Dec. 29, 2007
Bangkok to Bahrain
There is no direct flight between Bangkok and San’a so I decided to take Gulf Air and transfer in Bahtrain (One way ticket costs 21,600 baht). The flight departed at 2:50 p.m. and took less than the scheduled 7hours and 55 minutes to hit Bahrain, a rich island state in the Gulf. When the immigration officer learned that I was about the take another flight to San’a the next day, he advised me to contact Gulf Air to get free accommodation then gave me a free visa (24 hour stay). What a surprise (I heard Qatar Airways charges 100 USD for a hotel room even if the passenger has no choice but to stay overnight).
Initially the airline planned to put us in a hotel in Riffa area but later changed to Marine Tower, conveniently located in Manama next to Al-Fatih Highway. Free buffet dinner and breakfast also included. I have heard that people in Bahrain are quite relaxed but didn’t experience it until that night. It was quite cold that evening and I requested another blanket. It took me 1 phone call and 2 in-person visits to the reception before someone brought one for me. The hardware of the hotel is of good quality anyway.
Dec. 30, 2007
Bahrain
I got up at 8:00 a.m., had the buffet breakfast, checked out the hotel and started to explore the city. Manama is a modern Gulf city with many skyscrapers, including the almost finished Bahrain Word Trade Center. Overall the city is still not as crowded as Dubai and gives a pleasant feeling. There are not too many things to see in Manama except for wandering on the streets. After an hour or so, I got on a bus heading for Muharraq (100 fils).
About 10 minute later, the bus arrived at Muharraq bus terminal, on the west side of the island just after Sheikh Hamad Causeway. The major site on the island (and perhaps in all over Bahrain), Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House (200 fils), is just a short walk away. The 200 year old house is still in good condition with strong walls and small doors and windows designed to prevent heat in the summer and keep warm in the winter. The nearby Seyadi house is closed at the moment.
Since Muharraq Island is very small, I then walked to the airport by referencing the map and asking around (a must). The total walking took around 20 minutes. My airplane departed at 1:40 p.m. There were not many passengers on board. The plane flies over the eastern part of the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia. About two and half hour later, it touched down San’a Airport.
Although the airport is small and by no means modern, immigration was quick and straightforward, including the purchase of a visa for 30 USD (no photos required and they fill out the form for you – just tell them which hotel you will be staying at). I have booked a room at Sultan Place Hotel for 20 USD by email and accepted their offer to pick me up at the airport for 21 USD. The first thing I noticed about the driver was the bump on one side of his mouth due to qat chewing. He told me that the heavy police and military presence outside the airport was due to the arrival of the body of the Yemeni parliament speaker who just died in Saudi Arabia a day ago. I asked him to drop me at Tourist Police first where I could get a travel permit. He charged me 500 riyal for the extra waiting time. The travel permit was free and they seemed to just indicate I could travel by public bus but didn’t put where I could go (although they asked me to put all the areas I planned to visit on the application form). I then made 10 photocopies of the permit advised by many people (that turned out to be useless since I never used one copy during my trip in Yemen – just show the original one to the ticket office at any bus station and they will return to you).
Sultan Hotel is on the edge of the old city. The room is nothing luxury but still clean and the building is of traditional Yemeni architecture. Considering the location, it’s still quite worth it.
After checking in the hotel, I walked to the bus station area south of the old city where many bus companies line up to buy a ticket to Sayun. To my surprise, although I had the travel permit issued by the tourist police, none of the bus companies was willing to sell me a bus ticket to Sayun. They all cited the same reason – the police in Ma’rib that the bus passes will not allow foreigners on the bus, even if they don’t get off the bus. They even refused to sell me a ticket to Mukalla. A little bit disappointed, I ended up buying a ticket to Aden for the next day from the Yemitco office a few hundred meter to the west.
