Amran and Thilla, Yemen

Amran is situated on a small hill with a citadel above. The city marks the border between the tribal and government run areas. It lies on the old Frankincense trading route. Today there is a huge modern city on the outside of the old city. A lot of the modern buildings are government offices and military buildings.
The old city is surrounded by a high wall and the buildings inside it are all adobe.

The local children were pretty excitable and some were aggressive - snatching at the books we had in our hands and grabbing our arms and clothing. Some of the young ones surrounded Vic begging to have photos taken and then all scrambling to be in the shot. Some of the locals reprimanded the kids and others chased them away when they saw them crowding us.
It was qat chewing time when we arrived so there were very few shops open and the old souq was closed so we didn't spend too much time there.

Our next stop was Thilla ( Thulla ). On the way here we passed many poultry rearing sheds as well as the usual crops of wheat and maize.

Thilla is a UNESCO listed site, with about 8,000 people living inside the old city walls and 4,000 outside. There are 25 mosques in the old city. There were a large number of young men on well-polished and decorated motorbikes. They were
recklessly driving fast through the narrow streets. Probably they are the rewards of growing qat in this fertile valley.

The adobe houses had alabaster windows to let light in and afford privacy for the women. Some whitewashed the window frames to make them a feature and to add interest to the houses that would otherwise have melded into the same coloured hillside.

We were met by a couple of local guides who also happened to own souvenir shops. They pointed out the houses that were built by Jewish families with their coloured windows in the shape of the Star of David. There were also houses with the Maltese cross.

The streets were clean and tidy even though some animals were stabled on the ground floor.

The main water cistern had been emptied as it was leaking and now they have to wait for the summer rains to refill it.

We had a speedy trip back to San'a where we were able to burn a CD of the photos from our camera and Vic's one too. We need to look for a replacement camera to record the final month of our travels.

The children were asleep when we got back to Victor and Asia's place and we were disappointed that we had missed seeing them.