Oct 5 Shihara

Thursday, October 5. Woke up at 7am... Finished getting my stuff together, and making sure I had everyhing I needed. Then realized I was missing my copy of my passport... Last I had it was to get a copy made to buy a cell phone here. Then I hadn't seen it since... I tore apart my room looking for it... For maybe about twenty minutes... Looked everywhere I could think of and just couldn't find it. I nearly gave up hoping there wouldn't be any problems, and then found it folded up on the ground near my bed.... We had to bang on Matt's door at about 7:30 (he was supposed to be waking me up since I knew I'd stay up late), he had gotten up earlier to get ready and then was just going to rest for 5 minutes (which we know how that always turns out). Turns out he didn't have a copy of his passport either, nor his actual passport (which are always locked up at the institute). So we just hoped for the best. We waited around for a bit for Sandra at Tahrir, and then headed out to Universal Touring Company on the west side of Tahrir. There we found a guy nearly sleeping in a white Landcruiser. Sandra and Matt paid their half of the price and we headed on our way... Got to see some more parts of Sana'a which I hadn't been to, such as the Mercedes dealership up to the north, and then we got to our first military check point just outside of Sana'a. The soldier asked where we were from and the driver just told him Germany. He let us pass, and the driver just laughed and said that Germany was always the easiest and created the least amount of problems, so we just always stuck with that for the remainder of the trip. At least Sandra was German, Markus was Swiss German, and Matt could speak German, but me... Well I have a German last name. We saw lots of different landscapes on our drive through... saw nice farms, little villages, and some areas that looked like they were so alien and inhospitable as to be from the moon or Mars. Our driver dropped us off at the gate of Old Amran at maybe around 9:30 in the morning... We walked through the city but it was basically dead right now because of the Ramadan hours. There were a lot of girls out on the streets at this time though, they were all headed to school. I guess they have school here 6 days a week, although only for 4 hours per day. The architecture here was quite different from that of Sana'a. There were lots of little kids following us around chanting Soora, soora (picture) and we dubbed them the Soora Zombies... Like Night of the Living Dead they would just chase after us chanting this... Out driver had dropped us off at one side, and drove to the other to meet us. We came out the other side of the old city (it wasn't that big, nothing like the old city of San'a of course) and a store keeper started chatting with Markus for quite awhile because he wanted to learn German. Asking if he had any books or anything that taught the language, which he of course didn't. Then we headed out again. I thought I would be able to sleep during our trip, but the roads aren't exactly the smoothest of surfaces. It was quite bumpy, despite being paved, and there were frequently large speedbumps, or sections of road that were just unpaved, and he had to slow down abruptly and cross over the dirt and rock before coming back onto asphault. Strange. I think we crossed two military check points pretty close outside of Sana'a. At the second one, they stopped us for awhile before letting us through, which our driver said was because they were waiting for us to pay them, but since we didn't they just let us go. He had told this group of soldiers that we were Germans again. After driving for quite awhile longer we came to this nice cliff overlooking a valley full of farming. There a whole bunch of children rushed out from I don't really know where (as there was nothing around us, except two small houses and one store). They all started talking to us as we took a break from the road. They were all especially interested if we were fasting. Which me and Matt, and Sandra were, but Markus got up and ate a big breakfast. We headed back out for maybe another hour on the road until we came to another military check point. Our driver hopped out and went to their shack for I didn't know what. And then one of the soldiers just came and hung out at our window. We had no idea what was going on... We thought it was another attempt to get us to pay them, and they weren't going to give us our driver back until we did. We didn't do anything but sit there, and eventually our driver came back and we headed back on the road. We didn't quite understand what the hold up was for, but then a few minutes later a military truck zoomed up behind us with a large machine gun mounted on the back of the truck, and the bed of the truck full of soldiers. It was quite strange. Markus has traveled quite a bit and never had to have a military escort, so he was pretty surprised. We joked around how it feel like we could in Iraq or Afghanistan (probably more like Afghanistan because of the terrain). We had our nice Toyota Landcruiser, which was obviously a car for foreigners (most of the cars here aren't very nice) and the military escort. The driver said it was because the government wasn't very strong up in the North, and if there were