Report Africa 2009 (8)
33. Hodeidah, OYHD - 23.03.2009 - 215 NM - 1:37
The drug Khat lames the whole country and the people. People don´t mind how they are living. The only important thing is having these special green leaves after lunch and then they are happy. With development money projects are started but never finished. Neither in the morning nor in the afternoon we discovered people working at those projects. The town itself is very lively in the morning hours with horning all the time. You can hear muezzins shouting during day and night and you see only extremely veiled women.
34. Sana'a , OYSN - 25.03.2009 - 120 NM - 1:05
We had to climb from 47 ft to 11500 ft to cross the mountains which surround Sana’a Airport at an altitude of 7216 ft. Since our last stay in December 2004 the city is still fascinating and the inhabitants love the German. But this is no miracle because all the money is coming actually from Germany as nearly the only country which is financing everything what you are finding in the Yemen. But there is no reward which makes us very thoughtful.
To leave the town we needed a permit again. This time we visited Wadi Dar, Thula, Shibam and Kaukaban. Also these destructed places are renovated with German money but the people don´t keep them properly and all is looking very dirty. So the whole country is a dump. But due to the drug Khat people don´t realize these problems.
35. Jeddah, OEJN - 28.03.2009 - 520 NM - 3:36
It had been a very turbulent flight through towering cumulus which finished with a very bumpy approach with 30 kts of wind, but CAVOK. Jeddah is a modern city with a beautiful long Corniche along the Red Sea. The historic town is remarkable. You see old lopsided brick houses with nice carved balconies all in a different style. Most of the houses aren´t any more habitable, because they nearly cave in. It is unbelievable that such a rich country delays the renovations of such a world heritage.
Like in Riyadh nobody is walking and so the city would look dead if there weren´t be the immense car traffic. Saudi Arabia couldn´t exist without all the workers from India, Pakistan and other places around the world. The whole goods are coming from China.
36. Aqaba, OJAQ - 30.03.2009 - 565 NM - 04:46
The flight along the Red Sea to Aqaba was worth seeing. The holiday resorts in Sharm-el-Sheik are looking horrible as they are densely packed while the Sinai is spacious and deserted and invites for a stay. Aqaba didn´t change since our last stay and is still nice. However, in the meantime the airport officials became stupid and impolite.
37. Aman-Marka, OJAM - 01.04.2009 - 150 NM - 01:17
Queen Alia Radar was bloody stupid at the radio and didn´t want to understand our intention to land in Marka. After the 8. notice we were fed up and changed independently to the tower frequency of Marka, turned into final and finally enforced a landing. The officials behaved chaotic, nasty and corrupt. The price for one liter of AVGAS was US$ 5,-. This time we found a complete other world. As this was our third stay in Marka we showed our displeasure.
