Road from Sana'a to Al Mahwit

# 1 = Al Mahwit
Report:
"By which I mean, at least until an hour before we reached Al Mahwit on one of the most stunning routes on earth. This time they pulled their Kalashnikovs and pointed at us through the window and demanded 200 dollars. We said no. They demanded we pay."

Road Al Mahwit to Zabid

#2 = Zabid
Report:
"Tihama was hot, but the air so much less polluted than Sanaa. It was a relief. We arrived in Zabid in the car and went straight to Usama, who owned a small hotel just in front of the Old Fort, an impressive building even in the dark. They had no electricity but offered us, as usual, to sit down, relax and chewkhat, before we started doing business. Hunger drew us instead downtown this old and charming town and we ended up at a wedding for an hour!"

Route from Al Fazah to Zabid

Excerpt from Report #7
"It was an amazing end to an extra ordinary journey in many ways. We, the team who travelled by camel from the coast and Zabid to the capital Sanaa, met a group of journalists and hundreds and hundreds of onlookers at Bab Al Yemen. Bab Al Yemen means The Gate to Yemen.All my friends where there. Kyle, Tanya, Sabri, Hussein from Kawlan, BabaHussein, Mohammed, Rashad, Ahmed, Boushra and, of course, my fantastic wife Pamela and our daughter Eva. Or Belquis as we call her here to honor the first female leader in history. Who of course came from the land of Yemen. Marib to be precise. My wife showed a little bit of her pregnancy. It was an amazing end to the journey finding out that an Himyar is on the way!"

#3 = Zabid, Yemen
"I have just travelled 380 km:s with a camel and two friends from Zabid on the Yemeni Coast to the capital Sanaa. On paper it is an impossible journey. When I first breached the idea with friends in the business and Yemeni friends back in February when the troubles began, they all said it was impossible."
Click here for more of this December 18, 2011 Report

Route from Zabid to Hairan

#4 = Wadi Zabid
Travelling through Wadi Zabid
"Wadi Zabid was beautiful. Even though the map shows it is void of settlements, in reality it was a village or settlement in rocks every 3-4 kilometres. Most of them perched high up both mountainsides. Getting off the main road is entering another world. We ended up straight into people’s daily life. Of which one was picking up water from the river and transporting it either with camel or donkey up the steep mountain walls. Extremely hard work. And almost every one who saw us, came either walking, riding or running to ask us who we were, where we came from and why on earth we didn´t travel by car! They were stunned and didn´t believe us when we said we were walking all the way to Sanaa."

Photo of Wadi Zabid
©Mikael Strandberg

#5 = Sera
©Mikael Strandberg

Excerpt from Report #7
Over two weeks we travelled 380 km:s of very demanding surroundings. First we followed the roadless valley Wadi Zabid until its finish. Which meant cross crossing through a stream all the time, surrounded on both sides of really steep mountainsides. On and off dotted with villages high up on the ridges. Most people were thoroughly shocked seeing us coming and the two most common questions was:
“Why don´t you travel by car on the big roads? Are you poor?”

Route from Hairan to Rub Utmah

Except for Report #7
Weleft the valley in a gruelling climb up on narrow, steep and dangerous paths toalmost 2000 metres.It almost killed Antar. And Ahmed. They had never been outside Tihama and neverclimbed. They hadn´t understood there were mountains on the way to Sanaa. Andcold weather. Ahmed had only brought a thin, really worn out mattress with him.That was all. Not a blanket. No clothes. Which we of course supplied him with.But we got up and as it was every day, a mutiny was close. But I sorted it outby the hour. It is part of travelling in Arabia.Constant renegotiations. About everything.
(Check it out in terrain mode)

Route from Risabah to Sana'a

#6 = Climb to Rub Al Utma
The Climb to Rub Al Utma
"The climb was brutal, Antar was to heavily loaded, but we couldn´t  stop now. If we did, Antar wouldn´t get up again. It was that bad. I have to say it was one of the worst experience in many years and I regretted not taking the time to go up and down to check it out, assess it, but we were all under pressure to get up before it got dark. I don´t think we would have made it without the help we got from the local who wanted to make some money by showing us the route. He knew how to get Antar to move, by shouting, caressing and making a lot of odd sounds. But it worked. Ahmed Amin was really upset, scared and under stress. So he threw stones on Antar to get him moving. "

Photo of the mountains of Rub Utmah
©Mikael Strandberg

Route from Rub Utmah to Mabar

Up the mountains
"We climbed the rest of the day. Once again stunning mountain scenery with vast terraces and villages perched high upon mountains ridges. Our worry now, was that we hadn´t been able to find any proper food for Antar. Only alfa-alfa. It wasn´t the right season and he just refused to eat all this…I guess tasteless stuff as he saw it….and for this reason we travelled slowly. We arrived in a mountain village when it was turning dark, picked up fuel at the gas station and as usual, Antar was creating a sensation in every village we passed. We were surrounded by kids all the time, big numbers, screaming in surprise, jeering at us and tried to touch Antar. They had never seen a camel before!"

