Sana'a, Yemen

Transportation: Jeanna
Accommodations: Brendan
Natural: Meghan
Monument: Brent
Cultural: David
Sport: John

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Transportation:
Our flight from Istanbul to Sana'a is set to depart at 7:40PM. We all were a bit hesitant to leave such an enjoyable stay in Turkey to head to such a culturally different environment. We flew Turkish Airlines flight 836, luckily a nonstop flight. John and Brendan thought it would be a good idea to chug the remaining alcohol they had before arriving at the airport. I'm not sure how arriving drunk will be welcomed! We made sure to get to the airport around 5 to ensure our massive quantity of luggage could be thoroughly searched, checked, and boarded. The flight is only supposed to last around 4 hours and 45 minutes, which is a relief compared to our last late night car trip. We will arrive in Sana'a, Yemen around 1:25AM. I'm a bit concerned with how we will be received at such an early, or late, hour, especially with part of our party still intoxicated. Hopefully there will be some sort of snack or coffee to sober them up before landing. The total cost for the flight ran us about $4803 US dollars. Once we land, we can get an "offical yellow taxi" to take us to the city center for about $15 US dollars. Considering the airport website says to avoid problems, we need to use the "offical" taxis, I'm a bit worried about what will be facing us upon our arrival.



Upon landing, we were hounded by "employees" trying to take our luggage and place it on a cart for us. Brendan tried to shoo them off, but to no avail. Not being too sure what the usual tipping rate was for such a service, he gave the guy a crinkled up $10 US bill he had left in his pocket. Never have I seen such excitement! The man jumped up and down and gave Brendan a heart handshake before skipping off. Meghan and I just looked at each other, both wondering what in the world the next few days would be like.

Movenpick Hotels and Resorts---Sanaa Yemen

I have never been one to pay much attention to travel warnings because a lot of them tend to be blown out of proportion by the State Department.  However, after the recent “unpleasantness” that has gone down in Yemen, none of us are very excited to be heading here.  I was reading on the plane to Sanaa about local laws and customs and now I am really not thrilled about this.  First off, no alcohol!  Ok, I have respect for other people’s religions and my liver could sure use the break, but at least provide me with some entertainment.  So aside from no alcohol and major terrorist activity and threats, you shouldn’t eat pork, you really shouldn’t talk about Jesus, the women need to be covered up, the men should not wear shorts, and if you have ever been to Israel…you will never get in Yemen.  Oh and of course, most infractions are punishable by death.



so many illegal activities!!!

All this being known, we decided to play it safe and spend some extra money to stay in a hotel that we felt was going to provide a safe haven from the city.  I booked us three twin rooms in the Movenpick Hotel on the outskirts of the city.  They do offer suites, but men and women are not allowed to co-habitat in Yemen and the hotels help to enforce this law….

                Anyway, Movenpick is a resort chain run by the Swiss and they claim to be first class around the world.  I don’t know how first class you can really get in a place like Yemen, but the hotel was surprisingly nice.   We were met at the airport by two Movenpick employees who took our bags and escorted us to a nearby van.  This service may cost 6,500rial, but I was very glad they offered pick-up service so we do not have to deal with trying to find an “official” or “safe” taxi.  Being 2am, we didn’t really see a lot going to the hotel but what we could see was brown and dusty.  The Movenpick hotel acted like a beacon in the desert and we could see the lights from miles away. We noticed that the hotel was the first place since landing that we had actually seen grass.  This is not saying much for the rest of the city but I am trying my best to stay optimistic. 

look guys, SAND!!!

                The hotel concierge spoke perfect UK English and after checking us in, she gave us a breakdown of the full amenities.  The hotel offers full spa services including a salon, sauna, and pool.  There is also a full gym with all modern equipment available to us.  The hotel offers four restaurants, a night club, and a pastry shop.  One of the restaurants offers cheap buffets all day everyday which means we will probably be eating here a lot.  With this hotel, if Sanaa fails us, we can always just hang out here for the week and get some good rest, great food, and watch TV.

none of this nonsense

BA

**IMPORTANT CULTURE REQUIREMENT**

            

          When arriving in Sana’a, Yemen, Jeanna and I had to accustom ourselves with the Islamic robe that is required by the government and the guidelines of Allah that the females need to wear.

