On the road to Mareb and Shibham

In the morning jeeps from different hotels gather to "convoy" to Mareb with an escort.

Signs on highway remind that machine guns are not allowed.

Our escort to Mareb in the land of Sheba

Yemeni guys

We go through many villages...

Our cars (5 4x4)

Our Drivers.

Driver (detail)

We have some serious protection around us!

Gee, these "things" are heavy!

Going through the desert is not easy... and it was HOT!
And finally, at the end of the day, beautiful Shibham.

Varanasi, India

It has been over a year since I was last there but it came to mind today so here are some images of a very unusual place (I preferred its former name of Benares).

Yemen doors

You can see some old doors that are made out of wood and very intricate. Today they make metal doors with colorful details that are also very interesting.

More doors later as they are a big part of Yemen's life.

Boys and girls in Sanaa, Yemen

Sanaa in Yemen

I just took a trip to Yemen. An unlikely destination I know. Out of our zone of comfort as of today. But...Arabia Felix as it was called in the latin days. The land of Sheeba. Very mysterious and extremely beautiful.

Houseboat on Kerala's backwaters

A houseboat like the one I spent 24 hours on. It was a great experience to be able to enjoy sunset, sunrise, get my meals cooked, sleep under a net and enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful and exotic place. Fishermen go out at night and all the boats are parked in a reserved area, moving again in the morning after the fishermen have come back in.

Fishermen we saw.

Sunset from the boat.

Sunrise from the boat.

The 3 men who took care of me on the boat.

Morning scenes seen from the boat.

Tea plantation visit in Kerala

One of the highlights of my Kerala visit was taking a walk by myself through a tea plantation (on the way to Perryar. Munar is an other good area to see tea plantations). I was lucky to arrive while tea leaves were being picked. Women work the field. They come from the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu and of course make very little money for hard work. At first they were shy and distant but soon warmed up and I ended up sharing their tea break. The masala tea was delicious!