Yemen 2005: Qat, qat, qat

Salaam, this time I write from wonderful Yemen. I think Yemen is one of the best kept secrets in the world: not many tourist visit it, but it has so much to offer: a awesome scenery, great hospitality of the people and amazing and unique architecture. Almost every hill- and mountaintop has a fortified village or house on it. Many old houses are beautiful decorated, especially the houses in the old part of the capital San’aa, which I think is one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. On the outside brown stone is used, which is decorated with white plaster (window frames and ornaments).

View over magnificent Sanaa, this day was the first day of the Monsoon,
giving the air a biblical appearance. I almost fell of the roof one time,
when I told the manager of the hotel that it's not so safe, he told me
that it's okay, there are enough graveyards in Yemen.

Life for most Yemeni men revolves around two things: qat and islam. About islam there is already enough said in the news lately, so let’s focus on the qat (which is called chat in Ethiopia). Brought in by the Ethiopians around 300 years ago, now it is in Yemen even more popular then in Ethiopia. Every afternoon you see many (in fact most) guys with one cheek sometimes the size of a tennis ball (unlike Ethiopia where the qat is chewed and then swallowed, here they stuff it in a cheek and chew it endlessly). The sight of it is quiet funny, less funny is that I also see sometimes 7 year old kids chew the stuff.

Terraced mountain hill, a lot of Qat plants on it off course

Chewing qat is a important social activity. Every day there are many qat parties hold. Important decisions are made informally on a qat party beforehand, even on political level. Yes, also the president is a chewer. There was even a banknote with a qat plant printed on it. Those who do not go to a qat party chew it while they work or sit on the pavement. It’s hard to imagine the effects on the Yemen society, but here are some statistics:

- 80% of the men and 25% of the women chew qat

- It is estimated that the trade in qat makes up for 20% of the BNP

- Daily an amount of ca. 100 million rial (around 420.000 euro) is chewed away

- Many people don’t work while they chew: a daily loss of 20 million working hours

- Some people spent up to 30% of their income on qat

Chewing qat on a wedding

Quite amazing he? So although qat is not physically damaging, you can say it’s not really helping the development of the country either. Although it makes up for 20% of the BNP.

Besides qat, Allah is very popular in Yemen,
people praying on the roof of a house in Sabaa

Families are enormous. 47 % of the people is under 14. A normal family consist of 7 to 10 children. In other words: a reproduction rate rabbits would be jealous of.

About the Yemeni women I can be brief. They have beautiful eyes. The rest I don’t know, because they don’t show. In Aden I went to the beach, unlike Iran the beaches are not separated so you can see the women go in the water fully clad. Contact with women is minimal, unless you count that stone throwing incident I had with one sheppard girl who didn’t like me taking a picture of a praying man.

In the last few weeks in Ethiopia there was one occasion where I was the one to pick up the first stone (and hit a kid right in the buttocks). When you start to throw stones at the locals, I guess it’s time to leave the country. The stone throwing seems to be an essential part on this trip, maybe it’s because of the region.

Also my money got stolen in Addis, together with my bankcard. Luckily the thief ignored my camera and mp3 player which were lying on the bed. After Addis I went to Harar, a walled muslim city. The only interesting town I visited in Ethiopia. The rest of the cities are more a collection of shacks and ugly new buildings. But this city has something to say for itself. I missed, because I was in a hurry, the famous hyena man of Hara, a person (tired of life?) who feeds hyena’s barehanded and even with his mouth.

Shibam Hadramut, the Manhattan of the desert

After Harar I went to Djibouti, where, because of the hotel rates, I only spent one day. (rates start at 25 euro a night). I flew from Djibouti to Aden, a port town in Yemen. After Aden I visited several beautiful mountain regions in Yemen. Some days I walked for 8 to 10 hours, not because I wanted but because I miscalculated the distance or because I got lost. Now I’m back in San’aa. After San’aa I will go to Shibam (called "The Manhattan of the desert" by Freya Stark, because of the towering houses. Yemen is the place where skyscrapers were invented) and then to Mumbai to work on my Bollywood carreer. As an extra that is. I will keep you informed about it.

Kurt

For a slideshow on Yemen, click here