any sort of inter-tribal disputes we would have protection. We drove for awhile, through a small city, and then all of a sudden our military escort was gone... Markus and I were really confused, we asked out driver about it, but he said it was okay because there was no problems. We continued on our own for about another twenty minutes and then all of a sudden the military escort zoomed past us and started leading the way. The weather now was a bit hotter than in Sana'a I realized, most likely because we weren't at such a high altitude anymore, and you could see around us now that the landscape had changed quite a bit, there wasn't too much plant life around. It just looked like all the water had been sucked out of the area, and even the rocks and dirt was dry and cracked. It was especially unpleasant as we were fasting, and with a Muslim driver, so it would have been rude to be drinking in front of him. It was also around this area where Markus and I saw about 30-40 vultures perched atop the cliff beside the road, it was really bizarre, and a number of them circling off to the side! I was particularly amazed that Sandra was able to sleep through these bumpy roads, I wish I had been able to, although it was nice to see all the different areas outside of Sana'a. After a bit we stopped atop a hill overlooking the town of Huth. It was a nice view, and this town was more 'desert-y' than I had seen before in Yemen. Our military escort had kept going. Sandra at this point just took over the whole back seat for sleeping, and wouldn't wake up when Markus and I were trying to get back in. We debated about riding in the back but were eventually able to wake her, and Markus gave her his seat so she could sleep against the window instead of bouncing back and forth in the middle. Our military escort was waiting at the bottom of the hill in Huth, and their driver and ours starting talking for awhile, but the only thing I could really understand was "problems for us" (from the military driver and that was it, but I didn't know what the problem was... Hah, the trouble with broken Arabic. Soon after leaving Huth we turned off onto a dirt road, and soon realized why we needed the Landcruiser, we were going up and down all sorts of off road enivronments. Rocky dirt roads, hills, holes, etc. Nobody was sleeping now, the terrain was too bumpy... and I thought the roads weren't that great from before...! Now we kept boucing and slamming into the doors and windows. Pretty bumpy. Like an amusement park ride. We kept passing be a number of small villages, houses and farms... And at first the villagers weren't that friendly. Lots of little kids making strange signs and gestures at us, and chanting at us. We had no idea what they meant... But it was really funny when we crossed this group of children who were chanting and running up towards the car when Markus replicated a sign (cross your middle and run finger, and spread the others out, then rotate your hand back and forth between the palm and back facing the person) we had seen earlier, and they all just literally stopped dead in their tracks. Stopped running towards us, stopped chanting and kind of just stood with their mouths open when we passed... We have no idea what we told them, but it obviously meant something! We continued to get strange gestures and chants directed at us from the women and children (we basically only saw women and children from the point of leaving the cities, making us wonder where all the men were). But after awhile, the children became friendly again and started waving to us. Lots of children and women were out herding goats, and sometimes even a woman would wave (or perhaps she was a teenage girl, hard to tell when they are fully covered) which is pretty unusual and uncommon. Occasional we'd see a truck full of men pass by. Then at one point we noticed the military truck stop abruptly and two or three soldiers jumped out with their Kalashnikov automatic weapons thrown over their soldiers... We were like "uh-oh, there must be trouble ahead" and our driver stopped some distance away from them... And then we saw this white chicken running around a bush and these three soldiers, in full camo clothes and weaponry, chasing it around, falling down, until one finally grabbed ahold of it, and they put it in the cab of the truck. They driver pulled up alongside them, and apparently the chicken was in there before, and had escaped, perhaps they were buying the chicken when they disappeared for about 20 minutes earlier, they also told us it was for dinner that night. We continued along this bumpy dirt road for a total of about an hour until we finally arrived at the hotel lcated at the base of the mountain which Shihara was located atop. They showed us the rooms available there, and let us use the bathroom. They said we could go to the top of the mountain to Shihara, and stay at a hotel there if we wished, but that this one was preferable. Either way we didn't have to decide now, because we would go to Shihara anyways. I broke my fast early when Sandra offered me a cookie from her backpack, as well as some water... I was really starving, despite eating some cereal in the middle of the night last night, I mean normally when I fast I wake up at noon, and then eat at 6. Today I got