Musings and news from the Republic

Sana'a, Yemen

In the last month having spent a great deal of time in airplanes and untold hours in airports, I have reached the conclusion that despite hardship it must have been immeasurably more satisfying to have traveled by boat and camel caravan like Ibn Battuta. Flying and the whole associated business of getting on a plane is now perfectly loathsome unless you are in the rarefied atmosphere of First Class, and I never am.

And just to start on a controversial note - can I possibly be the only person on the planet who would like to see the occasional ‘child-free’ flight? I suspect nobody dares admit it and the marketing and PR departments of airlines would probably turn an alarming shade of puce at the thought of having to dream up politically correct ways to sell the concept, but I believe nonetheless that an anonymous poll would reveal that most passengers (including parents traveling without their offspring) would delight in the prospect of a flight where there was no possibility of sitting in the vicinity of a tantrum-addled small person for 10 hours. I do not in truth blame the child – traveling in steerage is enough to induce anyone to wail, but as every parent knows it is useless to remonstrate with a two year-old on the ground let alone in a pressurized chicken coop at 35,000 feet……

In the meantime air travel in the Middle East grows exponentially – the Arabian peninsula economies, or at least most of them, are booming despite creeping inflation rates. New low-fare airlines such as Air Arabia are springing up like mushrooms, and the larger carriers are giving the more established European and Asian carriers a major run for their money. Meanwhile I dream that the governments will give some of their oil revenues to the French so they can criss-cross the entire peninsula with a high-speed rail network……

A sunny, wintry day in my native land. The Birks o' Aberfeldy in Perthshire, Scotland

A rather different vista - the hills of Kampala, Uganda, taken the same week. Neither has anything to do with Ibn Battuta but it does reference my airline tales of woe.....

And so I am back in my corner republic in my splendid old house; with more of my books on the way, there are days I think I could quite happily never leave, unless it rains heavily this summer in which case I may be washed away. (I keep mentioning this in the hope that talisman-like, the uttering of it will protect me)…..which brings us to the subject of water, of which there is little in Yemen. Apparently things are rather worse than was previously thought, which was already not good. Even when it does rain – and the city flooded daily last summer monsoon - there seems to be no effective system for water collection and the precious liquid literally vanishes out into the desert where it does nothing to top up the underground aquifer.

Last summer's daily flooded As-Sailah which cuts through the old city.

In ancient times Yemenis were masters at controlling and conserving water – the ancient Sabaean dam at Marib and the thousands of hectares of terracing and drainage which preserved and routed water and prevented soil erosion come to mind. I have become quite maniacal about water use, and re-cycle wherever possible. I am aware that my efforts are as a drop in the ocean…..

Terraces north of Sana'a - (thanks to Tobias for this image).

Prices are rising here from one week to the next. Coffee, grown locally, has risen about 30% in the last 3 months, but wheat is the biggest problem - qudam, flat round wholewheat breads, which used to cost 10 riyals a piece still cost 10 riyals but are now a third of the size. Normal perhaps considering wheat prices have risen threefold since last year but the populace is not pleased. There are similar problems elsewhere – in Egypt the army is out preventing riots over the lack of bread and foreign reserves are being set aside to buy extra wheat. (Egypt has in the past had riots over the price of bread.) In Dubai and other parts of the Gulf, the picture is not much different except people have more money. The newspapers are full of price hikes and people leaving because the city has become so expensive.

It is not just foodstuffs that have gone up in price. I have a typical Yemeni house and the intention is to decorate it in Yemeni style, which has the added advantage of spending the money in the community where it is needed, instead of it going to a bunch of multi-nationals.

Typical Qamariyya Half-moon colored glass windows - a staple in every self-respecting Yemeni house.

But with souk merchants thinking every foreigner works for an embassy or an oil company with attendant hefty salaries, they have begun to talk in European prices.

A view over the rooftops of the UNESCO Old City

Anything remotely ‘old’ is quoted at absurd prices and since they will not negotiate by much, they can plainly get their asking price. One merchant near the Great Mosque asked $1700 for a chest the other day – they pluck figures out of the air - this in a country where it is oft-repeated, 40% of the people live on a $1-2 per day……

I brought fresh vanilla pods back from Uganda. Deciding to make a marinade with it for chicken, I went off in search of fresh chicken with Sami, my trusted friend and ‘fixer’ here in Sana’a. It was much fresher than I had anticipated. In fact it was alive briefly before it was suddenly quite deceased, de-feathered, cleaved and thrust into my hand for the grand price of 500 riyals, about $2.50. The worst bit was that the flesh was obviously still at chicken body temperature when I went to marinade it. I confess freely that I wimped out and had to wait until it had cooled down before I could work with it. One either has to be vegetarian in the Middle East or accept the reality of the way that lamb and chicken actually ends up on your plate. We Westerners are very squeamish about such matters because the whole process is hidden from us, and our meat is invariably bought pre-cut, and often pre-packaged, in a supermarket. It is quite different here; in some parts of town sheep and goats are unloaded from a little truck where they are taken to the back of a ‘street’ of restaurants where their throats are slit and half an hour later you have a lamb chop in front of you. Some of the best food I have eaten in Yemen has been in such restaurants where the meat is self-evidently fresh and you know the source. That being said I think I cannot buy a live sheep when I want to make lamb stew…….

It is mango and papaya season. Wheelbarrows piled with yellow and orange-tinged mangoes, and large green papayas (or pawpaw) are found in all the fruit and vegetable souks – a kilo of mangoes costs $1.50 while a papaya is 50 cents. My new morning routine is to have a very large café au lait on my rooftop with a plate of papaya and mango sprinkled with freshly-squeezed lime juice…..

And so to Syria...non-solo, I am leading a tour there - work for which I am actually paid which in turn pays for Ibn Battuta's journey, a journey which has taken a back seat these last couple of months but which will resume anon......