Friday 8th December – Salala, Oman

• Arrive at your own leisure to Salala in Oman -Salalah International Airport is well connecting with Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Doha. Self-transfer to our centrally located hotel.
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 7:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• Head out for dinner in the town.
• Overnight in Salala.

Saturday 9th December – Salala – Al Ghaydah

• Breakfast at the hotel and begin scenic drive to the Oman/Yemen border
• We’ll meet our Yemeni guides at the border town of Surfeet. Here you will receive your coveted visa to Yemen.
• Continue the journey along the Mehri coast – stopping for breaks and photos along the way.

Afternoon

• Once we arrive in the border town of Al Ghaydah – our home for our first night staying in South Yemen – here we will stop for lunch before checking into our hotel.
• We head out for a nice walking tour of Al Ghaydah, which will include its vibrant night market – this is the perfect opportunity to experience daily life in Yemen.
• Dinner around the night market – there are loads of restaurants and street food options available.
• Overnight stay in Al Ghaydah.

Sunday 10th December – Al Ghaydah – Khiseet – Mukhalla

• Breakfast at the hotel
• Our morning is taken up with the drive along the Mehri coast, next to the Arabian Sea. This beautiful scenic drive offers us a number of photo opportunities that we will stop for.

Afternoon

• We’ll make a stop at the tiny fishing village of Khiseet – a peaceful relaxing place where we can explore the area and have lunch.
• Our journey continue onwards to Mukhalla, again stopping where possible – our local guides will share their in-depth knowledge of the area.
• Once we arrive in Mukhalla we’ll check into our hotel – Mukhalla is a seaport and the capital city of the province, so there’s plenty of interesting things we’ll see here.
• The best way to explore city – we’ll head out for walking tour of the taking in the port. The events from civil war are still present in the city, you’ll learn about this during your stay. The city was briefly held by Al Qaeda and while there is peace now, the recent history is extremely interesting.
• After a busy day, we’ll have a traditional Yemeni dinner in town. We know a place popular with the locals.
• Overnight in Mukhalla.

Monday 11th December – Mukhalla – Wadi Doan – Haid Al-Jizil

• Breakfast in the hotel
• Before leaving we’ll head into Mukhalla old town – our guides will point out some interesting events and stories that took place. We’ll have the opportunity to buy some unique souvenirs.
• We’ll continue on our tour with a visit to the Khoor Mukhalla and Al-Ghawizi Fort – is one of the oldest fortresses in Yemen.

Afternoon

• Lunch in the city – as always there are plenty of places to choose from, but we know a place you’ll especially enjoy.
• Once we’re ready we’ll drive to Wadi Doan (Doan Valley) one of the most picturesque places within the region – for a panoramic view of the area we will head to the Haid Al-Jizil Hotel – which will also be our base for the evening.
• We’ll continue our tour with a drive to Buqshan, a beautiful village famous for its coloured houses, with friendly hospitable locals. There’s also a mosque with locals visiting during prayer times.
• We head back to Haid Al-Jizil hotel just before sunset so we can capture the view.
• At night we will take a walk around Haid Al-Jizil – known not only known as “Yemens forgotten village”, but also one of the most beautiful towns in central Yemen. Here we will enjoy the old architecture.
• Dinner in Haid Al-Jizil, we’ll try some of the delicious local cuisines.
• Overnight stay in Haid Al-Jizil.

Tuesday 12th December – Haid Al-Jizil – Wadi Doan – Shibam – Hawta

• Breakfast in the hotel
• Put on your comfortable hiking shoes as we’ll trek to Hawfah – it takes roughly a hour but worth it for those panoramic views of the surrounding area.
• Next we’ll drive to Budha which again offers a great viewpoint for pictures seekers.
• As we continue the drive we will stop at a number of small, but unique villages, such as Qarn Majed, to get a true feel for what life is like in valleys of Yemen.

Afternoon

• In the afternoon we’ll visit Al Khuraiba, a beautiful town and a great place to break up the journey for lunch.
• As we continue on we stop at a truly unique site, the former palace of the Osama Bin-Laden family – a unique if somewhat bizarre photo opportunity.
• The journey continues with rest and tour stops at Sif and Hajjrain villages – this is the best way to see daily local life Yemen.
• We then drive to Shibam, in Wadi Hadhramaut (Hadhramaut Valley) in time for a truly beautiful sunset – Inshallah.
• Once we arrive to Hawta, which is part of Seyun City and our home for the penultimate night of our tour.
• We’ll head out to Hawta centre for a relaxing dinner.
• Overnight stay in Hawta.

Wednesday 13th December – Hawta – Shibam – Seiyun – Avnat – Tarim

• Breakfast in the hotel, before our last day of the tour!
• We return to Shibam, also known at the Manhattan of Arabia – we are not sure exactly how they came up with this!
• We’ll have city tour of Shiban, which will include all of the main sites, as well as the mud huts, of which it is most famous for.

Afternoon

• Lunch in Shiban, our local guide knows a popular spot with the locals.
• We now take the drive to Seiyun, the biggest and most important city in Southern Yemen.
• On arrival we’ll stop at the Sultan Palace Museum, as well as the Al-Falas Palace – the former residence of the sultan of Kathiri.
• Next we’ll take a city tour, which will includes the main mosque, town centre, as well as wander around the Al-Handal Souk, a great place for souvenirs and bargain hunting. We will also check out the local fruit and vegetable market, a bustling place filled with friendly locals.
• We’ll continue on towards Aynat a small village in Eastern Yemen that is famous for its shrines and locals making pilgrims.
• Our very last stop is in Tarim, a historical village where all buildings are made of mud. We’ll explore the main site which includes the beautiful Al Mihdar Mosque, as well as visiting the largest open air market – you can find locals trading goods.
• We’ll head back to Hawta after a busy day.
• Our last night of the tour, so we head into town where our local guides have arranged a Yemeni feast for us!
• Overnight stay in Hawta.

Thursday 14th December – Hawta – Seiyun

• Breakfast and early morning departure to catch the flight back to Cairo, Egypt with Yemen Airways – flight cost not included in tour cost but YPT can arrange at the office in Yemen for approx $450 – bring this amount in USD cash with you to Yemen.

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