-          Entire body must be covered

-          Only hands and eyes should be showing

-          Robe must be loose to not show the outline of the body

-          Must not have any bold patterns or colors to attract attention

You can purchase these robes for about $15 USD.  We, the females, decided we should purchase one of these to best protect ourselves from the “lustful” gaze of men, while also the violence that may come without a female wearing them.  We bought two black robes; white robes are worn during a religious ceremony known as the Hajj. 

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Day 1 in Sana'a:

We had an early flight into Yemen this morning and we were all pretty tired by the time we got to our rooms and our bags were delivered.  We decided it would probably be in all of our best interests if we slept for a few hours and regrouped later in the morning. 

We ended up sleeping longer than we had planned and everyone got together at around noon to come up with a game plan for the day.  We decided to take it easy the first day and try to figure out what our options would be for the week.  We went downstairs to the concierge and grabbed all of the available pamphlets for area attractions (there were not many), and we grabbed a table at the All Day Restaurant to take advantage of the lunch buffet. 

The buffet had many standard American offerings, or at least something resembling them, such as mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and ribs.  Well, we knew the ribs were not pork obviously but that didn’t stop Brent from devouring two plates of them.  I stuck with the local dishes as best as I could because let’s face it, they know how to cook that properly.  Dishes such as Agda and Kabsa which are spiced meats with rice and vegetables were surprisingly tasty. 

meat, vegetable, spice...the three key ingredients in Yemeni cooking

The view from our hotel lounge

During lunch we went through the pamphlets and in an effort to find something fun to do for the week.  We quickly weeded through the options and gave up deciding to just go play some basketball in the hotel gym.  There were very few other people around the gym area and the ones that were there just gave us dirty looks the whole time.  We ignored them and went ahead and had some fun. 

After a few hours of screaming at each other on the court we headed to the rooms to get cleaned up.  We gathered in the TV room upstairs to watch some horribly dubbed television shows.  The options for programming here are pretty slim as they have such strict religious rule.  We then went downstairs to the Dar Fez restaurant.  This place serves typical Moroccan food and has been given numerous culinary awards.  The food was excellent and we all had some hot tea and coffee to wash everything down. We talked about how to go forward for the week and decided that in the least, we should try to change perception.  This is rather hard to do however when everyone gives you just glaring stares at every corner. 

BA



Day 2 in Sana'a:

          For our natural activity in this ancient and dusty city, was visiting a park called Al Sabeen Park.  We found an official Sana’a taxi and we were taken to the park.  Arriving, the park was much different than a “park” you would see in the United States.  This was more of a gathering place for protests or casual walks.  However, mainly protests take place here since it is the main park in Sana’a.  We arrived at the park around 10:00 am.

        

         We observed the park as much as we could and then headed to FunCity, an amusement park that was in the same block as the Sabeen Park.  FunCity has been a facility that has been provided to the Yemenis people to give them an outlet for entertainment and a place for mainly kids to have fun.  It offers carnival types rides, pool halls, men’s and women’s pools, bowling, foosball tables, and cafeterias.  The fee for entering the amusement park is $1.00 USD.  The amusement park was really fun for us; temporarily we forgot we were in such a hostile environment.  The kids were full of smiles and waved back if we waved at them.  We kept our nation roots on the low, considering the hate towards United States in the Middle East.  Most of us posed as British, Canadian, Swedish, or Australian.  The thought of walking around blatantly saying we were American didn’t sit right in our guts.  We mainly stayed in the pool hall and bowling alley portion of the park, I was told by some visiting Europeans to not ride the rides as they were considered unsafe.  So we just observed the users, however, not offending the women by looking more than usual or taking any pictures.  We stayed at the park for a few hours, 2 at the max, and decided to grab some food.  

        Located near the two parks in the same block as well, was a KFC and Pizza Hut.  We decided to eat at Pizza Hut to all share a pizza.  We ordered two large pizzas; we were given a pitcher of water which was safe to drink unlike tap water in the country.  Prices in Sana’a were negotiable and we still had some USD bills on us, when we brought them out the employees perked up and noticed us more.  We handed the waiter and workers $40.00 as if it was nothing, and they grabbed it rather quickly.  We left a tip on the table of $10.00.  Shrugging in confusion we left the Hut and caught a cab back to our hotel before night fall.  We all made an agreement we would be back to the hotel before night time for safety precautions.   Plus, Jeanna and I were ready to get out of these robes!

