Food & Drink: Hotel restaurants serve both Oriental and Western dishes, particularly Chinese and Indian. There are a few independent restaurants serving international and Arab cuisine. Seafood is particularly recommended, as is haradha (a mincemeat and pepper dish). Also marag lahm (meat soup), hanid (lamb meat cooked in typical oven with spices) and kabsa (rice with lamb meat) should not be missed.
Alcohol is not generally available but may be served in hotels. It is illegal to buy alcohol for a Yemeni citizen. Tourists are advised to respect Muslim customs and traditions.
Nightlife: This is generally centred on the major hotels.
Shopping: Souks (markets) are interesting places to shop and buy handicrafts. Purchases include foutah (national costume), leather goods, jambia (daggers), candlesticks, scarves (woven with gold thread), amber beads, brightly coloured cushions and ceramics. Other items include gold- and silverwork, spice, perfume, bukhur incense with charcoal and pottery containers in which to burn it, coloured mats and sharks’ teeth. Shopping hours: Sun-Thurs 0800-1300 and 1600-2100.
Special Events: Most special events in Yemen are religious holidays, which are tied to the Islamic Hijra calendar; therefore, the dates vary each year. For details of special events and festivals held in Yemen, contact the General Authority of Tourism (see Contact Addresses section).
Social Conventions: Traditional values are still very much part of everyday life and visitors will be treated with traditional courtesies and hospitality. Many of the population work in agriculture, with several thousand dependent on fishing. The rest live and work in towns and there is a small nomadic minority living along the northern edges of the desert. Guns become more noticeable further north, slung over the shoulder and carried in addition to the traditional jambia. In towns, women are veiled with black or coloured cloth, while in the villages such customs are not observed. Yemenis commonly chew qat, a locally grown shrub bearing shoots that have a stimulant effect (similar to caffeine), chewed in markets and cafes but more stylishly sitting on cushions in a guestroom or mafrai at the top of a multi-storeyed Yemeni house. For the visitor, conservative casual clothes are suitable; visiting businesspeople are expected to wear suits. Men need to wear a jacket and tie for formal occasions and in smart dining rooms. Women are expected to dress modestly and beachwear and shorts should be confined to the beach or poolside. Smoking is forbidden during Ramadan. Foreigners are requested not to smoke, eat or drink in public. Tipping: The practice of tipping is becoming more common. Waiters and taxi drivers should be tipped 10 to 15 per cent. |
