Yemen; Khat, Guns, Babies and more Khat.

Yemen is proving to be rather interesting place. Full of friendly folk and beautiful scenery, it is a country addicted to Khat, a leaf which when chewed gives one a buzz, not unlike a mild amphetamine, giving you more energy to talk, work or wander. Took a Landcruuiser tour to the mountain Village of Shahara, North of the Capital Sana'a fueled by khat, cheeks buldging with leaves like the fellow in the picture. Also had a blast with a gun like the one he has, borrowed from a police man, for a dollar I shot a mountain. Sounded like a huge balloon popping, recoil less than I expected. The role of women here is also somewhat startling. Hidden behind a veil merely eyes showing, they marry early (sometimes as young as 12) and churn out babies at an unbelievable rate (met one man who had 24 kids by the same wife!) Still some do well for themselves like the dentist we met when Tomoko had a wee tooth problem, she had her own practice, even though she conducted business whilst wearing the veil which was rather spooky.
Btw, the photo above is not our own. We are having PC problems at the moment so I had to steal this one from the net. Final thing to mention is how great the food is here, lots of variety, nice flavours, after the rather mundane fair of the Sudan we are stuffing ourselves happily.