 Activity and meal by Meghan Dees



Day 3 in Sana'a

Today for lunch we decided to be brave and headed across the street from the hotel to grab a quick bite before leaving for Al Ghuwaizy.  Our concierge told us that if we were growing tired of the lunch buffet, which we kind of are, that there is a small hole in the wall vendor across the street who makes delicious stew and kebobs.  We figured that since our hotel has yet to let us down, why they would start now, so off we went venturing into the uncharted territory that is Sanaa…actually the place turned out to be right beside the British Embassy so it wasn’t really that unsafe. 

                We found an old man selling food out of the window of a small hut and assumed this was the place.  He had a menu of half a dozen items posted but of course it was in Arabic so we had no idea what we were really getting.  The man spoke very little broken English and we all successfully ordered some kebobs and some fresh tandoori bread.  The meat turned out to be lamb and it was very tender and seasoned excellently.  The bread was still warm and very fresh.  David paid the man 1500rial and we jetted back to the hotel to catch the cab.

well done sir

BA

Today for our monument activity we decided to go to the Al Ghuwaizy Fort. This place was a guard post built in 1884 on top of a huge cliff so it was an easy look out for intruders or enemies. The fort is right near the airport so we took a taxi right there. We arrived around noon and it was quite scary, there were about 20 men formed in like some type of gang that were yelling at us as soon as we got out of the car. I got a little mad but Brendan and David calmed me down and said if I yelled anything back. Well after that fiasco we went inside the monument. It was pretty neat and it was free which made it even better. John kept insisting on touching stuff though and some soldiers kept eyeing us but they didnt do anything about it thankfully. Meghan and Jeanna were the most nervous of the group and after a couple hours there we went outside to wait for the taxi.

After surviving about 20 more minutes th taxi came and took us back to the hotel around 4:00. From there on we just stayed at the hotel the rest of the night.

Post By Brent Schwartz

       Tonight we decided to give the dinner buffet at the hotel a try.  They had many more traditional dishes available than their lunch buffet had and the restaurant was actually packed.  Again, we appeared to be the only Americans, but we did run into a handful of Canadians.  This whole “not going out at night” is getting old fast and I don’t know how much longer we can stay cooped up in here. 

BA
Day 4 in Sana'a


After making it three whole days without being kidnapped we were starting to feel a little more comfortable with our surroundings. People here definitely don't like Americans, but we have been able to keep out of trouble so far. As long as we try and keep a low profile I think that we will be just fine. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?...don't answer that.


Today we decided to visit the National Museum in the city to try and get a better idea about the history of this strange city. After grabbing a quick lunch at the buffet we hailed down a cab and were on our way. It was only about a five minute drive, but when we arrived the museum was disappointing. There were a lot of cool artifacts, but none of the labels were displayed in english and we had no idea what anything was.

Just when we were about to leave we met the museum curator. Surprised to see a group of American tourists, he asked if he could help us with anything. He seemed impressed by the fact that we wanted to learn about the local culture and offered to show us around. He walked us through room after room full of artifacts from ancient cultures in the area. It was a completely different experience the second time around and after our tour we thanked the man for his hospitality. It is nice to know that everyone in Yemen doesn't hate Americans. 

He even advised that we visit the Yemen Traditions Exhibition next door to learn a little more about the culture. We walked over and saw exhibits about traditional Yemeni styles of living, including old clothes and antiques. It was interesting, but without our trusty tour guide we couldn't understand much of the information. The people here were not as friendly and we decided that it was time to head back to the hotel. It would be dark soon anyway and none of us wanted to be out of the hotel at night.


Once we got back we got dinner at the hotel and went for a swim before bed. None of us are used to going to bed this early, but there is literally nothing to do in Yemen at night. It's not exactly the place to go out looking for adventure either. Overall it wasn't a bad day but I think we will all be glad when this leg of our trip is over. But hey, at least my liver will be rested and ready to go when we get out of this dust bowl.


post by DH

We were beginning to notice that the hotel attempts to have "theme" nights with their buffet offerings.  Last night was obviously Middle Eastern themed, but tonight, the buffet is mostly Asian with things like lo mein, sushi, and korean beef.  Some of the guys took this all in with welcomed eyes, but I had my doubts.  John loaded up on sushi which I feel sure he will regret later tonight and probably tomorrow.

