I’m in Seiyun, Yemen, winding up a short Yemeni tour.  It’s been an enjoyable visit, with lots of rugged semi-desert scenery, traditional villages, historic towns, and a distinctive culture.

To avoid doubt: I’ve been visiting the sane, calm, government-controlled Hadhramaut region of Yemen.  Well away from the not-at-all-sane rebel-controlled North-West.  In Hadhramaut there are a lot of security checkpoints on the roads, but no recent trouble.

I had arranged a private tour through Young Pioneer Tours.  YPT were very helpful and their local operator was very well-organized and on the ball. It was a great tour!

The scenic Wadi Do’an, full of traditional villages. Note the village perched on the rock.

A view of Shibam “The Manhattan of Arabia”, a Unesco site, with its mudbrick towers.

An oddly precarious fortress tower.

A visiting Scotsman in the traditional Yemeni kilt equivalent.