Al-Hajjara Heavenly Beauty Bestowed on Earth [Archives:2000/43/Last Page]

Many tourists come to Yemen to see the great and deep-rooted civilization that once was established in the country. They come full of hopes to enjoy themselves to the full, to see most of the historic places Yemen is distinguished for. Having the chance to see some of these historical places and monuments scattered all over Yemen, a tourist could not but be deeply impressed by the unique beauty manifested on earth.
The Yemeni-British Friendship Association had a plan orgnized by Universal Travel and Tourism in Sanaa to visit Manakha, 125 km to the West of Sanaa, and many other places inside the country in a way to refresh the Yemeni-British relations which have been tense specially after incidents of 1998. Yemen Times represented by Tawfeek al-Sharaabi was invited to accompany them and make a report of this place. It was a lovely journey. However, some bad things were destined to happen and they always happen. Most of the tourists were disturbed and annoyed. However, it was out of our hand.

Difficulties Faced:
The time we reached al-Subahah check point at half past eight, we were held up despite the fact that we submitted an official permit. Officers at the check point were very uncooperative. They are ill-mannered under the pretext of waiting for a convoy. Mr. Mohammed Nasser al-Baidani, Universal Travel and Tourism Agency Public Relation Officer, was with us. We made calls to the Military operations Department, capital secretariat, Interior Ministry which all confirmed sending an escort car from Sanaa. However, It did not happen until ten oclock.
Tourists were quite disturbed and annoyed at this chaos and total negligence. Saeed, working in the Universal for almost 12 years, said This is a perfect example of the securitys sense of ignorance and negligence to tourism. We keep our part of the bargain by submitting a report in detail about tourists number, nationalities, and places we plan to visit. Then, Military operations have to make things ready and on time. They should keep escort cars ready to accompany tourists to places considered to be unsafe. However, they never do that and we are always held up for hours until an escort car comes.
A tourist expressed his annoyance by saying We are astonished that we are held up. We understand that we have to be in convoy. But if this is the case there should be a car supplied and available here on time. We should not be waiting here. This is a bit annoying. I came here to see the country and not to see the check point with police holding me up.
Finally the escort car came after one and half hours delay making some movements going in front of us and then at the back. We felt good. However, after, lets say, eight to ten kilometers we were surprised to see no car escorting us. The escort car disappeared. What stupid and loose security measures?!!!

On the Way to Manakha:
On our way to Manakha we passed a magnificent village located on the top of high lofty mountains called Bait al-Madei. The time we stopped to take some pictures, a person called Hussain Muhssen Sanah, who speaks French, came with his bag full of traditional objects and silver jewelry and started tempting tourists to buy.
Then, we reached al-Maghraba where there are two ways one straight to Bajel and then to Hudaidah while the other goes left leading to Manakha and then to al-Hajjarah. Along the way to al-Hajjarah there were many children who came showing their traditional artifacts.

al-Hajjara Dates Back to 2000 Years
When we reached al-Hajjara we had some pictures from the back side of the village. It was wonderful, magnificent, marvelous. All of us stood wondering at that beauty and lofty buildings. On the way to the village villagers stood in a long line welcoming us, presenting traditional objects they made in a marvelous way.
al-Hajjara is said to date back to 2000 years. It is a historical city whose buildings are very tall and very closely related to each other. There is only one way to the old village and one gate. In a small village called al-Baaah on the Eastern side of al-Hajjara there used to be some Jews in the past.
Manakha is as such known for its beautiful climate. Shebam is to the North and is 3000 m above the sea-level. In the west side of the village there is a mountain which is called Maasaa, 4000 m above the sea-level where Arwa bint Ahmad al-Sulaihi lived for 40 years.
While touring around in the village we came across a tall five-floor building. Haj. Ahmad Ali al-Bashri, a tourist guide, said it belonged to sheikh Abdullah Khalil. He said that the first floor is for the animals, the second for coffee, the third for grains, the fourth for food, and the fifth is for chewing qat and wedding ceremonies.
In al-Hajarra there is a very nice traditional hotel. It is always full of tourists. The Hotel is distinguished for its services and Yemeni meals that tourists enjoy very much. The services provided in this hotel are great. Clean food, nice treatment, Yemeni environment. What impresses every body is that after lunch all the hotel staff and some people from the village start dancing and singing Yemeni traditional songs. Tourists love this very much to the extent that some of them started dancing with Yemenis. One of them said This is what I want to experience. I love this.
Peoples Career:
Manakha, in general, is very famous for planting coffee. This goes back to very long time in history. The people used to have very good revenue from coffee which made them able to build such tall buildings and palaces. Besides agriculture some of the people earn their living from trade and tourism.
Many tourists who come to the village stay in al-Hajjara and then they go to another village called al-Hutaib used to be for the Ismalin. It is one of the best natural places in Yemen for trekking. Tourists can walk for six hours on mountains.
To make a long story short, tourists love to come to our country and to visit historical places that scatter all over Yemen. However, good security measures, good treatment, good-mannered soldiers in check points have all to be ensured. Otherwise, no way to maintain tourists interest to come to Yemen. The point is Is any body listening to me?!

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