up at 7am... and it was just after noon now.... I felt bad because right afterwards the guards were asking which of us were fasting and the driver pointed me out along with Matt and Sandra. To which the soldiers were very happy. We then loaded our bags and ourselves into our "Special Local Transport" which was just in the back of an old Toyota pick up truck... And a different driver (a local) as well as two of the guards piled into the cab. Sandra was offered a spot in the cab, but she declined and stayed in the back of the truck with us. We all situated ourselves seated around the back, and took off an an even bumpier and rockier dirt road. We were laughing at out "special local transport" which was costing us $50 between us from the trip total. But we soon realized why this pick up was necessary as opposed to the Landcruiser from earlier as we began ascending steep hills, and large rocks, with bumps and bangs ensuing. With all of us sitting on the bed of the truck it was horrible, because it would throw you around so much, so I decided to try it Yemeni style which is standing up in the bed of the truck, hanging onto the bar near the cab. It seems really dangerous, but you don't drive really fast, and you always see Yemeni's riding in the backs of trucks in this manner. It was much much better, because you could actually control yourself and not get slammed into things, or be bouncing up and down on the hard metal of the truck. The other three joined me in standing, but it was particularly cramped. We would stop at a number of different places with good vantage points in order to take pictures. I wish I could describe better how crazy this road was... It was really unbelievable. We also passed by a number of small villages too. The road was carved along the side of a cliff and was basically one way, but we would occasionally encounter another vehicle on its way down, and have to pull over enough to let them pass by. Occasionally there were sections of a former road made out of large rocks, but was defintely not intended for vehicles because it was probably more bumpy than the other portions. We kept climbing higher and higher and higher, and the views were absolutely amazing. Almost all of the mountains and hills around as had been terraced from the top to the bottom to allow agriculture, and you'd see houses, or other buildings just perched upon these cliffs. It truly felt like a place out of this world. I don't really feel like Sana'a is that strange or foreign of a place (it is a big "modern" city, where you can get almost anything you'd want), but this place was truly different, and I have never seen anything like it. I reminded me of parts of the movie Seven Years in Tibet, so I kept imagining we were headed to some place like that. After one of the rests for photo taking I elected to sit down again at the back, as there wasn't that much room to stand, and it began to make me sick. I was getting slammed up and down and back and forth so much, that it felt like my internal organs were in new places now. I weaseled my way back up to the front and made someone change places with me before I really did get sick. We arrived to the top of the mountain and to Shihara after about an hour total of driving up in the back of the pick up. The driver stopped almost immediately and the two soldiers jumped out to but some local gat grown on the terraced hill sides, while we took a break and talked to the children who were now swarming around the truck. We soon took off and left the soldiers there, and two of the kids ran after the truck and jumped onto the back to hitch a ride. Then the driver stopped the car, turned it off, jumped out and ran around the car, started yelling at the kids picked up a massive rock and threw it the youngest one (it missed him, thankfully!) and was grabbing him yelling! It was crazy, I can't believe he reacted in such a way... Didn't understand what exactly he was saying, except when he called the kid 'Himar ibn Himar!' (Donkey, son of Donkey!), which the donkey is worst, dumbest animal in the Arab world, and is a huge insult to call someone a donkey (like when they call Bush a donkey). Anyways, after that crazy outburst, and scaring us half to death, we continued driving through the city to arrive to one of the hotels (of two total). We checked out the rooms and brought our stuff to settle into one of them on the second floor. We decided that people up here seem more agressive and crazy for some reason, and that maybe being German wasn't so bad after all, and that our group would indeed just be 4 Germans. We were really exhausted from the whole trip, and just lounged around in the one room for awhile. They offered us some food, and tea, but we told them we would wait until after 6 with everyone else. The rooms weren't so bad, it was basically a small room with three mats on the ground. Sandra had once again passed out, and we had to wake her before we headed out to see the main attraction of Shihara, the bridge between two cliffs. Our two bodyguard soldiers accompanied us, along with a group of 4 or 5 kids who acted as tour guides. They walked us through the dirt roads, and to good viewpoints of the cliffs and mountains below. I'm not sure how high the actual altitude of the city is, it might be less