Sanaa Local Customs

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If you are a drinker, you will be happy with this fact. Very happy. The Yemeni Customs Allowances are that non- Muslim visitors may import alcohol for their own use. The other astounding fact is – there is no limit to how much you can bring in! You are advised, of course, not to drink in public areas. Sounds like a good balance to me.

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The first time I heard this being shouted at me I thought it was the Arabic word for Tourist. Not to hard to figure out who the visitor was around here. About the 3rd time this happened a small boy started shouting towards me and then he made the hand gesture of a camera taking a photograph. Mystery solved, somewhat. I took out my camera, a pose was taken and then I showed him the display in my digital camera. This suddenly produced a small joyous crowd. And then the request for more photos. Suddenly, I felt like I had just obtained a job as a photographer.

Later I went to Al-Tahrir Square and I saw something that made all this fun make sense. There were 2 photographers taking photos and they had props to make the pictures just a bit more interesting. Anything from birds to beads, they had it all. They take your picture, you pay them and then a few hours later you have your portrait.

Than I realised. For many families, photos were not a possibility. Women for social reasons and men for financial.

Suddenly, I didn’t mind taking more photos and entertaining the crowds. For free!

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The first time I heard the noise early in the morning, it woke me from a dream. It sounded, logically at the time, like a deep sea diver tapping his hammer against the hull of a submarine trying to discover if there were survivors inside the hull. And then I woke fully to hear this metal upon metal rapping sound move outside my covered window slowly proceeding down the street. The next morning this moving metallic beating continued its slow procession down my street again unseen behind my curtains. It seemed to occur after I had fallen asleep following the loud daily 4am prayers and before full daylight. After 4 days I could stand it no more and quickly dressed to chase down my phantom noise maker. And then I found him – the gas cylinder man! Every morning he would roll through the narrow lanes of the old town advertising his replacements so families had cooking gas for their meals. Mystery solved. Somehow the next day the sound just didn’t have the same interest for me.

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Is the large dagger you carry in your belt not as sharp as it used to be? Or does your curved Jambiya just need a check-up? Just go and see the Jambiya repairmen on Ali Abdul Mogni St opposite Al Tahrier Square. They are set up on the sidewalk in front of several shops. Armed with a blow torch, a couple of hammers and a few other items, they are busy all day sharpening and repairing Jambiyas. They also fix the buttons and other decorative parts of the scabbard which holds your precious dagger. They are also good sources of information for just about anything.

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A lot of people living in the mountains have guns. Pistols, AK47’s, and larger. You name it – they have them. They keep large armoires for protection and prevention of theft. If they want to go into town (Sana’a) they have to leave their weapons at home. Makes the capital a bit safer for everyone. There is a nationwide campaign to keep guns out of larger cities. They even have an advertisement on water bottles!

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Annual Fixed Holidays are:

May 1 (Labour Day)
May 22 (National Day of Unity in 1990)
September 26 (National Day of Yemeni Revolution in 1962)
October 14 (National day of Liberation of South Yemen from Britain

Weekends are on Thursdays and Fridays

Elegance... this is the first thoguht that came to my mind. Nearly every man you meet appears to be extremely elegant in his national dress: a white robe, a leather belt, and large curved dagger called jambiyas hanging prominently at the waist. Jambiyas have no purpose at all, basically like our ties, but have the added value of making the person who wears it more elegant.

To be honest I was tempted to write this tip in the sport travel cathegory as, chewing kat seems really the national sport in yemen.
Kat is a herb, a drug which has a kind of amphetaminic effect it's not strong it seems to help to stay awake, specially drivers as they are the first consumers in the city.
I tried it and I can say it's very bitter but it was just a green and I did not chew it much as I did not like the taste so I cannot really tell you about the effect.
they chew green by green untill they get to have a big ball of kat in the mouth and leave it in a cheek, so when you see these men with a huge cheek do not worry, they don't all have teethache.