I caught a shared taxi to Aden without hassle though again it stopped on the outskirts of Town. For the first time in Yemen I was mobbed by taxi drivers as I got out of the car. I played quiz show host trying to ascertain who was going to be the least hassle. The winner was a fraud. The only English he knew was "I know that Hotel, only 500 rials."
He was also a liar. We had to stop twice for directions and he asked me for 'only' 2000 rials when we finally got there.
I stayed at the Rambow Hotel. Named after the French poet Rimbaud not the fictional Vietnam Veteran Rambo. It might have been quite grand once but now you would say it had character. It wasn't too bad but became uncomfortably hot the second night when the electricity failed to kick/be turned on.
Aden was a lot less interesting than I thought it would be. Once occupied by the British I was expecting they would have made left more of a mark on then town than a store that sold Argos products (seriously) and some old guy who bought me lunch he met the queen when she visited in '54. Nothing much happened except for having lunch with a guy who met the queen when she visited in '54 and stumbling across an English secondhand bookstore allowing me to stock up on some reading material for the next month. Most things of any interest were under renovation.
After sitting under a tree most of th afternoon reading I went down to the harbour to watch the fishermen unload their catch for the market. Most of it was the standard stuff you would see anywhere. The exception was a massive tuna that dwarfed the bloke that had it slung over his shoulder, taking it to a filleting table before hacking it to pieces. Around the market restaurants were cooking up the days catch. I figured you couldn't get much fresher.
He was also a liar. We had to stop twice for directions and he asked me for 'only' 2000 rials when we finally got there.
I stayed at the Rambow Hotel. Named after the French poet Rimbaud not the fictional Vietnam Veteran Rambo. It might have been quite grand once but now you would say it had character. It wasn't too bad but became uncomfortably hot the second night when the electricity failed to kick/be turned on.
Aden was a lot less interesting than I thought it would be. Once occupied by the British I was expecting they would have made left more of a mark on then town than a store that sold Argos products (seriously) and some old guy who bought me lunch he met the queen when she visited in '54. Nothing much happened except for having lunch with a guy who met the queen when she visited in '54 and stumbling across an English secondhand bookstore allowing me to stock up on some reading material for the next month. Most things of any interest were under renovation.
After sitting under a tree most of th afternoon reading I went down to the harbour to watch the fishermen unload their catch for the market. Most of it was the standard stuff you would see anywhere. The exception was a massive tuna that dwarfed the bloke that had it slung over his shoulder, taking it to a filleting table before hacking it to pieces. Around the market restaurants were cooking up the days catch. I figured you couldn't get much fresher.
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