{"id":6050,"date":"2018-11-20T20:00:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T20:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/?p=6050"},"modified":"2020-06-06T07:27:48","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T07:27:48","slug":"reisebericht-jemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/en\/travel-report-yemen\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel report YEMEN - Picturesque landscape and oriental architecture on the southern Arabian Peninsula"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Visa and entry requirements YEMEN:<\/strong>
\nPassport required
\nGerman citizens need a visa to enter Yemen, which can be obtained in Germany\u00a0Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Berlin<\/a>\u00a0must be applied for.
\nVisa costs: 40 euros<\/p>\n

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to Yemen:<\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.auswaertiges-amt.de\/de\/jemensicherheit\/202260<\/a><\/p>\n

Yemen is a republic in the Middle East with around 31 million inhabitants. The state borders Oman to the east, Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the south and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

The two African countries Eritrea and Djibouti are only about 25 kilometers away, on the opposite coast of the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

The largest cities in Yemen include Sanaa, Aden, Taiz, Ibb, al-Hudaida, al-Mukulla, Dhamar, Turbbah, Sayyan and Zinjibar.<\/p>\n

The official language of the country is Arabic and the Yemeni Rial is used as a means of payment, with 1 euro equaling around 270 YER.<\/p>\n

The diverse landscape of Yemen is divided into mountains, highlands and coastal plains, with predominantly deserts, semi-deserts and bush savannahs. The highest elevation in the country is 3,760 meters. Numerous acacias, date palms, fig trees and well-known fragrant shrubs such as myrrh, balsam and frankincense grow in the mostly barren landscape.<\/p>\n

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, one in four residents is illiterate and around 60% of the almost exclusively Muslim population are unemployed.<\/p>\n

Due to the civil war that has been going on for years, Yemen's economy is suffering greatly. Despite the small amount of agricultural land, with only around 4% of the state area, around half of all employed residents work in this sector. Among other things, corn, coffee, sorghum, grain, millet, various fruits, some types of vegetables and the drug Kath, which is popular in the country, are grown. The agricultural products, however, are not even enough for the Yemeni population's own needs.<\/p>\n

In contrast to its neighbors, Yemen has only small reserves of oil and natural gas. Because of the civil war that has been going on for years, tourism is practically on the ground.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Yemen would have the Old City, the Great Mosque, the ancient Bab al-Yemen gate with its surrounding ancient buildings, the palace on the rocks of the Dar al-Hajar mountains and the Al Saleh Mosque of Sanaa, the Aden Tanks, the Aban The mosque and fort in the Sira Castle on the mountain of Aden, the old Al-Quahira Castle and the Mudhaffar Mosque in Taiz as well as the Great Mosque of Zabid offer some sights.<\/p>\n

The capital and largest city of Yemen is Sanaa with around 3.2 million inhabitants. Sanaa lies at an altitude of around 2,250 meters and is the economic, political and cultural center of the country.<\/p>\n

Sanaa has an architecture that is unique in the world. The thousands of clay houses, up to eight stories high, in the old town, surrounded by a city wall, are sometimes several hundred years old. The capital is home to the National Museum, numerous bazaars and various textile markets.<\/p>\n

In October 2018 I visited Yemen for the only time so far. However, due to the unstable security situation in the country, I had to limit my visit to a small part of the east of the country. I would really like to travel to the two ancient cities of Sanaa and Aden, but that would be too risky.<\/p>\n

I set off in the morning from Omani Salalah with a local tourist guide, full of anticipation, to the border with Yemen, about 150 kilometers away. Since a tropical cyclone a few months earlier caused significant damage to the coastal roads, we sometimes had to take longer detours over the mountains.<\/p>\n

After crossing both borders without any problems and paying the $100 fee to enter Yemen, we were treated to a fantastic landscape. However, the great poverty in the villages was unmistakable, many buildings and streets were destroyed and in some places it was a really desolate sight.<\/p>\n

We drove along the coastal road for around 40 kilometers and turned back after reaching the third larger town. After various stops at a supermarket, a bank and a restaurant, you could tell that the generally friendly population was unfamiliar with tourists. After all, I was already in Yemeni territory five days after the year-long entry ban ended.<\/p>\n

To our mutual amazement, we didn't see a single local woman during the entire duration of our stay.<\/p>\n

After this three-hour, super interesting and very impressive stay in Yemen, we returned to Salalah in Oman in the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n