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| Beit al-Quran, Manama |
Dec. 31, 2007
San’a
Before heading for Aden, I needed to check out the old city of San’a in the morning. I must say it’s really amazing and one of the must-sees in Yemen (the other one being Shibam). Simply put, it’s unique (I haven’t seen similar ones in other places in the region), huge and well preserved. Many men in the old city wear a traditional sword which is hardly seen in other countries. The boulevard south of the old city was closed that morning and there was heavy police and military presence due to the funeral of the Yemeni parliament speaker. After about 10:00 a.m., part of the road was released and I was ready to head for Aden. The departure point of the bus is not the same as the Yemitco office. The ticket office wrote down the location where the bus departs in Arabic but it still took me huge efforts (asked more than 10 people – most of them speak little English but tried to help) to find it. Yemen is the only democratic republic on the Arabian Peninsula. Ironically it’s the poorest in the area which you can notice from city streets and people’s clothes. However, the Yemitco bus is quite comfortable and not too different from other buses I have been taking in the region (I was told that Yemitco is the best bus company in the country and their fares are higher than others).
The bus left San’a around 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Aden at almost 6:00 p.m. It passed some mountain range but nothing very special. The guy sitting next to me on the bus lives in a small village on the way. He invited me to his home to have some tea and food and stay with his family for a night. Since my journey to Sayun was still unpredictable, I thanked his kindness and stayed on the bus.
At Aden bus station, I had no problem buying a ticket for the direct bus to Sayun (via Mukalla) the next morning departing at 7:00 a.m. It was not too late but perhaps because I was a little bit lazy, I accepted an offer by a taxi driver to take me to the Crater part of Aden for 1,000 riyal. Located on the Gulf of Aden, Aden is an important city of Yemen (many weather sources only quote weather in Aden for Yemen) and feels more breezy then San’a. I stayed at Aden Gulf Hotel (3,500 riyal) in the heart of town and walked through the city’s busy streets and souqs during the evening. It’s a lively city. Diner at Rambow Tourist Hotel cost 1,000 riyal but was a little disappointing perhaps because I didn’t know how to order. Although there was an English menu, I couldn’t figure out the meanings and ordered a fish (thinking the city is near the sea) and it turned out to be similar to fish and chips. The restaurant was full of locals with some tourists when I dined there.
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| Old City, San'a |
Jan. 1, 2008
Aden to Sayun
The first day of the New Year. The coastline from Aden to Mukalla is a pleasant one. Most of the time you see blue sea on the right and desert and mountains on the left. The desert varies from time to time – sometimes flat, sometimes with a little dunes and sometimes it even turns black. At around 3:00 p.m., the bus reached Mukalla. It looks like a quite big city with a lovely river crossing it. Somehow the bus driver drove around the town for more than one hour (to get more passengers, etc.) then started to head inland for Sayun. It passed over a bare mountain range shortly after Mukalla as well as Wadi Daw’an and Shibam without stopping (it was dark already so I could only have a peek). When it reached Sayun, it was 8:30 p.m. Since it was still not clear how I could go to Oman after Sayun, I decided to stay at Gate Hotel in the heart of the bus station area for 2,000 riyal. I agree that this hotel is not recommended (dirty, etc.), but it’s easier for me to check out different bus companies (all around the hotel) the next morning and it was late already. Actually my room was the last one available and I had to wait 30 minutes for the clerk to clean the room!
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| Aden to Mukalla |
Jan. 2, 2008
Shibam
The direct bus from Sayun to Salalah in Oman leaves only on Tuesdays and Saturdays and there was no way for me to wait 3 days for the next bus. After most bus companies opened around 9:00 a.m., I checked one by one to see if I could find a bus that could take me somewhere in the middle first. One company actually had a bus leaving for Al-Ghayda next morning (3:00 a.m.) and the ticket officer asked me to come at that time to buy ticket. Knowing that there is a bus from Al-Ghayda to Salalah on Friday afternoon, this is not a bad option. Although all the sources say there are only two buses a week to Salalah on Tuesday and Saturday, I still walked into the bus company, Al-Khaleej Transportation Company, to give it a final try. They told me the same thing but advised me that another company, Al-Manal (no English sign but near the Yemitco office), had a bus at 12:30 p.m. on that day heading for Abu Dhabi that passes Thumraid in Oman, only 17 km north of Salalah. I rushed to Al-Manal and bought a ticket to Thumraid for 6,000 riyal without much hassle. They asked me to get to the ticket office at 12:00 noon to wait for the bus. It was 9:40 a.m. and I had only 2 hours left to check out Shibam. An engaged taxi was a must.
