yemeni dreams
"Our Customers Don't Have To Do A Single Thing, Except, Of Course, To Have A Good Time..."
Stumbling across Yemeni Dreams happened largely by accident. In the face of limited printed material, a Lonely Planet from 1994 (not even plans for a Rough Guide), we focussed mainly on internet sources for information and suggestions on developing our own program.
Though neither of us are usually 'tour' style travellers, we quickly gathered that independent travel in Yemen could prove challenging and that there was indeed some value in contacting a few local tour companies to help illuminate the volatile topic of travel restrictions and necessary permits. Tina and Kamal from Yemeni Dreams answered first to our email with an encouraging balance of optimism, realism, and clarity - "The country is safe to travel”…
After an intense email roundtable (creatively trying to work around the travel restrictions, at one point Kamal proposed to send a Yemeni guide on a bike with us), we signed off on a deal with Yemeni Dreams. The package included the necessary permits and visas, a flight to Socotra, plus a tour program for the first week since it was clear from the start that certain vertical parts of quintessential Yemen are simply not accessible by bike.
First real contact with Yemeni Dreams comes months later in the form of Waleed. Jovial, confident, and just a little tougher than a oversized puppy, Waleed meets us at the airport, and leads us with a swagger and few words out to his car. Fresh off the boat and excitedly groggy from over 24 hours of traveling and stopovers (Brussels London Abu Dhabi Sana'a) we pile our bikes, our luggage and ourselves into his fancy car, Jan in front, Dida in back. Yemen kicks in quickly with one of our first gestures as Jan reaches to buckle his seatbelt, mistaking the butt of Waleed's Kalashnikov for the other end of the belt buckle. Waleed casually nudges the semiautomatic a few inches closer to him and flashes Jan a toothy green smile. With that we speed off to the office at Khartoum Street.
The Yemeni Dreams office is a place where time stops. Never a rush under any circumstances. We meet Kamal's businesslike side that night briefly, but are redirected immediately to the qat room to wait for him to finish with the other group. The qat room is surely an initiation for new arrivals, though completely unaggressive it has the vague sense of challenge.
Anyone planning a trip to Yemen will necessarily read some qat mythology – and here we are confronted by a roomful of it. A small back room with traditional low cushions around the perimeter, and in the center an explosion of green. Three or four young men lounge around the shredded bush - philosophizing, picking the tenderest shoots, pondering, plucking and brushing, chewing, stuffing it all into one cheek until full to capacity (“storing”). A ritual we would witness each of the thirty days ahead, in all parts of the country.
Yemen shuts down daily between the hours of noon and six. It begins with the quest and intense haggling for the finest leaves at the qat market. Virtually everybody joins the race – skipping lunch (and prayer). You have to see in order to believe.
After the market and the streets have emptied out, cheeks start expanding, very gradually, eyes get watery, indoors conversations increasingly associative. Long and dreamy hours later, when the sun is casting long shadows, a wave of typical post meridiem melancholy rolls over the minds of Yemen, reminding Yemenis of the unfulfilled aspirations and unfinished projects. Time to purge the green substance...
Above, the mafraj - the recessed top floor of the Yemeni tower house - is the location par excellence for breezy qat conversations.
Yemenis habitually insist however that qat is a non-addictive substance – just a little stimulating, like coffee... Back in the qat room we chat in mellow tones with whomever drifts through, politely postponing our first grazing experience for at least a few more days.
Spending our first week touring with Yemeni Dreams held the advantage of meeting a bunch of bright locals right from the start. Omar and Kamal made our landing in Yemen very soft, and answered a lot of our questions just by hanging out with us.
Kamal is a playboy, a prankster, a lover of superlatives, the guy who makes things happen. It was in Kamal's company that we had without exception the most delicious and particularly Yemeni meals of our trip. A truly entrepreneurial spirit, we met him at 26 years old, and by then he had already founded Yemeni Dreams, his own thriving tour company a few years back. Yet despite his distinguished and always elegant silhouette – spotless cropped-collar dishdasha, traditional embroidered scarf, and superior rhino-handle jambiya – he's still just a big kid at heart. Under his supervision we knew that even if something went wrong we would in the end only remember the fun and the adventure. From getting stranded in the desert, to driving up vertiginous mountain sides over enormous rocks in the dark, to silly gags like stealing fruits off the plates of neighbors out of the gaze of the unsuspecting waiters, Kamal made sure that these two independent-minded travelers had a great time even with their bikes still folded in the suitcases.
Our personal driver Omar stole our hearts quickly. Sincere, caring, and well-spoken, constantly jotting down english vocabulary for future use, his face at turns extremely serious or animated with a hearty laugh. His car said it all. While Kamal's brand new shiny white 4x4 rental typically sped off in the distance (and was ready to retire after just one week), Omar's rickety but faithful old car with its faded seat covers and hole in the bottom letting in Haraz dust, Tihama sand and Red Sea water... was made to last. He knows his car well. And even despite extreme multitasking of full-body driving, chewing, smoking, cellphone chatting, and flipping cassette tapes, Omar always had an ear to the back seat and a thoughtful response to our steady flow of questions. Omar was great. Definitely the guy you want to drive and hang with when you're in Yemen. “Yes. Very.”