#7 = Risabah
"We hit the main road for lunch next day in a small town called Risaban. First thing we did was to stop for lunch and I said that they could eat absolutely anything they wanted. And they did. Chicken, meat, honey….A local cop turned up, sat down with us and ordered the same. He had briefly helped us when we arrived to disperse the big crowds around us and we thanked him since we were all really tired of these big groups of people just starring at us, asking us millions of questions and bothering Antar.
“I am not paying for this guy” , I told Amin, after the local cop had shown with his behaviour that we were paying and Amin said to him: “I am a cop as well.”
The shock on this corrupt police mans face when Amin asked for the bill for the three of us, I loved it! Even though we had our differences, mainly because we were both experienced human beings, I was very happy with having Amin as a partner. Ahmed Ali was just there for the money and we never got close. Neither did Amin and Ahmed Ali, but Amin and myself, we cared very much for his well being."

Path to Risabah

#8 = Mabar
"On paper, on the map, it would take us four days to Sanaa. Maybe five. We had averaged 20 km:s a day so far. But at this moment, when we were back in the modern society, where mobile phones worked and there were restaurants every 15 km:s, we pushed hard and before the evening we passed through the extremely busy and crowded town of Mabar and even though people didn´t want us to camp anywhere near them, locals were not helpful at all here, on the contrary, we forced our camp down near a government installation. We did 35 km:s that day and knew we would arrive in Sanaa the following day. I was quite worried though, how we in earth could travel through the map traffic of the city."

Mabar Photo

#9 - Bab al Yaman
Passing through the souk was magic. Seeing all our friends, and Pamela and Eva, waiting with a big crowd at Bab Al Yemen, was even better! It was almost unreal all of it, like I was dreaming. Yemeni media was present, so was hundreds of onlookers and police was there to keep the most curious away. Baba Hussein had set up a press conference with speakers just near the gate. I saw Tanya Holm, Boushra he helped me film this event, Sabri Saleem, Hussein the Khawlani….Pamela took the microphone which we bought on request half an hour earlier and introduced us all, Baba Hussein Sabanko held a speech I have completely forgotten and than I stood up an told them my story.

#10 = Sana'a
"Sanaa´s International Airport got shelled for the first time a few hours back in time, and the airport is once again closed. I think we just got in by pure luck the whole family! The hour I am writing this is just after the early sunrise prayer, because we just have electricity about two hours a day. At these dead early hours that is a challenge getting up! Today a serious bout of the runs got me going. Due to the war, as the locals call it, it is hard not to get a gut rot after having been invited for food at friend’s houses. Since there’s no electricity, meat and chicken is a gamble. What to do? Well, I will soon have my first shower since I arrived a week back from Dubai."
Click here to read more of this January 2, 2012 Report.

Excerpt from Report #3
He and his brother got into at least one serious gruff and screaming game with two fellas saying they were security. And after a great Salta lunch (salta is a Turkish word for leftovers from the Ottoman times when Yemenis just to beg Turkish family´s for leftovers and everything they got they put in a bowl and cooked it) we walked back and for some unknown reason they brought me very close to the heavily armed dived between the Mohsen troops and Al Ahmar´s and the surrounding buildings had been heavily shelled. I aksed Rashad if I could take a photo and a few seconds later and soldier came running and accused me for taking a photo of his corner of sand sacks and a short argument followed where i was asked for papers, which I said i didn´t have, to show the photos i took, which i didn´t show and it ended up Rashad and his brother got us out of the problem.

Except from Report # 4
The shelling, however, was a big scare. After the action movie, the actors drove us all the way to Hadda, where I wanted to met Jamal and Boushra, top ersuade Jamal to see why I wanted Boushra to be a part in the documentary I am doing. She is a Yemeni photographer, a mother of four great girls and she has afoot in both the West and East. But Jamal is an extremely vital part of the government and was worried that Boushra´s part in the film would put him in danger with possible extremists in a future Yemeni government. This was also the day when President Abdullah Ali Saleh was supposed to sign the GCC agreement.According to Jamal that would happen next day and he was getting ready to set off to a meeting with the rest of the government. I had 30 minutes to get him on board with my ideas. Jamal is a great human and I understood his worries, of course, but I was able to make him understand how important it was for me to get a woman’s view of life in Yemen in my film. Because, up until now, I have hardly seen a woman unveiled. I haven’t talked to more than a couple. The others have either been shooed away or kept out of my sight. Normally as quick as I enter a building, men accompanying me shout:
“Allah, Allah!”

