Things to do in San’A
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Al-Hoda Supermarket
This is good for provisions or picnics, or if you're just hankering after Western goodies, such as chocolate or bikkies. It also stocks shampoo, sanitary towels and - usually - nappies.
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Mumbai Durbar
Dishing out spicy subcontinental dishes, this is one of Yemen's lonely Indian restaurants.
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Old San'a
All these galleries are very nice, but let's be honest, on their own they're not worth traipsing halfway around the world for. However, the Unesco-protected old city of San'a is a different matter altogether. It would be fair to say that old San'a is one of the most beautiful cities anywhere on Earth and nothing is likely to prepare you for the moment you first pass through the gates of the Bab al-Yaman.
Most people spend days wandering without aim through this enormous work of art and that's certainly the best way to absorb this city. A compulsory activity for tourist and local alike is to climb to the top of one of the tower houses and relish the ravishing views over th…
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Souq al-Milh
At the heart of Old San'a is the Souq al-Milh. Though the name indicates that the sole product is salt, this is something of a misnomer. Everything from mobile phones to sacks of sultanas is available here. It's almost impossible to point to individual buildings, souqs or sights, but the qat market, in the centre of the old town, is frenetically busy around lunchtime.
The spice souq is every oriental fantasy brought to life and the small cellars where blinkered camels walk round and round in circles crushing sesame seeds to make oil is a glimpse into a bygone age. For many the abiding memory of the city is likely to be of the topsy-turvy, icing-cake houses and the dreamy …
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Hope in their Hands
The National Women's Centre for Development Handicrafts and Hope in their Hands are two nonprofit organisations located inside the same building with the joint aim of increasing the financial independence of Yemeni women. This is done through workshops where the women, who are often widowed or divorced, learn skills such as sewing and weaving. The resulting products are then sold in the two downstairs shops, which together are the best place in San'a to buy souvenirs.
If you're lucky, you might be allowed upstairs to watch the women at work. Even without these centres the building itself, a renovated caravanserai (a traditional storage and lodging house for traders travel…
reviewed
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National Women's Centre for Development Handicrafts
The National Women's Centre for Development Handicrafts and Hope in their Hands are two nonprofit organisations located inside the same building with the joint aim of increasing the financial independence of Yemeni women. This is done through workshops where the women, who are often widowed or divorced, learn skills such as sewing and weaving. The resulting products are then sold in the two downstairs shops, which together are the best place in San'a to buy souvenirs. If you're lucky, you might be allowed upstairs to watch the women at work. Even without these centres the building itself, a renovated caravanserai (a traditional storage and lodging house for traders travel…
reviewed
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Honey
Yemeni honey is well known - and justly so. Honey shops are found throughout the capital (including Az-Zubayri St), though the honey sold is not cheap: around YRI2500 for 500g. Beautiful honeycombs (conveniently packaged in sealed metal discs) cost around YRI2000 to around YRI8000 (depending on quality). A decent honey shop in the old city is Tariq Honey Shop, near the Sheba Art Gallery, where the gift of bees is also likely to come with gifts of Islamic literature.
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National Museum
Claiming to be the largest museum on the Arabian Peninsula, the National Museum is certainly one of the best. The ground and 1st floors contain a breath-taking collection of statues, figurines and other artefacts from the pre-Islamic Kingdoms of Saba and Hadramawt. The 2nd floor concentrates on the medieval Islamic period while the top floor features a slightly less rewarding mishmash of stuffed lions and re-creations of the souqs of San'a.
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Great Mosque
The mosques in San'a are open only to Muslims, but you can often get a fleeting glimpse inside through a doorway and the majestic minarets are there for all to enjoy. Out of the 50 mosques still standing, the Great Mosque is the most significant. For centuries it served as an important Islamic school and centre of learning, and attached to it is a library containing the largest and most famous collection of manuscripts in Yemen.
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Hammams
At least 20 hammams dot the city and they are among the best places to mingle with locals and, should you speak Arabic, catch up on the latest gossip. Not all hammams are keen to take foreigners, so ask your hotel to recommend one locally. Most charge around YRI300 and are open from 06:00 to 19:00. Men and women always bathe separately.
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Military Museum
The ground floor contains Sabaean overflow from the National Museum, which means the Military Museum is more interesting than it sounds. After that the displays revert to the standard death and guns of military museums the world over, though this one also includes some incredibly graphic photos of executions during the Imanic era.
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Houmald Salta
Next to the qat market in the heart of the old city. This salta (a kind of stew and the traditional lunch dish of the highlands) restaurant is regarded as having the best salta in San'a and is a pre-qat-session institution. Buy the accompanying sheets of bread from the women standing around outdoors.
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National Handicrafts Training Center
The gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the National Handicrafts Training Center. This former samsarah (resting/storage house for merchants using the old incense trading routes) also houses a series of other shops selling silverware, woodwork, and semi-precious stones etc.
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Al-Fanoos
Probably the best Western-style sit-down-and-relax restaurant in Yemen - though don't rely on it being open, as it often only swings back the doors at weekends or when there's a group booking. The food is predominately Middle Eastern and there's occasional live music.
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Mosques
Mosques to look out for include the 17th-century Qubbat Talha Mosque, with its unusual minaret; the decrepit mid-16th-century Al-'Aqil Mosque to the north of Souq al-Milh; and the Salah ad-Din Mosque, due east of Al-'Aqil Mosque, built in the 17th century.
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National Art Centre
Housed in a traditional tower house, the National Art Centre is good not just for checking out the local art scene, but also for a spot of shopping. In addition to pieces by local artists there are lots of interesting photos of San'a taken in the 1920s.
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Al-Khima
Its Yemeni and Lebanese food isn't great but it's one of the few places where you might want to linger over a meal. Better than the food are the fruit-flavoured sheesha pipes and the big-screen TV showing all the major sporting events.
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Dar al Hayas a Sanania
This renovated old tower house is the newest museum in the city, the Dar al Hayas a Sanania. It has been spruced up to reveal something of the life and times of a traditional San'a home. It comes with rooftop views and a small craftshop.
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Andad Souq
As well as the atmospheric old town qat souq, there's a much bigger one further east, near the ring road, and another, the Andad Souq, just to the west of the dry wadi (now a road) that runs through the western fringe of the old city.
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Zeyna Food
Run more as a hobby than a business by an Ethiopian woman, this incredibly popular lunchtime restaurant gives you the opportunity to try Ethiopia's national dish, injira and wat, a decidedly acquired taste!
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Horse-riding
Horse-riding on Midan at-Tahrir, opposite the Honda building, costs around YRI1000 for a five-minute ride around the square, and around YRI200 for a photograph sitting on a horse. Ask for the bright orange horse.
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Museum Of Traditional Arts & Crafts
The Museum Of Traditional Arts & Crafts was closed for renovations at the time of research but promises to re-open soon. When it does, prices and opening hours are likely to remain the same as above.
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Coffeehouses
Various Turkish-style coffeehouses can be found around Bab al-Yaman, including the coffeehouse next to the wall, immediately to the left of the gate as you enter the old city (look out for the awning).
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Atelier
The Gallery Al-Bab and the Atelier are both found inside the gates of Bab al-Yaman. The Gallery Al-Bab also offers the chance to clamber up onto the walls of the Bab al-Yaman for memorable views.
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Gallery Al-Bab
The Gallery Al-Bab and the Atelier are both found inside the gates of Bab al-Yaman. The Gallery Al-Bab also offers the chance to clamber up onto the walls of the Bab al-Yaman for memorable views.
reviewed
