The Yemen Chronicles Part 10 - Sana'a

Sana'a is easily the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Sana'a was my home base during my month-long stay in Yemen. I'm lucky to have relatives who were nice enough to put up with me for that long!! Thank you!

So much can be said about Sana'a.. I know I could never do it any justice with the few pictures and words that I'm spewing out.. I simply hope to give you a taste.

The name Sana'a means 'fortified place'.. it has had a number of different names in the past.. and has been mentioned in various Holy Books. As you can guess it's a very very old city (Supposedly founded by Shem, the son of Noah!) !! Bahh.. I don't know which historical facts to mention.. there are just too many!

For example did you know that Sana'a was once the centre of Christian pilgrimage in Arabia?! There used to be a large cathedral, apparently it was the largest christian building south of the Mediterranean. It was built by some architects sent by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor.. This was way back in pre-Islamic times. The city has come under the rule or at least influeced by various civilizations such as.. the Abyssinians, Ottomans, and Byzantines to name a few..

The city is pretty high up.. over 7,000 feet above sea level.. Many of the houses have rooms on the roof called a Mafraj that allow for a panoramic view of the city. Often the room is full of men in the evenings chewing qat.

I thought I'd be out of breath when I arrived in Sana'a, simply because of the elevation. I was ok though.. the air felt really crisp actually.. and I probably wasnt out of breath simply because I hardly ever exterted myself..

Sana'a was my first impression of Yemen.. and I have to say I felt like I was in another world. It felt as though I was in the REAL Arabia.. it's hard to explain. I also felt very comfortable even though it is very very different from Canada. Anyways, I'm blabbering too much.. and I agree it's very incoherent right now.. The pics in this post are mostly of the not-so-pretty parts of Sana'a.. I feel like showing them first..





Well, ok this picture is of one of the pretty parts of Sana'a.. I couldn't resist! This was one of the first places that I saw in Sana'a.. the old part of the city. It rained the day I arrived.. it all felt so surreal the first day.


This is the view from my cousin Huda's apartment.. It's a pretty nice view.. especially in the evenings ..



I think the University of Sana'a is down the road and to the right.. It's quite large.



I'm in the habit of always wearing my seatbelt.. in Yemen u're lucky if u get a seat! :) Actually, I was almost in a serious accident the second day in Sana'a. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my cousin's Land Rover. We were driving down a two-way road.. and all of a sudden he stopped and decided to do a U-turn, since he forgot some papers at home. He was so preoccupied with these papers that he forgot to look for oncoming traffic. I was looking though.. and I could see a Land Cruiser speeding down the other lane.. heading towards us. For some reason I didnt say anything.. I was just hoping he'd see the car.. and I had a weird feeling that I'd be ok no matter what. Anyways, that feeling didnt last longer than a milisecond because I eventually told him to 'STOP!'.. he braked just in time.. the Land Cruiser somehow managed to squeeze by our car and the sidewalk.. it literally came within a hair of hitting our car! The guy in the Land Cruiser started braking after he passed us.. his car almost fishtailed.. He stopped about 20 meters away just before hitting another sidewalk. He backed up his car then drove and screetched to a stop right infront of us.. Out he came.. an angry Yemeni (very rare!) He was gesticulating wildly and yes he had an AK-47 strapped on his back, he also had a big Jambia (dagger).. So I thought to myself.. 'Sheesh! I just survived the crash.. now he's going to shoot us!' . Hehehe .. he eventually cooled down.. and my cousin left him with a hug or shake of the hand.. anyways.. that's something I'd never see in Canada.



This very long wall encircles the President's house.. (I liked the Vice President's wall.. it had some life sized model Fighter Jets leaning out over the wall).. I think the president's wall goes around a whole mountain top.. it's quite hideous actually. Within each of the turrets there's a very large gun.. The people, however, generally seem to like the president.



he has these Roman-style colums at the main entrance.. I thought it looked really out of place..



This is the parade ground.. it's also a regular street.. I thought it was really cool.. It has to be on of the widest roads.. You can pretty much drive wherever you want on this stretch.. it's like a big empty parkinglot.. it all heads towards a big roundabout .. You need to be a good driver to nagivate through the roundabouts here.. it's just a mess of cars going in circles .. all cutting each other off at the same time.



This is a giant mosque that the President is building.. it's not a very good picture.. but trust me it's big!





Most of the gates or doors are painted blue.. different colours mean different things.. I think white doors/gates mean the place is a pharmacy..



I took these three pictures at the same intersection, at the same red light. In most big intersections you will find people wandering between the cars trying to sell you all kinds of things you really dont need.







Eep I did this for you! The falcons talons felt a bit prickly on my hand.. I was just thinking to myself.. this bird can rip the skin off my hand if it wants to! It was gentle though..



Ahh, here I am chewing some qat with my cousins and their friend Abdullah.. the guy on my left. We chewed non-stop for 7 hours!! Usually they dont go that long.. but I think that night we just lost track of time. I drank about 4 bottles of water and a bottle of Canada Dry.. near the end I was peeing in the bathroom every half an hour!! When you chew you have to drink water to keep hydrated.. We talked about all kinds of things.. They filled me in on some of Yemen's history and current political situation.. social issues.. problems with Rolls Royce engines.. although I didnt contribute much.. I was very content to sit there and chew my leaves..



Ok.. and here's an embarrassing picture of me dressed in some Yemeni garb.. well ignore the Mario's 2 For 1 Pizza top.. I did this for my Mom!! I hope you're happy! I think my Saroon is too low..

Soon I shall show you pictures of the old section of Sana'a.. that's the really beautiful part! :)