I said my goodbyes to Wadood and the other staff at Sana'a Nights and set of to try and find the shared taxi stand to Shibam hoping that The LP wasn't too much of bum steer.
So I got to where it said it was on the map, it wasn't there, I asked around a bit , got put on a minibus and taken 2km up the road to a wrecking yard, no my mistake, the taxi station. I asked which one was going to Shibam and got pointed towards an old peugot wagon. There were already nine people in it including the driver who looked older than Grandpa (96). He must have been quite funny as he had the other passengers in stitches the 40 minute trip. Of course it was all lost on me but I'm pretty sure some laughes were at my expense because they kept on looking at me with sheepish grins.
Shibam sits at the bottom of Jebel Kawkhban which towers 500m above it. Just as I got in the markets were closing for the afternoon and the town went quiet so it was just me, the goats, stray dogs, donkeys and some kids asking for pens and photos. In theory Shibam should have been a pretty town especially with the mountain backdrop but any beauty was lost under garbage and animal waste which was made worse when the wind picked up and blew it all in your face. The hotel I'm staying at is surprisingly modern given the the rest of the town. The reception and resteraunt look a bit truck stop diner but the rooms are quite good. They know how to feed you. For lucnh that cooked me up a Salta which was more like a quiche crossed with a potato stew than what I had back in Sana'a. For dinner I had goat meat with 5 different Legumes cooked in 10 different ways.
After a breakfast of Tea, bread and honey I set off up Jebel Kawkhban to the village of Kawkhban on top of the Jebel. It was a lot quieter than shibam. As I walked the deserted streets all I could hear was the odd hello or 'pen pen' from a window somewhere. The view was amazing, from Shibam at the base of the Jebel out across the plains to another Jebel with its own town at the base and fort on the summit.
I spent the day walking around the top of the Jebel. In the morning it was freezing and most of the summit was covered in cloud but by noon the cloud had cleared to reveal something different in every direction. Plains to one side, a valley on the other with terraced fields and orchids with towns that looked much nicer than either Shibam or Kawkhban but didn't make the travel brochures. On top of the Jebel itself I walked among the fields made more or less anywhere water would collect after rain. what really amazed me is that they could grow anything when the top soil consisted more of rocks that soil. Other than the never ending 'tup tup tup' from a mill somewhere it was pretty mcuh silent, only broken with an echo of "Hello" from a shepard somehwere who had seen me long before I had seen him. They would race up to meet me, with guns over shoulder which is a little unnerving and just say "hello", ask where I was from, if I had a cigarette and if I could take their photo before returning to their flock on a far of ledge.
I walked back down the Jebel just as the cloud was coming in again, sharing a hello with another tourist who looked as if he'd just coming from shooting an 80's music video in Shibam and had just nipped back up the hill to get more hair gel.
Back at my hotel and I was looking forward to a much awaited and desperately needed shower. It all looked promising with its modern look though the Shower was directly above the toilet. Somehow they had made it so that out of the two dozen or so holes in the shower head scoulding hot water would only come out of two of them with FA pressure and when the cold tap was turned on freezing cold jets of water would come out of the remaining twenty two even when it was just turned a half a smidgen. Dinner was the usually five legumes in ten different ways.
I got up early and had my breakfast of bread and honey and set of across the fields to Thilla, a village backed up against Jebel. I could see the village from Shibam so was a little surprised at how far away and up hill it was. Thilla was much prettier and markets aside was much more interesting but after walking around the alleys for about half an hour I couldn't wait to leave. Children tugging at your shirt "Just 100 not much" and every man you passed would drag you to his store trying to sell you the same old tourist shit that you could buy at the Camden Markets. Even the 'old souq' was just a row of tourist shops with not a local haggling in site. To get out of town I climbed the Jebel that towered it over it. There was a fort on top and some memorable views back across where I had walked from Shibam.
On the suggestion of LP I walked back via the village of Hababah. 'Similar in style and architecture to Thilla..... The tower houses reflected in the cisterns make for an extremely picturesque scene'. The best view was from half a k away. Any closer and you become overwhelmed by the smell of burning rubbish and decaying animals on the side of the road. There was even more rubbish in town and it astounds me how people could live in such filth. The cisterns where 'animals were brought to drink and the locals swam' were so full of rubbish and algae that they couldn't possibly reflect anything more than a disregard for something that is so essential to their well being. People gave me a weird 'Why are you here look' (wonder that myself) rather than the welcome I've enjoyed everywhere else and the kids would throw rocks at me. I didn't even have to deny them money first.