There’s no water in the tap, we only have electricity from the government a few hours a day and therefore the ways to communicate ain´t the best. The mobile phone is expensive and you have to stick to sending texts because it is so hard to hear what people say due to the poor lines. At times, these issues is demanding, because you just can´t get things done. Washing clothes happens if all goes well, every ten days, a luke warm shower at the best every other day,drinking water you buy most of the time, food consists mainly of bread, eggs and rice or pasta, mainly due to the time constraints and that we cook our own food all the time. And doing your business on the Internet isn´t happening every day either. Now it has been off for three days. But you get use to it.Most business, including the school, have a generator, but that one is also on and off down, and isn´t strong enough to run both the Internet and supply us with water. Having a conversation outside after the sunset is hard, due to the extremely noise generators, but even though we have one just outside our window, we still sleep well and go about our business. You learn to live with it. Something the Yemenis are expert in doing. We are learning slowly!

So right now, in between reading tweets and uploading photos on Facebook, whilst Eva is snoring and her mama studying, I am getting ready to leave for the Red Sea Coast by travelling on gravel roads, twisting their way through valleys and mountains to avoid security and get stopped. There’s so much to do. Preparing the cameras, buying loads of food, finding a transport willing to do this dangerous trip and finding out all facts about cost of camels and where to buy it. Right now, it seems like the Friday cattle market at the small village of Bayt Al Faqihis the best bet. A good camel goes for around 1-2000 dollars plus equipment. The main problem is the lack of time. Our visas run out the 28th o December and we have to head home for Sweden again and I just don´t have appropriate time to train the camels I want, so I have decided to go for only one camel. I don´t have the money to buy more camels anyway. Another reason is the availability of food and water along the chosen route. I will try to persuade the owner of the camel I buy, to come with us for a few days so I can get to know the partner to be. I will leave it with friends in Sanaa after the trip,whilst I go back to Sweden and head for Ecuador, Peru, Galapagos, Yakutia and Barcelona, before I hopefully can return and finish the last stretch in mid-Spring. And continue with the same camel and acquire a few more along the way. That is the idea. But first I have to get out of Sanaa with my new partner, Amin!

#11 = Ta'izz
Report 2 from Yemen:
“There´s no way you will get a permission to leave the city as things are right now!” , I was told by pretty much everybody, when I tried to get a permit to go and visit my very good friend Rashad in his home village located in between two big mountains south of the country´s biggest city Taizz.

Photo of Ta'izz

Except from Report # 7
After 12 really demanding days, due to the heat, roughness of the paths and the constant attention from people, we were, due to security reasons forced out on the main road form Sanaa to Taizz. We were never alone. Always surrounded or followed by curious people. Walking next to a heavily trafficked and paved road isn´t any fun at all. But it is fast. So we clocked 30 km.s a day, which is good and arrived to the suburbs of Sanaa 3 days earlier than planned. When we hit the Silah, the old route through Sanaa, media met us, peopled cheered us and when we walked thorugh the Old City, some parts over 2500 years old, through the ancient bazaars, that was an ageless experience, one of the biggest I have had in my life.

Route from Sana'a to Ta'izz and back

We are all getting ready to go home. There´s no Christmas celebrationshere, but being with the family is the biggest gift I could have anyway. Wehave set up the preparations for part two, which I, in shallah, hope will take place in April and 6 months ahead, well,at least up until a month before Himyar arrives. This time thorugh the closedarea of Marib and through Hadramawt and the hottest desert in the world – Rub Al Khali. I have two days to wrap up the filming. Ihave over 100 hours of film…..and I just feel, when the film is ready to be broadcast, in shallah, next Christmas and I have done the rest of the journey, itwill be a unique experience in every way, showing the real Yemen.

Bab al Yeman

This trip isn´t a classical Expedition as such, but the uniqueness with it, is that it is virtually impossible to do at this time! Nobody gets a permit to leave Sanaa! But we did it and we did what I came here to do. To show the positive sides of this great country and its people and to show the world how safe it is and how wrong this articles, written mainly by young career seeking stringers, well, they don´t tell much of the truth!

