Lost in Time
Sana’a is magical.
I hoped and expected that I would be fascinated by this place, but I think it has exceeded even these lofty expectations, which doesn’t happen too often. The old city is one of the most extraordinary places I’ve ever been to, and surely the undiscovered gem of the Middle East. It’s so unlike the oil cities in the Gulf that it’s almost impossible to think that they’re part of the same peninsula.
The old city of Sana’a is made up virtually entirely of mud-brick tower houses that number about 14,000 in all. These have been described as the world’s first skyscrapers, as some date back about 1000 years and are six or more storeys high. This gives Sana’a a fabulously jumbled and hodge-podge skyline as no two tower houses seem to be the same height, and there are literally no new buildings in the old city. Old Sana’a is a UNESCO World Heritage site but unfortunately it is also on UNESCO’s list of endangered sites as many of the buildings are in poor condition.
Six or so of these tower houses in the old city are now budget or mid-range hotels, and we’re lucky enough to be staying on the fifth floor of the one that is said to have the best view of old Sana’a out of all of them. We are in a lovely little room with two floor mattresses and four windows, from where we can look out and see an endless skyline of these tower houses broken only by the occasional minaret.
Beyond the tower houses in the east of the old city, the main souq is incredible and probably the most memorable one that I’ve visited in my time. It seems to go for miles in every direction with tiny alleys filled with vendors selling every item imaginable (we even took a wrong turn and found the rasin souq – a courtyard full of men, each with several massive bags containing nothing but raisins). The place throngs with activity at all hours and it feels like you could spend weeks wandering the souq and still not have any idea where you are or how to get out! The whole old city is a complete timewarp, and you feel as though it could be 500 years ago and nothing would be different. I know that kind of phrase is overused these days, but I’ve really only felt absolutely lost in time in two places – Fes, Morocco, and now here.
For the first time in our travels in Muslim countries, Wendy is wearing an abaaya that she bought from a shop in the souq. Even more so than in Qatar, almost all Yemeni women either wear the full veil or the one with eye slits, though Wendy has gone with a shaila that covers her hair and neck but not her face. I’m still contemplating going Yemeni myself, which would involve a dish-dasha (a man-dress, for lack of a better term), a tea-towel style headdress and a belt and dagger, which all Yemeni men wear.
Maybe tomorrow…
Meanwhile, more photos from day one of Sana’a, if this crummy Yemeni computer is capable of uploading them, are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy
Tags: Arabia, Sana'a, Travel, Yemen
Nick