1

I live in Yemen. I also lived here last year as the revolution reached it's peak. The country has changed dramatically since last year, never mind 1996. There are a number of issues with your current plan:

First, visas for independent tourists are virtually non-existant. The few tourists that are coming to the country need to use a travel agency. But even that has become more difficult in the last few months. So, it's unclear if you can even get into the country. But that's not even the biggest problem.

Tourists have needed travel permits to travel overland for ages. But recently, it has become extremely difficult to get these permits. For the last several years, a few places have been off limits. These included Abyan, Shabw and Marib governates (although organized tours could transit Abyan under military convoy) But these days, Abyan and Shabwa are under sustain drone bombing from the USA. Suicide bombings are frequent. It is a war zone. There is no way in heck you'd get a permit to transit the area, even with a military escort.

To further complicate matters, the port of Aden is a shadow of what it once was. There are very few vessels which still use it. As such, it is virtually impossible to find transport to Djibouti or Somaliland.

So, even if you get a visa, you won't get a permit to transit Abyan/Shabwa. If you magically managed to accomplish this, finding transport to Africa could take weeks or months. In short, you'd be better off trying to transit Saudi (in itself a major logistical challenge)

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Thanks indeed for all the information, fluffy_bunny! Please check your mail, and again many thanks and best regards!

Emil

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if your visiting Somaliland your need a visa in advance.
you can pick up a Somaliland visa from Addis the capital of Ethiopia.

The other question I wanted to ask you how did get your visa to Yemen

1. Though a Yemeni Consulate or Embassy?
2. Did you get your visa though a tour company if so how much did you pay?
3. When visa was issue - did have email visa in English and Arabic or was Visa Sticker in Passport.

Edited by dan30

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Hi dan30,

Pls see message
Rgds

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@ world i will read your message.

6

Hi Dan. I entered Yemen by car last week with no problems. They wanted £80 for each visa to begin with, but I lifted my 5 year old little girl up to the window and put 5 Omani rials in my passport and asked them to stamp my daughters hand as she loves stamps! They called a load of mates, laughed at us for taking so much money off me and let us on our way! This was at hauf I think, though the map didn't detail the name. The coast road from salalah in southern Oman to Yemen is pretty spectacular in parts.
God luck.