I stopped one car without a taxi sign on my way to the taxi stand and agreed on a 4,000 riyal fare return with the driver. It only took 30 minutes to reach Shibam. I passed Shibam last night and was already impressed by “skyscrapers” even in the dark. Described as “Manhattan in the Desert”, Shibam is really an amazing place and it does make you speechless. Like the old city of San’a, the number of buildings and how close they are to each other just exceed your imagination. They were built a few hundred years ago and many of them are still used by locals today. Interestingly enough, the only 7-8 floor high-rise buildings in Yemen are in Shibam (everywhere else in Yemen the highest buildings seem to have only 4-5 floors and that’s one of the reasons to visit the country). I climbed to the top of Sultan’s Palace near the entrance and walked around the numerous “skyscrapers” with ease. Goats sleep lazily in front of the buildings and ladies walk slowly to the community center in the little town. Everyone looks relaxed.
After about 1 hour exploring the amazing Shibam, I asked the driver to take me back to Sayun. When I got off, I handed over 4,000 riyal. To my surprise, he returned 2,000 riyal to me and said it should be only 2,000 riyal. I guessed it was because I only stayed there for 1 hour but also was quite impressed by the honesty of the Yemeni people.
The bus to Oman was a passing-by one and was more than one hour late. It’s a new Jinlong bus made in China but feels not as comfortable as the old ones from Yemitco. The bus spent most of the afternoon passing through the east part of Wadi Haramawt and I must say that the view is dramatic. If you want to see the massive wadis on the peninsula, this bus is probably a must to take. Around midnight, the bus arrived at the border. Immigration was straightforward and the bus waited there for less than one hour. Bye-bye, Yemen.
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| Shibam |
Jan. 3, 2008
Thumrait to Nizwa
Immigration on the Omani side was also straightforward. I was the only person on the bus who needed a visa which costs 6 rials. Since I didn’t have rials, I paid 18 USD instead (no photos needed and no forms filled). The bus stayed in the border area for about one and half hour before continuing heading east. Around 6:00 a.m., it reached Thumrait and some people, including myself of course, got off. It was still dark and very cold. I was lucky enough to have two Omani passengers on the same bus who were going to Muscat and helped me navigate the purchase of a ticket to Nizwa (4.5 rials). Unlike Yemenis, most people in Oman speak English that makes travel in the country relatively easier. The ONTC bus (originated from Salalah) passed around 8:00 a.m. I jumped on the bus and found myself sleeping most of the time during the boring ride to Nizwa. The view is not too bad but mostly pure flat desert until it’s near Nizwa where mountains start to appear. The bus driver dropped at the roundabout 5 km from Nizwa about 4:30 p.m. With some help from the locals, I managed to get on a shared taxi to get to Tanuf Residency for 100 baisa. The guy at the reception of the hotel actually speaks good English but he could only gave me 14 rials as the lowest rate. The room is not new but still acceptable and quite big (not very useful to me). After resting shortly, I took another shared taxi to Nizwa town (100 baisa), admired the fort (very big), visited an Internet café (the only chance during my entire trip) and had a simple dinner at a local restaurant for 500 baisa (my stomach was upset at that time due to some food eaten just one day before I left Yemen). The fort is at the center of the town and almost everything is in or around it. I got back to the hotel by a shared van (also 100 baisa).
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| Thumrait to Nizwa |
Jan. 4, 2008
Jabal Shams
The hotel gave me the telephone number of a driver (Yusuf 95399188) who could take me to Jabal Shams. I called and he was happy to take me there for 65 rials. Not sure if it’s overpriced or not but I accepted it without negotiating (part of the reason was I didn’t know how to find another 4WD that is the recommended vehicle to go there).
Mr. Yusuf is a typical Omani guy but speaks perfect English. He arrived at the hotel 10 minutes before the appointment time of 9:00 a.m. and called my room professionally. The road to Jabal Shams is not very impressive and part of it is not paved. About 2 hours later, we reached Jabal Shams, the roof of Oman at about 2,700 meters above the sea level. Honestly speaking, I was a little bit disappointed. Although the wadi is deeper than most others in the country, there is no comparison to that of the Grand Canyon in the USA. On the way back, we stopped at Al Hota Cave. It seems to be a heavily promoted site and the entrance fee is 5 rials. It was actually closed for lunch break when I reached there and the ticket clerk told me to come again at 2:00 p.m. No time to waste and not very interested in it, I asked the driver to take me back to Nizwa.