than that of Sana'a, since we descended quite a bit before making the trek up the mountain, but it felt much higher simply because of the view from it, and the steep mountains. It felt like you could see to the ends of the earth (is that the Space Needle in the distance?" and in almost a 180 degree direction (there were building and whatnot behind us, but in front was a few thousand feet of cliffs and mountains, and then flat endless plain, which we receded into the horizon. Truly amazing. We continued our little trek towards the bridge, and made it there in maybe 15 minutes or so. The bridge is really impressive, built between two steep cliffs and a far drop. The children told us it was 350 years old, but I believe that was the original bridge, which broke, and was rebuilt maybe 100 years ago, if I'm not mistaken. We took many photos in and on the bridge. There was even a goat herder who herded past us and both Matt and I waited for the "Goat shot" when they'd all be crossing the old bridge. From there we decided to keep walking towards to the other vilage, located across the bridge from Shihara. The kids were pretty talkative and informative along the way. We had left one of the other soldiers across the bridge talking to some people, and I guess he didn't notice us leaving because he came running over finally and yelled at the kids for leaving without him. The military escort was mandatory at all times, although we did have one of the two soldiers with us. We made it to the other village for a good view of Shihara. One of the children explained that there was a Sabafon cell tower in Shihara, thus why I had a full 5 bars of service and the Spacetel folk only had 1... Hah! That's why I pay slightly more for Sabafon. From the other village we decided to keep walking up to the top of the mountain, although I was the only one who voted no on the idea, as I was dead tired (with only two hours of sleep), and starving and hungry. But we continued on, hiking up to the top of this mountain, again I was wearing sandals, but at least there was somewhat of a path here. When we made it to the top it had an amazing 360 degree view around the area. In the way direction it was nearly limitless plain from the area we originally came, and then more mountains to the other side, which surprisingly had more villages perched atop them. There was also this sort of stone rock structure, with low walls, which might have been some sort of observation area, where we all sat and rested for awhile. I asked Matt to take my photo with one of the soldiers, and asked if I could pose with his AK47 in the shot, which he happily allowed. Then everybody started following suit, posing with the AK47 atop the mountain. I guess it is a pretty normal occurence that all the tourists do though, and Ismail even mentioned it to me before we left, which is why I asked. Then we took a bunch of group shots as well, before descendin back towards Shihara. We took another break as we were descending down the man-made terraced mountain side which is used for agriculture (primarily for growing gat, it seems), and waited for a few others to catch up. There the little kid, the son of the owner of the hotel, who acted as the ring leader it seemed, took the opportunity to re-tie my head scarf since it was done improperly, at least according to Shihara standards. In Shihara we all sat around with the children and the guards on a wall of a large water pool. There the women and young girls would go gather water in buckets and carry them back upon their heads. There were a number of these water pools around the city. A few of the people who passed by gave us really suspicious looks, and then the other few were really friend, including a two guys who went down the line to shake everyones hand and welcome them to Shihara, including the two military soldiers. We then returned to the hotel to rest for a bit. I think we got back at around 5:30 or so, and at this time I just fell asleep in the room, as did most everyone else, while we waited for dinner. The family who owns it, and also lives there, woke us at the proper time and we went downstairs for food in the hotel (there are no restaurants in this city, I guess). The food was pretty decent, we had beans, chicken, rice, vegetable mix, bread, tea, and the real treat of the night was the delicious Bint as-Sahn (which I've only had once before at Ismail's house, because it isn't typically served in restaurants). It literally means daughter of the dish, but is a sort of think bread with sweet delicious honey on top (this kind was slightly different than at Ismail's). We sat around talking in the mafraj where we ate, until returning to our room for a bit. Sandra was then offered her own room down the hall, which is good, considering we only had three mats in that room. Then Markus went out with a soldier escort to go buy some water for all of us at the souq, and after that we joined the soldiers, and owner downstairs where we all just talked in Arabic for the rest of the night... Until about midnight. We told them we would take our breakfast at 4am, because Markus and Sandra realized how much more respect you get from the locals when you fast. Both Matt and I have fasted every day, but I have broke it a few times, for water in particular.