Tourist Visas:
It is
easy to get entry Visa; any Yemeni Consulate in your
country will issue one to you provided there is a blank
page on your passport. Visa will be denied if you have
previous Visa from
Israel
or you are a citizen of
Israel
(it is enough, in the first case, ask a copy of your
passport in your country).
It is also possible buy Visa
directly in the Sana’a International Airport (in the
hall, you will find a small office on the left) paying
around 25 ˆ (euro are well accepted, but is better to
have cash, because often the office has not change).
It
is also recommended to write in the “arrival card”
(handed to you in the plane) a Yemeni address, so
remember to take with you the copy of your booking in
Sana’a (use the address of the hotel as yours).
You can
find the other information requested in the “arrival
card” on your passport.
The validity period of tourist Visa is 3 months.
Imports:There are not strictly restrictions but alcoholic
beverages are forbidden in
Yemen,
so it is better if you don’t bring in your handbag.
Export:
You are allowed to export anything you will buy in
Yemen, of course this doesn’t
include items of historical value (officially all
articles over 50 years old belong to the national
heritage and can’t be exported).
Official Money:
Yemeni Rial (YR). The notes are 1000 YR, 500 YR, 200 YR,
100 YR, 50 YR. Coins are 20 YR, 10 YR, 5 YR. Some shops
accept credit card, however is better pay in cash also
the hotels, because in the old town and villages POS is
difficult to find.
Changing
Money:
There is an exchange office nearby the Visa’s
office in the hall of Sana’a International Airport, but
it might be a good idea
carry small notes.
During days after you will
find a lot of Change offices in the
Old
City,
even not all of them have “official” change (remember to
check the official rate before leave your country, even
if Yemeni Rial is unstable and the rate changes one day
by another).
The change offices in Sana’a are open until
midnight (Tharir Square, Bab Al Yemen).
It is
possible take money from cash-points (Saba Islamic Bank
will give you directly Yemeni Rial, but not more than
40.000 YR, that is around 140 ˆ; the other banks will
give you USA $).
Costs:
If you conform to traditional Yemeni lifestyle, you can do your journey
cheaply. Basic food is cheap: a glass of tea costs 20 YR
(8 cents of Euro, more or less); a loaf of bred 10 YR (4
cents of Euro); a bottle of water 40 YR (16 cents of
Euro).
Tour
permits:
To exit from the capital and to move around
Yemen is necessary have tour
permits.
Your Yemeni tour agent will provide to make it
for you, according to the travel plane that you book.
You have just to tell him your passport number and
clearly the places that you want visit.
Don’t try to
move from Sana’a without the tour permit because the
control system is impressive: there are road-blocks
around every major town and along ever traversable road,
permanently occupied by a handful of soldiers. All
travellers must stop at these check points and their
permit examined.
Sometimes the soldiers take a copy of
the permit because they are obliged to keep a record of
the foreigners passing by
When
to visit:
There
is no ideal season to visit
Yemen
as the climatic conditions vary considerably between the
different regions.
If you are planning to visit Hadhramout (desert zone) it will be better book during
winter (October – February) because the temperature will
be excellent. Also to visit
Socotra
Island
will be better choice this season because during summer
it is possible have some problems with winds for
flights.
The rainy seasons – the lighter one in
March-April and the heavier in August-September – offer
pleasant temperatures of 20°C to 30°C in high plateaus,
but it is more hot and humid in the Red Sea Cost.
In
general you can program the best places to visit, in the
period chosen, with your tour operator
What
to take:
Hygiene:
From supermarket of the bigger cities you can buy all
the things you need for personal hygiene.
Medicine:
Bring
supplies for minor ailments: band-aids for small wounds,
pain-killers, anti-diarrhoeic tablets. If you have
chronic ailment requiring special treatments, bring with
you whatever you needed.
But most towns have pharmacies,
and no prescription are required for medicine and
pharmacy staff often do doctor’s job when customers drop
into to show their problems and ask for a solution.
Miscellaneous:
Take
a flashlight with you because sometimes electricity goes
away for a while especially during rainy season.
Vaccinations:
If
you want to be sure of what is recommended, is better
you ask to your national health service, but in general
it is enough take vaccines against Hepatitis A,
Hepatitis B, Typhoid’s fever. The most likely illness to
affect you in
Yemen
is some sort of diarrhoea. The usual cause is eating
something that was no safe. Common sense recommends to
drink only mineral water, to eat vegetables not cooked
only in the main restaurants, and fruit washed by your
self.
Food:
Yemeni diet is simple: sorghum and other cereals,
vegetables, rice, beans, meat (lamb, chicken and beef),
eggs, fish and fruit constitute the bulk of daily meals.
There are also several varieties of bread, delicious
eaten warm. The national dish is a thick, fiery stew
called
salta;
it contains either lamb or chicken, lentils, beans,
chickpeas, coriander, spices, chilly on a bed of rice.
Over that is a fenugreek sauce (helba). If you like sweets,
Yemen it will be your favourite
country, because you will find several kinds of
desserts, all with nuts and honey. Yemeni serve their
mocha coffee in a mixture with ginger and tea with
cardamom and other spices, both very sweet.
Electricity:
220
volts.
It is
better if you bring with you an universal plug (Yemeni
sockets have tree exit squared).
Photography:
Islamic tradition explicitly forbids the making of
portrait of people. Don’t snap a photo of anybody
without asking permission first (show your camera and
utter the phrase
mumkin sura).
It is not customary to photograph
women even veiled ones. Military installations and
building (Airports, check points, communication
stations) are strictly prohibited because are sensitive
subject.
Things to buy:
Jewellery:
in the silver markets in the
suq of Sana’a
and Ta’izz old and old-looking silverwares are sold.
Often some corals, pearls and pieces of amber are
combined with silver.
You can find necklaces, earrings
and rings. Jews of Yemen were an important branch of
craftspeople since silver jewellery traditionally was
been a convenient and popular means of paying the bride
wealth.
Jambiyas:
an
object typical of countries in southern
Arabia is the curved
dagger men wear on a special belt at their waist. In
Yemen you can find the tribesman’s
dagger called
jambiya, sharply curved and kept at the front of the
body, with the tip of the sheath pointing to the right.
This dagger serve mainly ceremonial purpose because the
design of the blades ensures that you can’t do anything
with them. You can buy a jambiya for 2000 YR but if you
would have one with silver or gold decoration it will
cost you even 10.000 ˆ, especially the ones with handles
made of African rhinoceros horn.
Water pipes:
this
object is called in
Yemen
mada’a and the
equipment includes a tripod stand of brass onto which
the water bowl is placed and serves as a support for the
two metres long hose when is not being used. On the top
of the vertical tube is the holder for tobacco and
cool-holder, made of pottery.
Prices vary according to
the materials and quality of workman ship of each part.
Fabrics:
you will find the typical male Yemeni clothes
futa in a
several colours and also many traditional fabrics used
as shawls or to cover heads (shial, kefia…). The new handcrafts use often the Yemeni fabrics or
the jambiyas
belts to realize bags and other kinds of cases.
Miscellaneous:
you will enjoy your travel going around suq where you
will find myrra,
incense, spices, body and hair oils, lamps, wood boxes
and a lot of “strange” things that sellers will try
to explain you how to use…
Drugs:
Qat:
