It won't happen in my lifetime but if Yemen becomes safe enough, I would like to go back there if it is still like guide books from the 1980s describe.
To the east is the Hadhramaut where towns like Shibam have traditional multi-story buildings. I gather that on some buildings, windows are painted on to give the impression of an extra floor. Women traditionally wear hats similar to those once worn by Welsh women.
To the northwest, the country is green and well-watered, with some surviving stretches of tropical forest and mangroves. From articles in National Geographic, the scenery is spectacular, with terraced farming.
The fauna and flora have a lot in common with Africa on the other side of the Red Sea. Lions and ostriches have been extirpated and oryx are now only found in neighbouring countries but there are hamadryas baboons, striped hyenas and hyraxes. Sadly, leopards are now few and even wild gazelles are scarce. Dugongs, once tourist attractions when stuffed and called "mermaids of Aden", are also rare. (Chimeras composed of stuffed fish and monkeys, displayed as curios in America and Europe, were also sometimes called "mermaids of Aden".)
I spent part of my childhood in Aden but the furthest I got from Aden territory itself was an up-country village called Shuqra. My father was going to be working there and he and his colleagues wanted a look around. We travelled in two landrovers. The road was untarred and part of it was on a wide beach, where the border checkpoint also was. We passed through a village called Zinjibar, which is the Arabic name for Zanzibar. I read that it was so named because of a large community of freed slaves,
I won't write sbout Aden itself as my memories are vivid but outdated. Writing about past experiences on a travel thread is only worthwhile if travellers can still enjoy the same experiences.