After walking the best part of 30kms I returned to Shibam a broken man, my spirits only lifted when there was a feast waiting for me at the Hotel.
So I got to where it said it was on the map, it wasn't there, I asked around a bit , got put on a minibus and taken 2km up the road to a wrecking yard, no my mistake, the taxi station. I asked which one was going to Shibam and got pointed towards an old peugot wagon. There were already nine people in it including the driver who looked older than Grandpa (96). He must have been quite funny as he had the other passengers in stitches the 40 minute trip. Of course it was all lost on me but I'm pretty sure some laughes were at my expense because they kept on looking at me with sheepish grins.
Shibam sits at the bottom of Jebel Kawkhban which towers 500m above it. Just as I got in the markets were closing for the afternoon and the town went quiet so it was just me, the goats, stray dogs, donkeys and some kids asking for pens and photos. In theory Shibam should have been a pretty town especially with the mountain backdrop but any beauty was lost under garbage and animal waste which was made worse when the wind picked up and blew it all in your face. The hotel I'm staying at is surprisingly modern given the the rest of the town. The reception and resteraunt look a bit truck stop diner but the rooms are quite good. They know how to feed you. For lucnh that cooked me up a Salta which was more like a quiche crossed with a potato stew than what I had back in Sana'a. For dinner I had goat meat with 5 different Legumes cooked in 10 different ways.
After a breakfast of Tea, bread and honey I set off up Jebel Kawkhban to the village of Kawkhban on top of the Jebel. It was a lot quieter than shibam. As I walked the deserted streets all I could hear was the odd hello or 'pen pen' from a window somewhere. The view was amazing, from Shibam at the base of the Jebel out across the plains to another Jebel with its own town at the base and fort on the summit.
I spent the day walking around the top of the Jebel. In the morning it was freezing and most of the summit was covered in cloud but by noon the cloud had cleared to reveal something different in every direction. Plains to one side, a valley on the other with terraced fields and orchids with towns that looked much nicer than either Shibam or Kawkhban but didn't make the travel brochures. On top of the Jebel itself I walked among the fields made more or less anywhere water would collect after rain. what really amazed me is that they could grow anything when the top soil consisted more of rocks that soil. Other than the never ending 'tup tup tup' from a mill somewhere it was pretty mcuh silent, only broken with an echo of "Hello" from a shepard somehwere who had seen me long before I had seen him. They would race up to meet me, with guns over shoulder which is a little unnerving and just say "hello", ask where I was from, if I had a cigarette and if I could take their photo before returning to their flock on a far of ledge.
I walked back down the Jebel just as the cloud was coming in again, sharing a hello with another tourist who looked as if he'd just coming from shooting an 80's music video in Shibam and had just nipped back up the hill to get more hair gel.
Back at my hotel and I was looking forward to a much awaited and desperately needed shower. It all looked promising with its modern look though the Shower was directly above the toilet. Somehow they had made it so that out of the two dozen or so holes in the shower head scoulding hot water would only come out of two of them with FA pressure and when the cold tap was turned on freezing cold jets of water would come out of the remaining twenty two even when it was just turned a half a smidgen. Dinner was the usually five legumes in ten different ways.
I got up early and had my breakfast of bread and honey and set of across the fields to Thilla, a village backed up against Jebel. I could see the village from Shibam so was a little surprised at how far away and up hill it was. Thilla was much prettier and markets aside was much more interesting but after walking around the alleys for about half an hour I couldn't wait to leave. Children tugging at your shirt "Just 100 not much" and every man you passed would drag you to his store trying to sell you the same old tourist shit that you could buy at the Camden Markets. Even the 'old souq' was just a row of tourist shops with not a local haggling in site. To get out of town I climbed the Jebel that towered it over it. There was a fort on top and some memorable views back across where I had walked from Shibam.
On the suggestion of LP I walked back via the village of Hababah. 'Similar in style and architecture to Thilla..... The tower houses reflected in the cisterns make for an extremely picturesque scene'. The best view was from half a k away. Any closer and you become overwhelmed by the smell of burning rubbish and decaying animals on the side of the road. There was even more rubbish in town and it astounds me how people could live in such filth. The cisterns where 'animals were brought to drink and the locals swam' were so full of rubbish and algae that they couldn't possibly reflect anything more than a disregard for something that is so essential to their well being. People gave me a weird 'Why are you here look' (wonder that myself) rather than the welcome I've enjoyed everywhere else and the kids would throw rocks at me. I didn't even have to deny them money first.
After walking the best part of 30kms I returned to Shibam a broken man, my spirits only lifted when there was a feast waiting for me at the Hotel.
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