The shared taxi to Rusayl Roundabout in Muscat (2 rial) didn’t take too long to fill up and it took only a little bit over one hour to reach there. On arrival at Rusayl, another shared taxi for Ruwi in central Muscat (400 baisa) was already waiting there. The taxi stopped at Ruwi Roundabout, a short walk from the ONTC bus terminal where the new Sun City Hotel is located. I secured the last single room (small but very clean) for 18 rials (asking for 20 rials) and spent a few hours reading the guide and calling tour operators to arrange for my trips to Wadi Shab / Wadi Tiwi and Sharqiya Sands for the next two days. All the tours could only take me to one place per day and charged at least 110 rials per day. Since I had only one person, it didn’t make economic sense to me. Finally I called Sur Hotel in Sur. They told me that they have all the tours around the area and each tour costs around 30 rials only. Another advantage to use Sur as a base is the possibility to see the green turtles just one hour from there. I stopped calling other tour companies and decided to leave for Sur next morning.
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| Jabal Shams |
Jan. 5, 2008
Jabal Shab / Jabal Wadi and Ras al-Jinz
There are only 2 buses from Muscat (Ruwi) to Sur by ONTC – one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. The morning one departs at 7:30 a.m. The bus stopped at Ruwi Roundabout around 8:00 a.m. and picked up more passengers. It stopped again at Ibra for a 10 minute break. Finally it terminated near the back of Sur Hotel around 12:30 p.m. (although the official timetable indicates the journey takes 4¼ hours, in reality it always takes 5 hours – people at Sur Hotel know it). The Indian guy at the reception of the hotel is a nice one. He helped me arrange all the tours I needed although he didn’t give me much discounts. 15 minutes late, I was with a Bangladeshi driver on the way to Wadi Shab / Wadi Tiwi (30 rials).
The coastal road linking Sur and the two wadis was not finished yet (a big Chinese company was building it) but there was not too much bumping. The view is good. We passed some Omani oil establishments and the famous Bibi Maryam in Qalhat. To see inside Wadi Shab, you need to walk about 20-30 minutes along the wadi. There are some small clear water pools on the way and it’s getting colder once you walk deeper. The wadi is nice especially to avoid some heat but the view is nothing spectacular.
About 10 minute drive from Wadi Shab is Wadi Tiwi, just next the Tiwi Town. It’s possible to drive into the wadi during the dry season. Wadi Tiwi is wider and looks slightly more beautiful than Wadi Shab to me, perhaps because there is more water and there are more palm trees.
Back to Sur after dark, I rested shortly at the hotel and had a light dinner at Arabian Sea Restaurant in the same building of Sur Hotel (entrance on the opposite side) for 1.1 rial. At 8:30 p.m. I was on another tour to Ras Al-Jinz to see the green turtles (25 rials). It was actually the hotel guy driving his car to take me there and I still had to pay 1 rial to enter the site. Site officer gave some introductions about the green turtles around 9:30 p.m. He said during the peak period of June to August numerous turtles (including some big-sized green turtles and even some red turtles) come to the area to lay eggs. That period is not hot at Ras Al-Jinz but very hot in other parts of Oman therefore sees few tourists. We then walked about 10 minutes to the beach and the officer quickly located a green turtle. It’s a medium-sized green turtle (almost 1 meter long). She had just finished laying the eggs and was ready to go back to the sea. During the egg laying and finishing period (putting the sand to cover the eggs), it’s OK to use the torch to watch and shoot videos (no flash allowed). Once the turtle was ready to return to the sea, the officer asked everyone to turn off the light to make the turtle feel more comfortable to go. The officer only turned on the torch very occasionally to let us see the progress. The turtle moved slowly, step by step, and finally returned to the sea where she feels more comfortable. Good-bye and good luck.
The officer quickly located another green turtle still laying eggs. It’s about the same size. Many eggs were already there and she was laying more. She looked quite tired and had to rest for a while before laying the next one. After all the eggs were laid, she rested for a longer time then started to put the sands to cover her eggs. She looked even more tired at this stage. Some children started to touch the big turtle. Since the officer didn’t stop it, I guess perhaps turtles were used to this kind of touch from humans.
