Yemen Mukalla 4

We had come to Mukalla for the International Islamic Fair that experienced a last minute unexpected change in location. The change in location cost me and my fellow travellers an extra Rm 3000 in airfare but that was not all that happened. It also meant all our preparations for the fair were wrong. We had prepared for a Dubai market but found ourselves instead in Mukalla . By Yemeni standards it was a large town, the main industry here was fishing. The average salary here was between US$100-200. While the people loved to see the things we brought, they simply could not afford our prices.

These girls were from the university, Faiza was very talkative and her English was superb!

We did manage to do some of the thins we set out to do that is to make known our NGO to the local people and to make known the work we do. I think we will never really know the impact of what we had done for perhaps amongst the people we made contact with , there may be some who were inspired by our presence and what we represented and perhaps it would spur them to do action to do something similar in their own country.
More bad news hit us just then. The freight company had experienced a lot of difficulty bringing the goods and exhibition materials to the fair and could not bring anything back. Just throw it all away he had said to me.The problem was the sudden change in location. There is a 12 hour drive to Mukalla from the International airport of Sanaa. It is a long and hazardous journey and lorry companies charged more than the freight company had anticipated. He had suffered a loss and thus refused to offer freight back.

Mas packing the T shirts that were seemingly overpriced!

Many of the souveniors we brought were not ours to throw away or give away so we had to bring them back with us, at least as far as Sanaa where we could leave them with a friend to sell for us. We now had another dilemma on our hands , another set of troubles. How do we bring back the buntings, the catalogue stands, the t shirts and other things we had brought for the fair home?

Financially, the trip was a disaster.

What I did to keep my spirits up was to change the perspective of my journey. I focused on the educational aspect of being in Yemen and kept in my mind that the experiences I was having were nothing that money could buy.

The fair for us lasted two days. We missed the morning of the first day because of being held at the airport over the lost box and we stayed till the morning of the third day when all the other Malaysians had left Mukalla. This was because I had booked the tickets myself and not relied on the group travel agent .It turns out that this move saved the three of us from a long bus journey which started for them at 3 am, only to find their names were not on the flight to Dubai from Sanaa.
When all the cares of the Trade fair lifted from our shoulders in the afternoon of our third day in Mukalla, I felt as if a load was off my back . Our ordeals were not yet over , for we had to face trying to bring back more that the allocated luggage and in the long run it may be cheaper to abandon our goods rather than pay for excess baggage, only the goods were not ours to abandon .
It was the young man from Wadi Doan that had made the rest of our stay a wonderful adventure never to be forgotten.

Fiona had asked Mohammad to help us with the lost box. I was reluctant to surrender the report , thinking it was my only link to the lost box and not fully trusting a stranger to arrange for the box to be returned. My fears were totally unfounded for Mohamed is the most reliable person I had met in a long time.On the first night that we arrived in Mukalla, totally exhausted from the day' s adventures I had gone to bed early only to be awoken by the room phone. It was Mohammad telling me the box was on its way to our room and he will arrange for it to be sent to the Exhibition Hall next morning!Mas could not understand my delight when I gleefully pointed to the box the next morning .She did not know my doubts and she did not fuly realise the miracle of having a person who could be relied upon under the circumstances we were in.

Mohammad is from Wadi Doan. On the third day we would be on our own. I am amazed that the three of us were not very worried about being the only Malaysians in Mukalla at that point in time. Having been around the Yemenis for the past few days , we had become familiar with the friendliness and laid back simplicity of their ways. I think we had absorbed some of the laid backness so that our moments of anxiety were very much muted and cushioned and a sense of peace had prevailed throughout our travails here.

When we asked Mohammad to find us another hotel , he had hesitated only for an instance before offering us his apartment which was newly built. In Yemen as in Egypt , people build their houses floor by floor. Mohammad had a house here in Mukalla and it was now 3 stories and the third story was just completed. We were quite happy to accept his offer having by then full trust in him .

He had arranged for us to be taken from the hotel by a taxi driver called Muneer who proved to be another Yemeni gem. Handsome gentle helpful and polite as well as speaking a reasonable amount of English , we found Muneer to be very obliging and he brought us to the beach , to lunch and to Mohammad's apartment .

At the beach , I had removed my shoes and stepped onto the pebbly part barefoot ( yes it was quite painful but I wanted to) before my feet felt the warm sand . A sense of exhilaration filled my heart . Leaving the exhibition , Mas had remarked she had felt a bit sad , as if reluctant to leave the Yemeni people who were still there since there was one more day of exhibition left. We had made friends with many of them and their warmth kindness and hospitality had touched our very souls. Now, at the beach a peace and joy seemed to emanate from the clear waters that were teasing at my feet as I carefully ventured to the water's edge only to find the waves swishing onto the legs of my trousers. I had let out a scream , was it out of relief, or delight? I do not really know nor is it important. The wind against my face, the gentle afternoon sun, the Sapphire blue of the Arab sea in the distance and the sound of seagulls painted a perfect picture of the beauty of the Mukalla coast and filled my soul to its depth with the fresh beauty of God's earth . I was moved to tears.

