down to the arabian sea

"I am happy, and I am free!"



In truck stop Huweyrah we connect back to the 'Hadramawt Highway', the asphalt road from Tarim to Al Mukhalla - a perfect spot to catch a ride with sweet Abdullah Ali Abdullah and his qat-chewing buddies, all the way down to Al Mukhalla.




Al Mukhalla is a pleasant port town on the Arabian Sea. Although relatively crowded, it feels more relaxed than the Hadrami cities on the other side of the jol, down in the wadi. And the fish... is delicious.





The increasingly scenic coastal road from Al Mukhalla to Aden brings us west, to the border of Shabwah province...




Sunny greetings from Yemen!

'La spiaggia fantastica' at Bir Ali, the official end point of our trip, where we spend two gorgeous January days in the company of black lavarock, extinct volcanoes, turqoise waters, strong winds, blinding sunlight, waterfoil, the good old crabs, and some Shabwah tribesmen.





At dusk, after a climb up one of the nearby volcanoes, we dismantle the bikes, dust off the sand, and fold them back into their suitcases...



The next morning, 6 o'clock, sunrise over Bir Ali. The return trip begins - tonight in Sana'a, then later Brussels and finally back to Manhattan...