#13 = I'm Back in Yemen!
I am sitting in a tower house in the Old Sanaa writing this report. So I have made it in to Yemen again, ready to get things rolling.
A major part of every Expedition which is often overlooked, is the preparations. Which includes finding sponsors, figuring out a route, dealing with the daily life of normality, by which I mean, a family life which includes cooking, picking up your child at nursery school, trying to be a good husband, lover and father and get all details right as regards to what is waiting on the Expedition to be. It isn´t easy, but it makes a difference. During this last month before I finally got on a plane to San’a to initiate Expedition Yemen By Camel part 2, I have written down my actions, worries and thoughts every 3 days.
Progress Report (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg)

Expedition Yemen; An Insight into tribal law and I am still stuck in Sanaa
Report (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)
”Do you want to get kidnapped?” the sheikh had asked me the day before when visiting his office and smiled a bit; “I think what you want to do is very brave and it would help my country, but at this moment it is impossible. The situation has changed a lot since you were here half a year ago. I cannot guarantee your safety if you travel by camel.”

No report available yet for this location.

No reports yet for this location.

"As most people here in Al Ghaydah. One thing is for sure, not a lot of international tourists passing through here. People are really curious, but very friendly. For example, two days ago, we went out walking in the Mid Day heat, to get acclimatized, and every second car which passed us stopped and asked what in earth we where doing walking in this heat, and if they could help or offer us lunch at their house."
6/14/2012 Report (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)

#17 = Marayt
"Tanya comes from the suburbs of Stockholm. A very different background to the one where I am brought up in the sticks of the Central-North of Sweden in a tiny village. We talked two different dialects, but I love hers. It is the tough dialect of the suburbs and she makes me continously laugh. She is a tough talking girl who fits in very well in both the worlds of men and women. But I was worried that she was to eager to show that she could do the job as a translator and Expedition partner. She worked continously. Running back and forth talking photos, filming, talking to Muhammed who got more tired by every meter and sometimes she just forgot to drink. But it was Muhammed who fell apart just before we made it to our first settlement, the last before we headed up Wadi Kudyt, a settlement called Marayt."
Report (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)

6 Days north of Al Ghaydah.
(http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)                                                                                                                                                                   "It's 50 degrees Celsius and in the shade, it's 43 degrees. We make our way when we have the moon. This desert sun is always unbearable. Before the heat gets too excruciating, we walk for 2 – 4 hours in this grueling desert. There is nothing physically pleasurable about it. Yet the beauty is like the gorge of the Grand Canyon. Instead of waiting for a sounding echo, we tend to Kensington, who demands our every attention. At night we hardly sleep from the heat and just hope our body revives before we have to tend to Kensington again. He is run down, we are run down. In hindsight, having Mahout was our godsend. Mahout was not just our 'guide', he had enthusiasm, spirit and energy that rubbed off on us. To not be met with hostility, Mahout knew when it was time he return to his village. Every tribes person, every villager, every Bedu, has their own mental boundary. Without a 'guide', we are slower, and our progress is slow. By 'guide', I also mean 'protector'."

Report from Marayt
Full Report (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)
"

#24 = l-Mahrah, Yemen
Expedition Yemen By Came; Poor Me! (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)

#25 = Unknown location

Expedition Yemen By Camel; Marriage offer with a 12 year old, (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)

"The last day was the hardest. We did 7 hours though the midday heat and when we arrived at Rumah, we were all knackered. But we got surrounded by a small crowd of people in cars, following us and scaring Kensington which immediately got diarrhea from anxiety and Saleem said he wanted to get out of this place as quick as possible. He was clearly very worried. Rumah was kind of a crossroads place in the middle of the desert in the state of Hadramawht, where we were not allowed to be, due to the worries concerning the presence of Al Qaedah. We parked Kensington at a hotel parking, had a quick lunch, repacked and gave Saleem all the equipment we didn´t need anymore, he complained it was too much and then we cross the road in front of the hotel to say goodbye to our partners on route, on a crowd turned up in no time, as did the police and wanted to see our papers and talk about Al Qaeda."

#28 = Thamud, Hadramawht, Yemen
"We entered the bus in surprise, but suddenly realized after a call to our friend Mohammed in Al Ghaydah that they most likely were talking about a family which came from the village near Taizz called Al Qaedah! So much for terror organisations planning to kidnap us! However, we still felt some anxiety of reaching the first road block, since we didn´t have a permit to be in Hadramawht, but Tanya told our Turkish driver, who sorted that out with ease and also invited us for lunch at the next stop."

#29 = Sanaa

30 July 2012, expedition ends
Expedition Yemen By Camel; Meeting Al Qaeda in Rumah and the Expedition Ends (http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/strandberg/)

Other Interactive Maps on History
Try one of the many other Interactive Maps of Explorers and Historic Events at MyReadingMapped. (http://climateviewer.org/myreadingmapped/)