What is it about this place I wondered , that made me feel calm in spite of the uncertainty of our situation ? I think wealth should not be measured in terms of money , perhaps there is something more important, a wealth of the spirit , a generosity which was not limited by vested interests. We would be experiencing more of the Yemeni hospitality in the next days .

Next , Muneer's lady boss, A Yemeni restaurant, Wadi Doan and more

to be continued.....

Yemen Mukalla 3

The box with the buntings was missing. There seemed to be no one around to ask! The other passengers had left and we were the only ones waiting in the arrival hall.

A uniformed officer asked us what was wrong and I told him in my broken Arabic .

He asked us to wait and I saw him send two porters hack to the airplane

waiting for our missing box at Mukalla airport

They came back almost an hour later without the box.

I had some experience with lost baggage since Abang Long lost a bag when we landed in Dubai .

Dubai airport is a sharp contrast to Mukalla. In Dubai the workers and officers were super efficient and everybody knew their roles . There were even employees moving around with a T Shirt on which was written Ask Me! When we reported to a porter a bag was missing they immediately asked for the baggage tickets , noted the total weight and weighed the rest of the baggage. They noted the serial number of each bag to find out which bag was missing . The bag was returned to Abang Long the next night.

So now I told the officer I wanted to make a report on the missing bag and we checked the serial numbers on the bags that were there to find out the serial number of the missing box.

By then somebody who seemed to know what to do arrived on the scene.

His name was Lotfi.

I told him we were very late since we were supposed to be at the exhibition hall of the University of Hadhramaut.

Upon this explanation he seemed to brighten up and mentioned that some people from the University had come earlier on to the airport and he had some specific instructions for arrivals from Malaysia.

He wrote a report , asked me to identify the shape and color of the box and gave me a report which I placed in my sling bag after giving it a cursory glance.

We were all set to go and went looking for a taxi when Lotfi , came to us to tell us to wait. He said the officials from the University are sending us a car to take us to the University .

driving to Mukalla from the airport

I was getting a bit suspicious and did not think that anybody would send a car to get fetch us. Maybe they were thinking we were some other people.

I became even more apprehensive when the car arrived complete with an important looking official who greeted us . I am not a person who notices car makes but the car was a beige MPV . A man took our bags from us and soon we were off .

The important looking man called up Hotel Holiday Inn , asked for our passports and said something about a room booking.

He then said that we should check in first before going to the University.

Mas insisted that we go to the University first.

I took out the report that Lotfi made and the words VIP jumped out at me.

"Mas, Syifa , I think they think we are some kind of VIP s and I am sure we are not!"

I am pretty sure Mas and Syifa did not understand that I was beginning to suspect a case of mistaken identity.

There were two groups of Malaysians in Mukalla at that time. One group was part of Tun Dr Mahathir's entourage and another was from the International Islamic Fair and we belonged to the latter .

When we got to the exhibition hall, everybody was moving out because in Mukalla everything moves to a standstill between 1 pm to 4 pm , it was siesta time!

Hadhramaut University Exhibition Hall

It seems that the Yemeni Prime Minister had invited all the Malaysians from both groups to a banquet at Holiday Inn.

We therefore found ourselves in Holiday Inn and Mas checked at the counter to see if we were booked there because the travel agent did mention Holiday Inn as one of the possible hotels .

Without asking any further the reception clerk asked for our passports, made photocopies and somebody came over and signed for us.

When we were shown to the room , my heart began to sink. This could not be right , The room was far too luxurious and way beyond our pockets.

Holiday Inn Mukalla the hotel room that was not ours!

We placed our bags and went for the sumptuous feast . Our table was in front of the table with the Yemeni dignitaries and we saw the Prime Minister taking his lunch. He ate with his hands, did not appear to stand out from amongst his other ministers and I was awed to see how humble he was.

Banquet lunch courtesy of the Yemeni Government

I dare not weigh myself after coming back from Yemen. I like Arab food , it always reminds me of my carefree student days and the two banquet lunches provided me with far too much calories for my own good! On top of which Yemenis seem to have the typical Arab custom of feeding their guests beyond dietary requirements!

By this time the growing suspicion of mistaken identity was growing stronger. We caught up with Fiona Abdullah the travel agent and discovered our group was booked at another hotel , the Arab Sea hotel and the group in Holiday Inn was from the Tun Dr Mahathir entourage.

Who was going to pay for our room? Fiona talked to Mohamed and that was the first time we set eyes on this young Yemeni man who seemed to know a few words of Malay.

"Tiada Masalaaaah", he had said . A favourite phrase he had. He asked Mas to wait until he confirmed a room before checking out but I insisted on leaving immediately , knowing full well a night's stay at this 5 star hotel would break my budget!

