Wadi Hadramawt Feb’11 Updates

Transportation

Bijous are all old version of French made Peugeot

The town of Seiyun is usually the centre for travelers who wish to travel within Wadi Hadramawt. There are shared taxis (Bijou) operating from Seiyun to almost anywhere within the entire Wadi Hadramawt including Al-Qaten, Hawra, Shibam, Al-Hawta, Seiyun airport, Tareem, Wadi Da’awan, Aynat, Wadi Masila, etc though foreigners are not allowed to travel to Al-Mashhad and the roads further south to Wadi Da’awan in a Bijou or any other public transportation. Bijou only leaves when it is full (7-9 passengers). You usually need to wait and you also need to pay first before it leaves. Some people in the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Travel Forum said that Bijou driver cannot read and that’s not fully true. All the Bijou driver who took me can speak an understandable English. They can even read the Tasrih. They are not ill-literacy!

Bus (van) operates to almost the same place as Bijou and it’s always cheaper. The bus drivers usually don’t speak English. If you want to take a bus, you have to be sure of your place and where exactly you want to alight.

Bijou station and bus station is usually located in a joint compound.

Travel Permit (Tasrih)

Mukalla-Seiyun

Wadi Da'awan

Seiyun-Mukalla

Tasrih is a travel permit in a computer generated Arabic-only form which record your name, passport numbers, travel route and expiry date authorized with a police stamp and signature. You only need to apply Tasrih at any (travel)police station when you travel from Mukalla-Seiyun(and vice versa), Seiyun-Wadi Da’awan(and vice versa) and some designated routes. For foreigners, Bijou is the only mode of transportation for Mukalla-Seiyun route unless you prefer taking a flight, and of course, taking a flight to anywhere in Yemen doesn’t require any Tasrih. Bus(not van) drivers usually don’t want to take you even you have the Tasrih on hand. Tasrih is meant to give to military checkpoints along the road you travel and therefore you have to photocopy for at least 5 copies. Tasrih is free.

Police Escort

Asians seem enjoy more freedom than Westerners. At the day you check-in to your hotel, the staffs will call the (travel)police to inform them about your arrival so that they can record you in their list. But when days passed by, they will not likely to call the police again when seeing you walking out from the hotel as you will realize at your own self that you need to report to the (travel)police station when you want to visit a place such as Shibam, Tareem, Wadi Da’awan, etc. Police escort is normally not necessary to travel within Seiyun and to Shibam, Tareem and Aynat. If you feel unsecured, you can certainly request for it. While you are in Wadi Hadramawt, of course you will see some people carrying a gun while riding motorcycles. When I was wandering alone in Shibam, I even ran into a group of locals at work where one of them is carrying a rifle and he even fired to the sky, smiled to me and asked me to hold his rifle so that he can snap photo. I would say that they are just friendly locals who do no harm to tourist. Police escort is compulsory to travel to Wadi Da’awan. To travel to Al-Mashhad and further south to Wadi Da’awan, you need to apply for a Tasrih and you have to hire a car with a Yemeni driver in which the car’s plate no. will be recorded in the Tasrih. An armed policeman will be accompanying you for the whole day until you reach your hotel. 4WD is not necessary as there are tarmac roads all the way unless you are in a big group. The price for a saloon car ranges from $70-$100 in which $70 is the oldest car and $100 is the newest car. Opt for $70 as there isn’t any significant difference. People usually travel there in a 1-day tour basis but you can stay overnight there as the rainbow-colored Al-Bughsan Hotel (s/d $50/$80) and the Hayd Al Jazeel Resort(s/d/ste $40/$60/$80) which perfectly sits on the Khailat Da’awan plateau overlooking the entire breathtaking wadi are surprisingly not too expensive. The Tasrih, car arrangement and police escort can be easily arranged with the friendly and helpful (travel)police there without any hassle. Police escort is free but you can give them some tips but try not to make it a habit as the government is struggling to control corruption.