Articles from this Category
23 December 2007
Many shops are still closed. We can’t get a good choice of fruits or vegetables, we have to go further for water, drinks or yoghurt. And our next-door bakery is closed; fresh Yemeni bread is good enough to get out of bed for. Many restaurants, eateries and internet places are closed too. To make matters […]
19 December 2007
Today, being Eid, we got invited to our teacher’s (Adnan) house. We were treated to a Yemeni lunch … Marie even ate her friend the goat! Life is still very traditional in Yemen … his wife did not join us for lunch because of my presence as a non-related male … if it had been […]
18 December 2007
It is the day before Eid … the streets are busy. And the rubbish truck didn’t appear to make it last night. We put our bags of rubbish (in shopping bags, not the large sacks) on the street corner for clearance last night … yes including a bag of used toilet paper (as I call it […]
17 December 2007
Marie went to our teacher’s house today. “Excuse moi” she cried “… there’s a goat in the bathroom”. The answer as we found out is because tomorrow is Eid (al Udha) … or Hari Raya Haji in Malaysia-Singapore. It commemorates Abraham’s (pbuh) willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael for God. Muslims sacrifice a goat, sheep etc […]
14 December 2007
We took breakfast around 0730 and drove to Al Hajjarah. It was my second time at this stunning village set on top of a rock. From here, we walked to the next village and back. That took around 0900-1230. Fortunately there wasn’t much of a downhill hike which seemed to upset my left knee. Assam didn’t […]
13 December 2007
Even though I only landed yesterday, I was happy to agree to a weekend away today. It was a foursome, with Marie and I, plus another student (Jewish American studying at Harvard) and the driver Assam. It was a leisurely departure at 0930 meeting at my regular quarter-chicken place for the 2+ hour ride through […]
12 December 2007
Arrival My Emirates flight departed Hong Kong at 0035 after my full day of travel from Kuching and time in Hong Kong. The 1h30 connecting time in Dubai was sufficient for my continuing flight to Sana’a. Actually more than sufficient as I managed to even go to duty free to get a bottle of bubbly […]
26 November 2007
Thoughts on Leaving China Today I left Yangshuo for Hong Kong via Guilin (city and airport). I’ll miss the cheap eating … up to two big beers and three ice creams per day: A 600 ml beer is CNY5 (about EUR0.50) for locals and 2-3 times the price for tourists. There’s now a good choice […]
25 November 2007
Today I decided to take another bike trip this time south towards the Big Banyan Tree and Moonlight Mountain. I didn’t have a good start as the road was very busy with buses and trucks … and hence dusty. It could have been worse as I met some people who said they were white (from […]
24 November 2007
Big day out Today I have a cycle and rafting combo trip organised. The man that sold it to me said I’d start by getting on a bus with the bike to an out-of-town point before rafting and cycling back. After breakfast I picked up my mountain bike (EUR1 per day) and cycled to the […]