You won't get food poisoning I promise....

BA


Day 5 in Sana'a

Our meal from last night wreaked havoc on the group, nothing was safe at the buffet last night. I personally took a big gamble and filled up on sushi thinking that I was choosing a healthier option as opposed to what we had been eating thus far in our trip. Epic fail. It wasn’t even an hour after dinner that I began to vomit. The vomiting lasted all night and I wasn’t the only one suffering. I heard Brendan laughing at dinner about how I was an idiot for eating sushi, yet at about 3 am I heard him in the bathroom crying on the toilet praying to whoever would listen to make the pain of the food poisoning stop. The entire group was not ready for today and we slept as much as possible to rid us of our digestion issues. Breakfast consisted of crackers and ginger ale and even that was too much for me to handle.

Today we decided as a group that there was no sport activity that we could safely do. So, we started racking our brains and decided to see what the hotel staff suggested we do. They laughed at us and said “You want sport? Run from bullets”. We decided to visit a stadium that houses the Yemeni soccer team and also holds cricket matches. We took a safe taxi out around 11 am for our 10 minute ride to the Althawra Sports City Stadium.

 The taxi was pretty cheap for the groups at only $9 and then the driver thought I was trying something funny by giving him a tip and started yelling at us.  The stadium is rarely used as the national soccer team was kicked out of FIFA in 2005. When we arrived at the stadium, we were told that there was a cricket practice going on but that the women were not allowed.

Unfortunately, our taxi had already left us and we had to wait an hour for another to arrive due to violence in the area. By the time we got in our taxi and arrived back at the hotel, it was 3 pm. We decided as a group that the extent of us finding anything physical or sprot related was to have a beer pong championship in our hotel. The hotel serves alcohol even though the city doesn’t so we took full advantage and ordered about $120 in beer from the restaurant. Meghan and David were champions by default after Jeanna and Brent quit; and Brendan and I were disqualified for cheating constantly. By this time, we were slightly drunk and all very hungry.

Post by John Olive 

                Tonight we decided to attempt to go out into the city for a nice meal.  We had heard great things about a new restaurant in town called Monaco Palace and wanted to try it out.  This is an “upscale” steakhouse that specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine.  We had the concierge call us a cab, and he said that when we are done, since it will be dark, we should probably call the hotel to have their shuttle pick us up just to be on the safe side.

                The cab ride was kind of hectic and the streets were full of merchants who were closing up for the night.  The cabbie kept screaming at pedestrians and their goats and then smiling back at us saying “is ok, Faziz will get you safely!”  Faziz did deliver on his promise and eventually we found ourselves on the street outside of Monaco Palace. 

Sana'a at night

                The food was excellent.  Everyone was very excited to see a menu in English and especially since it had filet mignon on it.  The service was great and we were treated like kings.  Being white, we were seated immediately.  No wonder the locals look down on us; the business men give us preferential treatment.  The meal was excellent and we left our waiter a generous tip.  The whole meal was really no more expensive than a typical steakhouse in the states but the food was much better. 

AK-47...officially on the list of things I do not like to have pointed at me

                Before leaving the restaurant we called the hotel and they assured us the shuttle was on the way.  I love that they are looking out for our best interest.  We went outside to wait for the cab and there was a very eerie feeling in the streets.  It was mostly deserted but the few people that were walking about seemed rather unsavory.  Luckily our cab showed up soon and we all hopped in glad to be off the street.  I have never felt so vulnerable in my life.  Not long after being in the van, we came to an abrupt halt when a man stepped into the road and raised a gun towards the driver.  Instantly four men came out of the shadows and crowded around the van.  They were screaming at the driver and the porter in Arabic and pointing at us.  We had no clue what the hell was going on and just wanted to get out of here.  Brent reached for his wallet in an obvious attempt to bribe his way out before we all got shot, but one of the men noticed and pointed his gun at him and started yelling.  Brent started screaming back trying to explain he had money but the guy had no clue what he was saying.  I told Brent to shut up and just sit back.  Suddenly there was a loud gunshot from far off and with the attention diverted, the driver slammed on the gas.  There was a barrage of gunshots from behind us as we all ducked down like we were in an action movie.  Once out of danger, the driver began to apologize profusely and said that he was very sorry for this incident and if we were to report it to the hotel he may lose his job.  We had no intention of telling his boss because this man probably just saved our lives. 



