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Al Mukalla

My driver dropped me off at the airport way too early. It turns out he worked at the airport too. Which also explained why he disappeared for a few hours a few days earlier. I sat out front of the terminal waiting for the doors to open and watched as the locals brought in various goods to be transported to the mainland.. MOst of it was in boxes so I had no idea what was in them but one had split open revealing to goat carcasses. He just brushed them off a taped the box back up. No one battered an eyelid. At least it wasn't carry on I guess.

Upon leaving the airport I was asked where my guide was? Am I buy myself? They only seemed content when they asked where I was staying. I just gave them a name from the guide book. I don't think "i Have no idea?' was the right answer. A tourist convoy had been ambushed and three people shot a few weeks earlier in a nearby province so I was kind of expecting this. As per usually every policeman I saw asked me those questions aas they were the only people competent enough to do it.
Anyone of those policeman could have sent me on a plane back to Sana'a so I guess i was kind of lucky that my trip didn't finish there and then. I caught a taxi the 40km to Al Mukalla along the the most well kept road in Yemen. It was a bit of a ghost town when I arrived , expected but a pain the arse when you skipped breakfast and everything is closed for another 3 hours. The hotel would have been strict enough to satisfy any decent Allah fearing Muslim with no alcohol and no unmarried couples.

I wouldn't say Al Mukalla is pretty but it certainly much tidier than anywhere else in Yemen. The old town, reminded more of Stone Town Zanzibar than anywhere else in Yemen. The days were quiet but come late afternoon the people come out to watch the sunset and then the shops open up and the streets are crowed with stalls and and people playing dominoes, chess, backgammon and smoking sheesha. No qat though.

The hotel manger said I should check with the tourist police before leaving to Sayun. Given previous events not a bad idea. The police gave me another permit to go along with the one I already had. Getting a shared taxi proved a hassle. First they wanted to see my permits, which i showed them but the driver still flat out refused to take me. There was a pretty big discussion going on, none of which I understand of course but the outcome was that I wasn't going with them. The Guidebook suggested this was the only way to Sayun. This probably meant a bus trip to Salalah along the coast skipping the Hadramount. Which would have been disappointing as I was looking forward to going there. LP proved wrong again when I inquired about buses to Sayun anyway. There was one that arvo. They asked for the same permits but no problems in giving me a ticket. None of the other passengers seemed to mind. The 150km was an uphill slog and took 5 hours plus the two hours we stopped for dinner and prey. Thankfully didn't get shot.

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