Sanaa Warnings Or Dangers

Sana'a, Taiz and Aden are considered "safe" but the remainder of the country should probably be considered off-limits. A few days in Sana'a old town and a visit to Palace of the Rock 15 km outside of town certainly make for a memorable experience.

I am working in Sana'a at the moment and have the impression that you should be very careful - probably even in the abovementioned areas.

Update October 2010: After the second attack on British Embassy staff in six months in Sana'a on October 6, the situation is currently worse. At present utmost care should be taken even when moving around with the above mentioned cities, a sad situation. Given the very low number of foreigners visible in most parts of Sana'a, the few that can be seen unfortunately present a target to extremists. As I am leaving tomorrow, there will be one less target, so you will be even more at risk...

much has been said about the danger of kidnaping in yemen. while this appears certaintly to be true in the remote areas (secondary source, oil industry) the only dangers in sanaa are the altitude and the tapwater, and possibly boredom.

having said that when you find yourself in sanaa you probably want to go outside the city to see the historic landmarks. the warnings do apply there.

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The receptionist in my hotel saw me taking photos of women walking by from well inside the lobby entrance. He said “They will kill you” in a mixture of resignation and friendly concern. I am not sure how accurate he may have been and I suggest you do not try and find out. Women are always in the veil here. If you want to take photos, then do so out of your hotel window or very discretely from your waist so it looks like you are not taking photos. Considering just about every man has a Jambiya, or huge dagger, on them you may be in fear of your life if caught. It can be frustrating when you want to take photos of the local culture, but it’s their rules here. With a bit of creativity you can probably get better photos than I did.

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Cars without brakes? After about 20 seconds of riding in any vehicle you will start to think no car, van or truck has brakes. They use their very loud horns early and often to negotiate the heaviest traffic. Roads markings, signs and common sense are not really involved in the whole crazy affair. Every vehicle you will see is damaged. They only seem to respond to the Police because they have guns and sometimes drivers even argue with them! I really do think a blind person could drive here in the busy traffic periods. Sighted drivers do not look anyway. Keep all this in mind if you decide to cross any road by foot.

when we arrived met somebody western living in yemen and we got few advice:
*try not to stay in a fancy hotel, western type as those mostly will be the target of terrorists
*dress more local type, so no eye catching as no matter that we were dressed very local way, but small thing - we were the only people wearing sunglasses! - its already shows we not locals :) but at least my blond head wasnt glowing from far away :)
*when traveling around, YES it would be more comfortable by 4x4 BUT again same thing - only tourists taking flashy car like this.. try to mix into local life more
* dont tell everybody where you are staying in...
* and dont eat in weird local shops unless you have strong stomach and enough medicine to take care of yourself :)
*nowhere will take your credit card , so have enough cash, its cheap place but you still will need to pay for all

and I think thats all ! go and enjoy!

Most people that have travelled the middle east extensively have come to terms with hearing a call to prayer go off in every other direction and it usually isnt a big deal but come to Sana'a and we are talking about one of the longest and loudest call to prayers on the entire planet bar none. Be warned that if you stay in the old city you will hear this call (ear shattering) 5 times a day so if you are a light sleeper either stay outside the city or bring some industrial strength earplugs :) I love the call to prayers in Yemen and it is a lasting memory that I will never forget.

Traffic is UNBELIEVABLE in Yemen! The drivers seem to drive anywhere and at any direction - pedestrians have NO rights it seems. I needed to hold on to my friend's hand whenever I crossed the street or I would be UNDER the tyres instead of across from them. Even the narrow winding streets which one would think no cars would dare to enter, they cause even local Yemenis to scamper up on a kerb and wait patiently for the car to clumsily maneuver and pass by. I was nearly hit countless times-

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At some point in your Yemeni Adventure you will get an upset tummy. It will happen. What can make this a very bad situation is trying to go to the Pharmacy to get Antidiarrheal tablets – fast. There are a lot of Pharmacies in Sana’a, but many do not sell the local medicine called ‘Diastop’. The best thing to do is bring your own, but I found out the hard way that that was not enough. You may want to make enquiries before you run out of this useful modern medical miracle.