                Needless to say, we are all ready to get the hell out of Sanaa.

BA
Day 6 in Sana'a

This is our last full day in Sanaa and we still do not feel very comfortable.  Aside from being treated as outcasts by the majority of the city, the weather here is terrible.  It is dry and dusty and the sun is unrelenting all day long, and then at night, it is gets cold, very cold.  I have no idea how anyone could deal with this everyday of their life. 

  After hitting the breakfast buffet this morning, we decided to relax today and spend some money in the hotel spa.  We had a really great experience at the spa in Turkey and we thought it would be nice to have another go.  I can definitely see why spoiled housewives get spa treatments every week.  We all got mud baths and something called a hot stone massage.  The masseuse took these smooth hot rocks and placed them on our backs and let the heat radiate into our muscles.  It felt pretty cool, but as far as how well it worked, I have no clue.  After that, some of got deep tissue massages.  This was wonderfully painful but unfortunately I know the work will be wasted when I cramp myself into an airplane seat tomorrow.  The spa employees brought us a light lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and tea from the Hotel’s Lobby Lounge and then they brought us pastries from the Delicatessen Hadda Shop. 

Brent under stone therapy

After our lunch we were escorted to the sauna and shower room.  After sweating for an hour, we washed up and then were sent to the salon.  It was nice to get a haircut and a close shave for the first time in a month.  The girls were convinced to get manicures along with a couple of ridiculously expensive haircuts.   After being treated like gold and spending plenty of money, we ruined all of the salon work by jumping in the pool and playing volleyball for the rest of the afternoon. 

Tonight, the hotel opens up the Horse Shoe Night Club.  According to the desk clerk, this is the best club in town and everyone comes here to have a good time on the weekends.  Most of the staff that is not working even comes back to hang out when the place is open.  I guess if this is the only safe venue for nighttime entertainment, it should be packed.  We all plan to have a good time tonight and John even broke out a bunch of glow sticks.  No clue where he got them from, or why this is the first we have seen of them, but whatever. 

The music was mostly techno with disco mixed in which made the whole thing very odd.  One minute the speakers are thumping bass and everyone is jumping around and then the next thing you know, Donna Summer is screaming at you about hot stuff.  It was nice to let go for a bit and even the locals treated us nicely in these surroundings.  The girls we able to finally take off the sheets they have been wearing all week and cut loose. 

The Horse Shoe Club

We headed back up to the rooms at about 1am and realized we were starving.  We got together in Brent and David’s room and ordered a ton of food from room service before crashing for the night.    

BA


Day 7 in Yemen:
Our flight out of Sana'a to Dubai was at 10:00 am.  We woke up around 7:00 am, all got showered, packed up our bags.  Grabbed some quick breakfast snacks and coffee (which was horrible) and hopped in the airport shuttles bus.  We were dropped off at the airport, tipped the driver, he sped off and we were left at the airport with no English speakers and no English written anywhere.  We stood in front of the main doors for a while looking around for any help.  Anybody we asked would tuck their head and walk away faster.  We made our way inside the airport looking for any directory or flight information.  There was nothing.  The airport was very run down, seats were falling apart, and it had a general smelling musk to it.  

Eventually we showed our ticket and flight information to desk people and they would point in the right direction.  However, all flight announcements were announced in Arabic.  Once checked in, our bags thoroughly searched, and our visas checked, we waited by our gate.  No one really walked around, we all just stared at the desk clerks and other people waiting, when they moved we would move.  

During our wait, men would come up and try to take our bags or ask for any kind of money.  We would insistently tell them "No!"  We kept our bags close to us and Brent and David kept a close eye outside where our bigger luggage was being handled.  Once the announcement came and all people stood up for the gate, we knew it was time to board.  We scurried into the plane, took our seats, and waited in silence.  Dubai couldn't come fast enough.


-Meghan Dees