At the counter I talked to the man who signed for us and told him I think there had been some mistake and we were not supposed to stay at Holiday Inn. He was gracious and allowed us to leave apologising and saying that they did not know the identity of the people who were supposed to check in because nobody had given them any names!

Mohamed came to talk to us later to confirm he had booked a room for the three of us at Arab Sea hotel and I breathed a sigh of relief!

Next:

The IIF, Yemeni people, Women Bosses, Mohamed, Wadi Doan, lost passport and more....

Yemen Mukalla 2

At the counter in the lobby of Funduk Mattar

" Salam ! Oda ashan talatah ila bukra subh, be kam ?"

Translation: A room for three people until tomorrow morning, how much ?

The reception clerk said $USD 195!

The mind boggles! Here in Aden , of which we had thus far seen grubby money , men in Yemeni cloth( like pelikat) and shirts , battered cars , bare square stone buildings looking rather antique , actually has hotel rooms that cost like they were in New York!

A bit of play acting is called for under this situation! With the sternest face I had , I questioned the price and discovered that he quoted a price for a suite.
After a lot of arguments back and forth he finally quoted $USD 50.

I still did not quite believe that this shabby hotel cost that much per night !
I asked to see printed rates , which he did not have .
He finally understood what I wanted and pointed to the monitor .
Syifa knew how to read Arabic , so she went behind the counter and read out the available rooms and the rates for each room.
We finally settled for a room with two single beds and an extra mattress for $US 47.
It was still rather steep but we did not have a choice and besides, that was the rate Syifa read out on the monitor screen!

$US47 /day and the bare essentials

The room was reasonably clean and free from dust . My nose is a superb dust detector ,(when dust is present I sneeze nonstop) so I can vouch for that! It was about 9 pm and we were still jet lagged and we planned to sleep early .

Grocery Store across the road from the Airport Hotel in Aden

I went down with Syifa to a grocery store across the road to buy drinks and on the way out , a Yemeni youth asked if we were from Malaysia. He spoke good English and we found out he was studying in Sedaya College in KL !

I adjusted my Sony Ericson P9901 to show Yemeni time and made sure I set the alarm to activate for the Fajr prayers.

One of the blessings of this journey was my ability to fall deeply and soundly asleep at all the strange places we had to sleep in.

In no time at all, Mas was waking me up . She said it is Fajr now , get up and pray! I looked at my mobile phone and it indicated it was only 4.30 am local time . I sleepily told her it is too early but she insisted it was Fajr because she heard the Azan. I reluctantly got up made ablutions and prayed.

15 minutes after praying I heard the Azan and said to Mas , look here , that is the Azan and now is Fajr! So I prayed again. 15 minutes after this , I heard another Azan and this time I was totally confused! I can understand 2 Azans, one to wake people up and another at the onset of Fajr but 3 Azans? I listened carefully and concluded the third Azan was the iqamah .

Mas was insisting that her watch showed it was already 6 am and I insisted it was 5 am .We found out later that there was an hour time difference between Dubai and Aden and Mas had set her watch to Dubai time while I only adjusted my handphone in Aden.

Our breakfast that morning consisted of biscuits and milk that we had bought at the grocery. I drank my Muz Bi Laban which Syifa commented tasted like liquid Banana Cake . I guess it was nostalgia for my student days which made me buy the drink. I used to take fresh Banana Milk Shake at the juice shop in Egypt during my student years.

The journey back to the Airport which started the next morning was uneventful except that it seems I paid only $25 instead of $ 40 , thinking the $5 was a 20 dollar note , US money being of the same color for all denominations! I paid the rest in Yemeni Riyal. I therefore settled the rest of the bill, to the relief of the reception clerk .

The taxi we got this time was a shining new taxi and for that we had to pay Yemeni Riyal 1000 ...for the two minute ride to the airport! This is nearly RM 20!

The one hour plane ride was over in no time and we found ourselves in Mukalla airport , needless to say it was even smaller than the one in Aden.

The bags were out in no time and I was relieved to see my apple green bag . I had a nagging feeling that bags were easily lost by the very lax way baggage was handled. Afterall bags that should have been sent to Mukallah direct were taken out at Aden!

And then it happened.....the conveyor belt had stopped , and the box we were carrying with the buntings was missing!

We had a problem with this box earlier in Aden. Some people , maybe the customs people had torn it open to inspect the contents at which I gave them a hard glare and the same officer who had helped us earlier had said to leave us alone. They had then taped it up with a big cellophane tape that had the words, Resealed and an airport code SAH. Just maybe that made the box go elsewhere for the plane that brought us to Mukalla was going somewhere else after dropping some passengers at Riyan Mukallah airport .


Next : The wait for the bags, VIP treatment , Holiday Inn Mukallah, Banquet fit for Kings and more !