Hadramout: “The Pearl of Yemen” [Archives:2004/783/Culture]

Yasser Mohammed Al-Mayyasi
The governorate of Hadramout is located in the eastern part of Yemen, 770 km from Sana'a. It is surrounded by the Empty Quarter desert from the north, Al-Mahrah from the east, the Arab sea from the south and Shabwa from the west.
I visited Hadramout last week for the first time after being invited by some businessmen to cover the functions of an entrepreneurial project of cement for Yemeni and Saudi businessmen. My visit to this coastal city was so pleasing, I felt somehow guilty for not visiting it before, even though I promote tourism.
Hadramout is characterized by tropical hot and dry weather, which also prevails in the southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula. In summer, the temperature sometimes exceed 38C in some areas of the province, and 35C in the coastal areas owing to the seasonal storm full of humidity coming from the southern direction. In winter, the temperature does not exceed the 20C.
Hadramout has many historic towns, various sights and green valleys that experienced the flourish of ancient civilization. Among its important towns is Mokalla, the capital and one of the ports in the Arab sea.
Mukalla is distinguished for being the only coastal city that possesses an instinctive architectural style; an original one combining the elements of the Arab and Yemeni architectural styles as well as those of the east southern parts of Asia.

Other significant sites
– Mukalla, which has Al-Ghawaizi castle, located at the entrance of the city and Al-Sultan castle, and Bawazeer string, which is 35 km to the east of city. In these areas, we see the best kinds of tobacco products and other agricultural products.
– The city of Al-Shehr, one of the most famous Arab markets, is 62 km to the east of Mukalla and was known as a port after the deterioration of Gana historical port. Wonderful turtles lavishly exist in the coast Al-Shehr.
– Hadramout valley which is one of the large, fertile and tourist valleys stretching over 165 km and includes various tourist cities.
– Of the historic cities of Hadramout is Tareem, which is still an Islamic landmark and a cultural city with its library, covering thousands of transcripts.
– The city of Shebam, situated in the middle of the valley, comprises distinguished architecturally designed castles and skyscrapers.
– Daw'an valley, which is famous for producing the best sorts of honey all over the coastal villages.

Hadramout is still a city that collects the constituents of development and is in a need of investors who could know and assess its tourist sights. It is a city of oil, of tourism, of culture and of fine arts that attract visitors.
If we focus much more on Hadramout and its infrastructure, we will realize that it is the best solution for getting rid of the unemployment.
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