Yemen – Hadramaut Winter Tour

Itinerary

Optional Salala Day Tour: Friday 8 December – Salala (Oman)

• Meet your day tour group in the city of Salala, on the coast of Oman
• Highlight: Wadi Darbat – one of the most beautiful places around Salalah. We will see for example a big waterfall.
• Samhan Mountain – the highest point in the province (2100m). We will go to a viewpoint which is close to the clouds.
• Highlight: Gravity Place – a special phenomenon which is hard to explain. See with your own eyes when the car starts moving up without doing anything .
• The old city of Mirbat – one of the oldest cities, including a free museum to see old traditions and things from the past.
• Ain Arzat – a sink hole with water. There is also an old cave and a magnificent garden filled with roses.
• Dahariz Beach – one of the best places and crowded with visitors and citizens, close by is a wonderful lake with birds. We will watch sunset over here, if the timing is right.
• Overnight stay in Salala. 

Hadramaut: Saturday 9 December – Salala – Al Ghaydah (Yemen)

• Meet your group in the city of Salala, on the coast of Oman.
• Departure towards the Oman/Yemen border.
• Meet our Yemeni guides at the border in the town of Surfeet. Here you’ll receive your Yemeni visa.
• Highlight: Drive next to the incredible Mehri coast. Along the way we make various photo stops.
• Arrival in the border town of Al Ghaydah.
• Wander around the night market of Al Ghaydah.
• Overnight stay in Al Ghaydah. 

Sunday 10 December – Al Ghaydah – Khiseet – Mukhalla

• We continue our drive along the Mehri coast, next to the Arabian Sea. A coast line that is famous for its sardine processing.
• Highlight: Quick stop at the tiny fishing village of Khiseet. A beautiful place for photography.
• We continue onwards to Mukhalla.
• Overnight stay in Mukhalla.

Monday 11 December – Mukhalla – Wadi Doan – Haid Al-Jizil

• Highlight: Before we depart Mukhalla we’ll make a walk through the old town of Mukhalla.
• Visit to the Khoor Mukhalla & Al-Ghawizi Fort.
• Drive to Wadi Doan (Doan Valley). A picturesque place.
• We’ll go to the best place for an incredible panorama view of the valley, the Haid Al-Jizil Hotel.
• Highlight: Drive to Buqshan, this village is famous for its coloured houses.
• Highlight: We return to Haid Al-Jizil for sunset.
• Overnight stay in Haid Al-Jizil.

Tuesday 12 December – Haid Al-Jizil – Wadi Doan – Shibam – Hawta

• We make a 1h trek to Hawfah and enjoy a big panorama at a viewpoint.
• Highlight: Drive to Budha for (another) amazing viewpoint. Along the way we stop at small villages like Qarn Majed, to experience local life in the valley.
• Visit Al Khuraiba, a beautiful town along the way.
• Stop at the former palace of Osama Bin Laden’s family.
• Visit to the villages of Sif and Hajjrain.
• Drive to Shibam, in Wadi Hadramaut (Hadramaut Valley).
• Highlight: Sunset over Shibam.
• Drive to Hawta, close to the city of Seyun.
• Overnight stay in Hawta.

Wednesday 13 December – Hawta – Shibam – Seiyun – Avnat – Tarim

• We return to Shibam, also known at the Manhattan of Arabia.
• Highlight: Explore the inside of the city of Shibam, with its incredible mut houses.
• We drive to Seiyun, the biggest city in Southern Yemen.
• Highlight: Visit to the Sultan Palace Museum and the Al-Falas Palace.
• Wander around the Al-Handal Souk and the well known fruit and vegetable market.
• Continue towards Aynat, to see several historical shrines in the village.
• We’ll stop in Tarim, a historical village built in mud. Here we pay a visit to a small market and see the Al Mihdar Mosque.
• Return to Hawta.
• Overnight stay in Hawta.

Thursday 14 December – Hawta – Seiyun

• Early morning departure to catch the flight back to Cairo (Egypt) with Yemen Airways.