What’s in Yemen? How’s Yemen like? What’s going on with the war? Is it like what the media portrays it? What can one expect to see there? Poverty? Starvation? What should I wear?

So many unanswered questions in mind.

As a Yemeni who was born and raised only in Saudi, I was never exposed to Yemen as a country, tradition, culture or way of life. Heck, I thought Hadhramaut was a city! (It’s a governorate)

I’ve always wanted to visit Yemen but one thing was holding me back. No, not the war or political situation. It was the flight cost which was out of my budget until I was told about a couple bus companies that travel between Saudi and Yemen on a daily basis.

It took me less than a week to hop on the bus to Yemen. I went with zero preparation. All I had was my friend’s brother as a contact person to reach in Mukalla once I arrive. That’s about it. (Thanks Ahmed, Ahmed bin Yahya & Tariq!)

In all honesty, I was terrified. I had zero knowledge or preparation. All I knew was that I want to see Yemen and explore my roots. My will and curiosity were stronger than my fear. I’m pretty stubborn too when I’ve put my mind to something.

I arrive at the bus station 30 minutes before departure, ran to the ticket counter and asked for one way ticket.

“Passport Please?”

*Hands over passport

“Oh wow! Al Nahdi! Welcome!!!”

All those fear and worries melted away as soon as the Ticket Seller greeted me with so much thrill and happiness when I told him that it’s my first time going to Yemen.

As I got myself comfortable on the bus for the 30 hours journey, an older female passenger started to ask about my origins. She was thrilled to find out that I am from Nahd tribe as she is also from the same and immediately called her family to share the news.

I started to get a little feel of Yemen. I learned that a person’s tribe name is an important factor in Yemeni’s society and culture and this gets even much more evident as I spent my days in the country.

After learning my origin, the kind old lady wouldn’t let me out of her sight during the pit stops. She force-fed meals, snacks and wanted to keep me safe. She was the sweetest thing.

When we got to our last pit stop, we were less than an hour away from crossing the Saudi – Yemen border. I was happy that we finally reached the border, excited to get in the “Citizen” queue at the immigration (I’ve never been in one!), terrified of being asked to turn around, and curious of what’s on the other side.

I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it past the border. I just had the worst thought in mind and expected chances of being asked to turn around. Especially the day of my trip was two days after the missile attack by Houthi to several cities in Saudi.

Saudi border control; checked and done.

Here comes the Yemeni border. The bus drivers keep handing out cold bottled water, then I saw these blue shacks and I thought; This is it! Here’s the moment I’ve been waiting for to get in the citizen queue and get myself the first stamp from my own country.

Then, the bus driver yells out “Families, hand out your passports!” (Families means females and children)

OH NO! The moment I’ve been waiting for was taken away but then I looked at the shacks, there isn’t even a foreign/citizen queue! Oh well, I saved myself the trouble of standing under the heat.

The immigration officers stamped all the female passengers’ passports without even checking our physical being. I could be using my sister’s passport and they wouldn’t even know. How is that even allowed?! No fingerprints, retina scan, basic eye to eye check or whatsoever to confirm the person’s identity match the passport.

I felt a huge relief after my passport was stamped and couldn’t wait to get to the other side. By this time, I was certain, nothing could go wrong.

After about 3 hours between Saudi and Yemen standard border control procedures, we cross over to the other side.

I couldn’t help but smile in astonishment, my eyes twinkled, my mind; blown away…

What year is it in Yemen? Did it freeze in time? or am I traveling back in time…”

For Arabic version, please click here