Yemen Mukalla 5

This is Mohamed wearing traditional Yemeni clothes.He wears braces which he said he will remove only before he gets married !

He read my blog and complained I did not upload a picture of him
This picture was taken at a restaurant in Yemen. We had been taken there the same afternoon by Muneer who brought us to the first floor with alcoves which were screened off so that women who wore burkas could eat comfortably and families could have their privacy.

A favourite dish of mine Homous! We also had kebab and shawarmar with a hot chilli padi sauce!

Mohamed on the other hand brought us to the ground floor and we were the only ladies around!He insisted it was quite proper for us to eat there!

Ooops!!!

I have to add that the men were very polite and for the most part ignored our presence!
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Muneer took us to Mohamed's house.It is a square building now with three stories ..The first two stories were rented out and the third story was for Mohamed to stay whenever he was in town in Mukalla. Since it was new , it was not yet furnished but it was carpeted and there were mattresses pillows and blankets.We deposited our bags and went back to the exhibition to pack our things , take some pictures and take leave of our Yemeni fellow exhibitors. As I mentioned , it was a sad goodbye!

We went to the beach as I mentioned earlier . There was a stadium by the beach and Muneer told us parades were held there.

This is Muneer's lady boss in her office

Muneer was very obliging , acting as a tourist guide as well as driver. We learned he worked as a taxi driver part time and his other job was with the government. What is more surprising, he has a woman boss. The fully veiled lady had a Phd in Pharmacology from a University in Hungary . She was in charge of Standards for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Appliances in Mukalla. We visited her at her Office and received a warm welcome .

I notice that even though it seemed as though the women in Mukalla were segregated and veiled , it did not stop them from getting an education and working full time jobs as well as going about their business in the streets and in the shops .The waitress at the restaurant we had our lunch at was a fully veiled woman . We also saw fully veiled school girls waiting for their school bus to go home.

School girls across the road from the restaurant on the first floor , the ship like building is another restaurant

Muneer did not want to have lunch with us even though we offered . He said his wife had prepared lunch for him and she would wait for him and not have lunch until he has it with her.I looked at Mas who looked back at me.Such chivalry on his part, such devotion on his wife's part .

lunch in an alcoved space Muneer took this picture

Where did we lose such consideration in our modern high paced life where the husband went one way and the wife the other way , each busy in their pursuit of ...WHAT?.....

After taking us to lunch as I mentioned above , we went back to the apartment to wait for Mohamed who had gone back to Wadi Doan , to get his car. He told us it was two hours by car.He arrived back in the late afternoon and we went to the Yemenia Airways office to confirm our air tickets. I heard Mohamed talk to Dato ..........who was one of the organisers for the Malaysian delegates. He put the phone on speaker and I could hear the frustration in her voice

" Mohamad, our names are not on the airlines list . We are being treated badly. Please tell your uncle to DO SOMETHING."

Apparently Mohamed managed to get people moving for he got another phone call the next night , a very happy voice thanking him and telling him that they got a flight back to Malaysia and had decided to skip going to Dubai. So instead of shopping in Dubai , they had gone shopping in Sanaa.

We stopped by some shops in the old part of town and Syifa bought a jubah for her mum and Mas persuaded me to buy one for myself .We argued over which jubah looked nice . Apparently my taste in jubah differs from Mas and both of us must have confused poor Syifa by giving her our opinion on which jubah to choose for her mum.

I was surprised to find hot cakes and hot sweet tea waiting for us in the morning after I had bathed and changed. The neighbours downstairs had taken it upon themselves to give us breakfast and they did so for the two days we were there. They even wanted to cook lunch but we were already going to the airport the second morning we were there. I though Mohamed had asked them to do so but apparently it was spontaneous and typical of Yemeni-Mukalla hospitality

That morning Mohamed had to go to the bank.

When Mohamed went to the bank , I went to a nearby shop and bought two lovely gowns for my grand daughters. Mas and Syifa went to other shops and soon Mohamed called us all back to the car .

We then went to the fish market . It was near the sea and there were a lot of small fishing boats. The fish were huge , mostly tuna and shark . All of the fish were newly caught from the sea!

Mohamed brought a kilo of fish to cook . He also bought rice vegetables and spices while we wandered around taking photos.

Mohamed's cooking and serving

Back home, he cooked us lunch.For someone who seemed to have deep pockets Mohamed was humble and unassuming. He had slept on the floor , wore traditional Yemeni clothes, did not have any airs . When I asked whether I should cut the vegetables he had simply said no and had taken the vegetables from me and I next found them scattered around the tray of rice heaped with fried tuna. I must admit he is a good cook, the Yemeni rice he made was delicious and I really enjoyed eating a meal Yemeni style. I note it saves time and washing up. When were are done,we just had to scoop up the waste food in the tablecloth and throw it away. Only one item to wash and that is the tray!

We were to go to Wadi Doan after lunch. I had asked to go since I was really longing to see a Yemeni village in Hadramaut.

It was then that disaster struck. I could not find my passport. It was in my sling bag which was with me all the time. I searched for it everywhere and everyone joined in the search.In the end I had to admit I must have dropped it somewhere .

When did I last know that I had it? I had it in the car that morning which meant I could rule out losing it the night before . So the only places we had been to were the Bank , the shops and the market plus the grocery store on the way back to the house.

Mohamed called up three people , one to go search in the shops near the bank, another in the marketplace and a third one around the grocery shop near the house.

I was devastated , imagining the worst. I think losing a passport is an international traveller's worse nightmare. I am no greenhorn . I am a seasoned globe trotter who has been travelling to unknown places sometimes all alone. I am also very careful with money and passport when I travel so how could this have happened? I was imagining being stuck for weeks in Mukalla while the Malaysian consulate issued me with a temporary travel document . From my previous experience, Malaysians working in Arab countries became just as laid back and inefficient .

My terror lasted a full 10 minutes. Muneer had been sent to the shops around the bank and he had found my passport in the shop where I bought the gowns . The shop owner was waiting for me to come back to get my passport. In my eagerness to buy the gowns I had been searching to see if I had any spare riyals and had taken out my passport . Soon after Mohamed had called and in my haste I had left my passport. The shop owner did not want to give the passport to Muneer, he waited for me to personally come to get it. He refused money that I tried to give him as a reward for his honesty and good faith. This is another discovery I made about the people here. The good ones were very good and had honor in spite of the poverty that I spoke of earlier.

When my passport was found , I discovered that Mohamed could nag. He scolded me no end and had said that when I said I had lost my passport , his heart had gone out of his chest and back!I gladly accepted the scolding , no doubt I deserved it . Upon reflection , I had told him that it was because of him that I lost my passport. His presence had made me feel very safe and relaxed , and I was off guard and no longer as alert as I usually am when I travel alone.The passport incident showed to me how efficient and organised this 23 year old young man was. No doubt he would be an excellent hotelier. That was what he was studying in KDU in Penang.

We still made the trip to Wadi Doan and I am really glad we managed to do so. It is an experience of a lifetime and the thought of this beautiful mountain valley tugs at my heart.

Next Wadi Doan , original home of Osama ben Laden , fairytale Resort Hayd Al Jazeel , Bugshan Castle and more ......to be continued

Click on photo to see a video of Old Mukalla Town