Before we left the site, I was able to see some new-born turtles the site officers collected on the beach. They were blue and very small (smaller than a human hand). Lovely.
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| Wadi Shab |
Jan. 6, 2008
Sharqiya Sands
The Aharqiya Sands tour Sur Hotel arranged for me is from Rimal Jaalan Tourism Camp (30 rials). The guide Saleim Abdullah, a 43 year old Bedouin with 2 wives and 11 children, arrived at the hotel to pick me up at 10:00 a.m. He told me he preferred people call him directly at 99357265 outside the hotel so he didn’t need to pay the commission to the hotel (10 rials) and he could give 5 rial discount. He first took me to Jaalan Bani Bu Hasan, a fort which sees few tourists then he drove me into the desert. Perhaps because it’s too close to the outside world, most of the desert is flat with small trees and even driving tracks. There are some interesting dunes when we approached his camp. The camp is on a flat area surrounded by some dunes/hills. There were about 7 camps there but I didn’t see any other tourists. He told me people usually stay in the camp overnight (same price) and showed me his guest book which were signed and commented by various tourists from Europe, Japan and North America. I put my comments too in English and Chinese (the first on the book). He played some traditional music using his guitar then took me to his goats. He got 29 goats to feed and milk but didn’t have much time to do it in the rest of the day. He apologized for using my time. I was OK. It was actually interesting to see him doing this – I just didn’t want to miss my bus in the afternoon.
The last program was to visit his family and have lunch there. It’s a modern house on the edge of the desert. He lives with one of his wives there. The food (lamb in rice, eaten by hand directly, and salad) prepared by his wife was quite delicious. The lamb was especially tempting – too bad I couldn’t eat a lot because my stomach was still recovering. I was sitting down with him eating the delicious food where his wife and joyful children were watching. After lunch, I thanked his wife for the wonderful food and said good-bye to his children. He then drove me to the nearby Kamil bus stop where the ONTC bus passed by around 3:20 p.m. (3.4 rials to Ruwi in Muscat).
The bus actually stopped at the airport to disembark one passenger. On arriving at Ruwi, I took an engaged taxi (difficult to find a shared one) to Mutrah for 800 baisa then walked a few hundred meters before I found Naseem Hotel. For 15 rials (no discount), the room is clean and acceptable (though not new). I had my light dinner at Fastfood ‘n’ Juice Centre near the entrance to Mutrah Souq. It’s a popular spot for both locals and tourists. Food was not bad although prices of some food items on the menu were misleading.
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| My Tour Guide |
Jan. 7, 2008
Muscat
Again, due to the difficulty getting a shared taxi, I hired an engaged taxi (1 rial) to Old Muscat where the palace and government offices are located. The Corniche between Mutrah and Old Muscat is quite scenic and I wish I could have more time walking along it. Old Muscat (also called “Muscat”) is a much quieter place with less people. I managed to walk from the back of the palace (on the sea) to the front. There is huge space (“private parking”?) in front of the palace. It is nice anyway.
Back to Mutrah by engaged taxi (1 rial), I checked out the hotel around 11:30 a.m. and luckily got a shared van at Samak Roundabout all the way to Seeb (passing the airport) for 500 baisa (about 10% of the price of an engaged taxi). The Oman Air flight to Bangkok (10,500 baht one way, they actually just started the route from November 28, 2007) took off at 2:45 p.m. Good-bye, Oman.
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| Mutrah Corniche |
Overview
Bahrain is a modern Gulf city. There is not much to see but the people are said to be among the more tolerant and relaxed in the region. Based on my less than 24 hour stay there, this is true.
Yemen is the only “poor” country on the Arabian Peninsula and many people don’t speak English. However, its people are among the friendliest ones and are very helpful. The splendid human architectures in the old city of San’a and Shibam make a visit to this country a must for any explorations to the Arabian Peninsula. The bus journey from Sayun to Oman passing the dramatic wadis is also a unique experience.
Oman is an easy country to visit. Although the sites are not as dramatic as those in Yemen, its people are friendly and mostly speak English. It’s more difficult but possible to visit the major sites by hiring vehicles / joining tours. It makes more economic sense to base in Sur (instead of Muscat) to visit various sites around it. The turtle watching tour is one of the rare experiences of such kind. The numerous forts around the country also make it more colorful and characteristic.
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