost impossible to settle. At the start they distributed the headphones, the retreat, try the attack positioned in the armrest of the seat, but I find only one hole, so no music.
We land in Rome, more checks in the transit passenger and Europe are more stringent controls that in Arab countries, seize and throw in the waste water bottles and other containers have passed the checks San'a. AND 'Early morning at 6.00 when they open the airport bar and you can go to taste a good espresso, it's nice to go back to our tastes that we lack a few days.
We greet the group of Piedmont and Lombardy, parties with us, have returned with our same flight as you are, an hour before us, boarding a plane to Milan Linate.
Check-in for Milan and we are leaving for home, just taken off you see the sea, the rivers, the green Roman countryside, which contrast compared to the barren terrain of Yemen: Italy is really a beautiful and enchanting land, returning at home you can understand why tourists come to us and are always amazed.
While we are flying out the window we see the sun and reading a newspaper, watch weather forecast, it's cold in Milan: +1 Min, Max + 16. Definitely a big jump in temperature from the warmth of Yemen, held two sweaters and I'm thinking that until last night I turned in almost T-shirt and sun exposure I had to be careful not to get burned, and I think that at home I have to turn fireplace.
We continue to fly over the sea, but after a few minutes we entered the clouds that occasionally provide a glimpse of patches of green land and the coast of the sea with the green of the vegetation takes on a new charm, will be only suggestive or sea of Yemen with the magnificent Bir Ali and enchanting beaches of Socotra is really different?
We land, we go to the withdrawal of the suitcase and found the group Piedmont / Lombardy which is still at the airport, their luggage did not arrive. Perhaps with our reach and, in fact, all come together, the retreat and leave the airport to greet us, we find a really cool temperature, the thermal shock is felt much.
The square there should be a coach to take us to Rovello, but do not see him come out .... some research and some phone calls, finally after more than 30 minutes spent in the cold of the square visible, a driver saying that the coach is there, parked in single file with other coaches, in fact, is a day of chaos at the fair and Linate is very strong, no one had noticed the sign affixed to the glass of the bus.

Fourth Part

Anyway thank goodness we have identified, we load the bags and head for Rovello, traffic is supported, but no sound here all the time and seems to be, indeed we are in another dimension.
We come to the country where some family member or friend is waiting, go and get your bags, greetings fast and it's off to home where arrival and opening the suitcase take off my clothes, having the temperature switch on the fireplace, turn on your PC and download photos from the card and start arranging the notes for the writing of the diary, the work will be long and detailed, my precious Moleskine ® once again has demonstrated its full validity.
Part of my heart and my mind has been kidnapped from Yemen, this wonderful, multi-ethnic and multicultural country. And while I'm writing this diary, I'm already thinking about the next goal, the next town to visit, cultures, ethnicities, traditions meet new ones, moreover, in this wonderful world of things to see and admire are truly endless, and the time available should be used continuously and with great spirit of adventure and learning.

Three reasons to visit Yemen

• Going today in Yemen also means traveling back a few decades compared to Italy, but this should not be a deterrent but an incentive to visit this wonderful country where people are polite, hospitable and respectful of those who approach them with ease and respect.

• Being able to turn in a country where colors, scents, flavors are characteristic of everyday life, where history, art, culture and nature blend into a coherent whole, creating a fascinating reality of unique beauty.

• Traveling in this country, where the Italians are welcome, it means take advantage of cultural tourism and nature are already well organized in the continental part, developmental stage and in full in the enchanting island of Socotra.

Thanksgivings

At the end of this work, I express my personal thanks to all who have allowed the creation of this beautiful and fascinating journey, full of places, historical, cultural and naturalistic but also imbued humanity, the dignity of the people and of the people I had the opportunity to meet. Gratitude to those who encouraged me and who assisted me to the realization of this journal.

A special thanks to:
• Don Maurizio Corbetta, priest Rovello Porro (CO), creator of the trip.
• The travel agent Ventour Viaggi Vacanze di Pavia (www.alohatour.it - tel. 0382.5395.65) for the overall organization.
• The tour operator Ancient Splendors of Turin (www.antichisplendori.it - tel. 011.8126.715) for the program well-articulated and useful information provided.
• Omar, the Yemeni leadership, for the high professionalism demonstrated, for bringing us closer with skill, preparation and absolute respect for the culture and traditions of Yemen.
• Samer Abdul Ghani agency's correspondent in Yemen (Yemen Old Splendor Tours), for the excellent proven competence in organizing stays and all the terrestrial and air travel.
• The company Micro-and Saronno (www.micro-e.it - tel. 02.9602.887) for the material and information technology, for the assistance furnished me the realization of the diary in the multimedia version
• Photos optical Luca of Balestrini Rovello Porro (tel 02.9675.2227) for the photograph given me advice and equipment.
• Who (Marco, Laura, Simona and Peter) in various kinds have contributed to the design, presentation, correction of the diary and in the multimedia version, the conception of hypertext.

The Author

Eclectic character, always discovering the news to a continuous improvement in professional and personal, for over 20 years is active in training, initially only for voluntary associations belonging to the "third sector".
In his professional career has been able to expand and develop his passion for training, planning, managing various courses and training. Obtained results and opinions from companies and associations where he collaborated in the research, selection, training and motivation of staff.
He is currently engaged in multiple activities, both for enterprises and associations, for which consolidates existing routes and develop new ones, always enjoying a broad consensus and high esteem by all.
For years he discovered the pleasures of writing and publishing his travel diaries, and in the multimedia version, embellished with photographs of which has always been keen to make them enticing to those who read them.
Peter Fondrini
Teacher and trainer

Has compiled the following texts:
• Personnel selection: a route to be able to manage
• Healthcare and relief manual
• Manual for training courses