You can contact Yemeni Dreams through their website.
Stumbling across Yemeni Dreams happened largely by accident. In the face of limited printed material, a Lonely Planet from 1994 (not even plans for a Rough Guide), we focussed mainly on internet sources for information and suggestions on developing our own program.
Though neither of us are usually 'tour' style travellers, we quickly gathered that independent travel in Yemen could prove challenging and that there was indeed some value in contacting a few local tour companies to help illuminate the volatile topic of travel restrictions and necessary permits. Tina and Kamal from Yemeni Dreams answered first to our email with an encouraging balance of optimism, realism, and clarity - "The country is safe to travel”…
After an intense email roundtable (creatively trying to work around the travel restrictions, at one point Kamal proposed to send a Yemeni guide on a bike with us), we signed off on a deal with Yemeni Dreams. The package included the necessary permits and visas, a flight to Socotra, plus a tour program for the first week since it was clear from the start that certain vertical parts of quintessential Yemen are simply not accessible by bike.
First real contact with Yemeni Dreams comes months later in the form of Waleed. Jovial, confident, and just a little tougher than a oversized puppy, Waleed meets us at the airport, and leads us with a swagger and few words out to his car. Fresh off the boat and excitedly groggy from over 24 hours of traveling and stopovers (Brussels London Abu Dhabi Sana'a) we pile our bikes, our luggage and ourselves into his fancy car, Jan in front, Dida in back. Yemen kicks in quickly with one of our first gestures as Jan reaches to buckle his seatbelt, mistaking the butt of Waleed's Kalashnikov for the other end of the belt buckle. Waleed casually nudges the semiautomatic a few inches closer to him and flashes Jan a toothy green smile. With that we speed off to the office at Khartoum Street.
The Yemeni Dreams office is a place where time stops. Never a rush under any circumstances. We meet Kamal's businesslike side that night briefly, but are redirected immediately to the qat room to wait for him to finish with the other group. The qat room is surely an initiation for new arrivals, though completely unaggressive it has the vague sense of challenge.
Anyone planning a trip to Yemen will necessarily read some qat mythology – and here we are confronted by a roomful of it. A small back room with traditional low cushions around the perimeter, and in the center an explosion of green. Three or four young men lounge around the shredded bush - philosophizing, picking the tenderest shoots, pondering, plucking and brushing, chewing, stuffing it all into one cheek until full to capacity (“storing”). A ritual we would witness each of the thirty days ahead, in all parts of the country.
Yemen shuts down daily between the hours of noon and six. It begins with the quest and intense haggling for the finest leaves at the qat market. Virtually everybody joins the race – skipping lunch (and prayer). You have to see in order to believe.
After the market and the streets have emptied out, cheeks start expanding, very gradually, eyes get watery, indoors conversations increasingly associative. Long and dreamy hours later, when the sun is casting long shadows, a wave of typical post meridiem melancholy rolls over the minds of Yemen, reminding Yemenis of the unfulfilled aspirations and unfinished projects. Time to purge the green substance...
Above, the mafraj - the recessed top floor of the Yemeni tower house - is the location par excellence for breezy qat conversations.
Yemenis habitually insist however that qat is a non-addictive substance – just a little stimulating, like coffee... Back in the qat room we chat in mellow tones with whomever drifts through, politely postponing our first grazing experience for at least a few more days.
Spending our first week touring with Yemeni Dreams held the advantage of meeting a bunch of bright locals right from the start. Omar and Kamal made our landing in Yemen very soft, and answered a lot of our questions just by hanging out with us.
Kamal is a playboy, a prankster, a lover of superlatives, the guy who makes things happen. It was in Kamal's company that we had without exception the most delicious and particularly Yemeni meals of our trip. A truly entrepreneurial spirit, we met him at 26 years old, and by then he had already founded Yemeni Dreams, his own thriving tour company a few years back. Yet despite his distinguished and always elegant silhouette – spotless cropped-collar dishdasha, traditional embroidered scarf, and superior rhino-handle jambiya – he's still just a big kid at heart. Under his supervision we knew that even if something went wrong we would in the end only remember the fun and the adventure. From getting stranded in the desert, to driving up vertiginous mountain sides over enormous rocks in the dark, to silly gags like stealing fruits off the plates of neighbors out of the gaze of the unsuspecting waiters, Kamal made sure that these two independent-minded travelers had a great time even with their bikes still folded in the suitcases.
Our personal driver Omar stole our hearts quickly. Sincere, caring, and well-spoken, constantly jotting down english vocabulary for future use, his face at turns extremely serious or animated with a hearty laugh. His car said it all. While Kamal's brand new shiny white 4x4 rental typically sped off in the distance (and was ready to retire after just one week), Omar's rickety but faithful old car with its faded seat covers and hole in the bottom letting in Haraz dust, Tihama sand and Red Sea water... was made to last. He knows his car well. And even despite extreme multitasking of full-body driving, chewing, smoking, cellphone chatting, and flipping cassette tapes, Omar always had an ear to the back seat and a thoughtful response to our steady flow of questions. Omar was great. Definitely the guy you want to drive and hang with when you're in Yemen. “Yes. Very.”
You can contact Yemeni Dreams through their website.
posted by Jan at 3:21 PM
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