Central Mountains

Central Mountains \| Sana'a \| Hadramawt \| South East
An easy day trip from Sana'a, the Central Mountains offer panoramic landscapes, incredible ancient towns perched improbably on the tops of hills, terraces dappled in the ever changing sunlight...and street scenes like something out of "Black Hawk Down". I have never been anywhere before with so many AK47's slung casually over the backs of random shoppers; come to think of it, I have never ever seen firearms carried by civilians anywhere else at all! As we return to Sana'a, we notice signs at the police road block, advising us that we must not carry automatic weapons openly once in the city, although nothing to prohibit the proud display of the rather substantial daggers they all stuff into their waistbands. Away from the commercial towns it all seems rather peaceful, with buildings and a way of life unchanged for centuries even down to the fact they close the town gates at sunset to keep out the bad guys. Food is simple, but fresh and not half bad, although no booze of course; I suspect even not outside Ramadan. The name place spellings are pretty random, so it can be difficult to reconcile the names on signs with those on maps or in guide books; the ones below are my best guess based on what I saw when there, but I do not claim an authoritative view on any of them. As you will be forced to travel with a guide anyway, it is probably not that critical!

Hababa	Thula	Al Hajjrah	Al Hutayb

Hajer Saeed	Manakh	Landscapes	People