Yesterday, along with seven other students, a few faculty members, our grounds keeper/school security guard, and a reporter from the Air Yemenia in-flight magazine, we drove an hour northwest to Kawkaban for a little adventure outside the city.
Kawkaban is located on top of a mountain (elevation of 9200 ft) and the city is built alongside a cliff overlooking the town of Shibam.
Shibam, as viewed from the cliffs of Kawkaban.
A hotel in Kawkaban (can barely be made out in the center of the picture), reached on on foot, about a 15 minute hike down some cliffs from the main town center. We had a coffee break here in the
mafraj (living room) overlooking Shibam--the view was absolutely amazing. We're hoping to come back here and stay a night with the parents in March.
After our coffee break, we hiked from Kawkaban to Shibam, a 45-minute descent (and drop in elevation of approximately 1650 feet).
Picture break during the hike. Assif is a fellow student at SIAL, and the man crouching is the reporter, doing a story on us and our field trip--finally, my 15 minutes of fame...in an in-flight magazine.
Waterfall in Shibam we discovered during another short hike. Yemen is such a dry country (in more than one way), it was really unexpected to see so much water.
House built precariously on the edge a cliff, on top of the waterfall.
We had a small picnic in Shibam and were approached by a large group of female Yemeni university students. They were so excited to practice their English with us, and even spoke to the men in our group (unheard of in Sana'a, which is apparently much more conservative that the outlying towns). Also unlike Sanani women, many of these ladies did not wear the full veil and they were willing to have their pictures taken. I'm not sure who the man standing in the background was, but he somehow made it into all of our pictures with the Yemeni gals. We ran back into this group after hiking to the waterfall and found them to be setting off fireworks.
Door made of "Girl" brand ghee tins.
House?
Cow, with a really punk nose piercing.
Horse, symbol of President Saleh's political party. Most buildings in the area, as a sign of political allegiance and support, had either the horse or a sun painted on them (symbol of the Religious Party).
Yesterday, along with seven other students, a few faculty members, our grounds keeper/school security guard, and a reporter from the Air Yemenia in-flight magazine, we drove an hour northwest to Kawkaban for a little adventure outside the city.
Kawkaban is located on top of a mountain (elevation of 9200 ft) and the city is built alongside a cliff overlooking the town of Shibam.
Shibam, as viewed from the cliffs of Kawkaban.
A hotel in Kawkaban (can barely be made out in the center of the picture), reached on on foot, about a 15 minute hike down some cliffs from the main town center. We had a coffee break here in the mafraj (living room) overlooking Shibam--the view was absolutely amazing. We're hoping to come back here and stay a night with the parents in March.
After our coffee break, we hiked from Kawkaban to Shibam, a 45-minute descent (and drop in elevation of approximately 1650 feet).
Picture break during the hike. Assif is a fellow student at SIAL, and the man crouching is the reporter, doing a story on us and our field trip--finally, my 15 minutes of fame...in an in-flight magazine.
Waterfall in Shibam we discovered during another short hike. Yemen is such a dry country (in more than one way), it was really unexpected to see so much water.
House built precariously on the edge a cliff, on top of the waterfall.
We had a small picnic in Shibam and were approached by a large group of female Yemeni university students. They were so excited to practice their English with us, and even spoke to the men in our group (unheard of in Sana'a, which is apparently much more conservative that the outlying towns). Also unlike Sanani women, many of these ladies did not wear the full veil and they were willing to have their pictures taken. I'm not sure who the man standing in the background was, but he somehow made it into all of our pictures with the Yemeni gals. We ran back into this group after hiking to the waterfall and found them to be setting off fireworks.
Door made of "Girl" brand ghee tins.
House?
Cow, with a really punk nose piercing.
Horse, symbol of President Saleh's political party. Most buildings in the area, as a sign of political allegiance and support, had either the horse or a sun painted on them (symbol of the Religious Party).
4 comments:
Nate - your male bonding/handholding has us a bit concerned. Well that and the talk of spending the night in the sheik's tent. Guess we better get over there and check on you.
P-Cakes, Because I'm Yemeni I hold hands with men everywhere (be prepared father-in-law).
Wow... how beautiful (sigh). I think this post may be my favorite so far, me being the nature grrl I am and such. Have said it many times, but must say it again- we so miss you both.
Interesting, you guys went to Shibam too.
Given the current state of warfare, traveling's a bit limited but I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures. :)
Kawkaban is definitely a sight worth seeing.
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