Let’s be honest. If you Google 'travel to Yemen', the internet immediately tries to drain your wallet. You’ll see luxury adventure tour packages listed for $5,000.
Five. Thousand. Dollars.
For that price, I expect to meet the president of Yemen. The truth? Yemen doesn't even have an official, government sanctioned tourist board running these operations. It’s mostly independent locals. Some foreigners willingly drop that kind of cash, but I’m here to tell you, stop overpaying for things just because you’re a tourist. If the locals aren't paying it, you shouldn't either. Here is the dramatic, slightly chaotic, and incredibly cheap reality of how I broke away from the tourist tax and traveled from Oman into Yemen on an absolute shoestring budget.
My journey started by sharing a taxi with other passengers in Salalah, Oman. If you tell a high end fixer you want to get to the Yemeni border town of Hawf, they will quote you prices that require a second mortgage. I decided to do it the local way sharing a taxi. A shared ride with three other humans costing me 200 Saudi Riyals (about $53). The luxury option, if you have personal space issues and want the entire car to yourself, it’s about 800 Saudi Riyals ($213). The service runs every single day, provided the border is open (which, fair warning, closes periodically because... well, it’s a border). I crammed myself into a car, and during the 4 hour trip I made some immediate fast friends, and watched the Omani landscape blur into the rugged, mysterious horizon of Yemen.
Reaching the border is where your adrenaline actually kicks in. You’re standing there, passport in hand, hoping to get an entry stamp which costs anywhere between $100 to $150. It fluctuates periodically depending on the day, the mood of the economy, or whatever the current regulations dictate. Once you hand over the cash, they hit your passport with a beautiful 30 day stamp. Boom. You’re officially in Yemen.
Now, where do you sleep? You can find basic hotels for $5 to $10 a night, but I wanted to stay a while, so I went cheap and rented an entire local setup, a single private room with its own bathroom.
The cost? $40. No, not per night. $40 a month. For the price of a fancy shoe in New York, I had a home base in Yemen for thirty days, but I overstayed oops.
Getting deeper into the country requires a bit of patience. If you want to head from the border region down to Mukalla, you have two choices, wait it out or ball out.
If you choose the $10 shared taxi, prepare to sit in the city center and perfect the art of people watching you until every single seat is occupied. It’s part of the savings. If you’re in a rush, the greyhound style local bus is a reliable, ridiculously cheap option which cost around $20 one way. The trip itself will last about 8 hours.
My arrival in Mukalla officially takes me to the fish market. I just experienced a seafood hack that ended in the absolute best shrimp I have ever tasted in my life.
My afternoon started out pretty standard. I headed over to the modern Mukalla Mall to escape the coastal heat for a bit, look around, and do what any self respecting traveler does in a tropical port city, hunt down fresh fruit. I ended up buying a fresh, coconut from a machete welding man. There is nothing quite like hacking open a cold coconut, drinking the sweet water and scraping out the fresh coconut meat while sitting in the middle of Yemen. It was pure bliss.
I managed to get my hands on a batch of shrimp, completely raw, straight out of the water. I payed $6.50 for a kilo of shrimp then I took my bag and walked straight into a local restaurant. I walked up to the kitchen staff, handed them my raw shrimp, and asked if they could fry them up for me. But here’s the kicker, this place wasn’t a traditional fish joint, their specialty was crispy fried chicken. They looked at me a little confused at first, but with a smile, the chef agreed.
They took my fresh, raw shrimp, dredged them in their signature spiced chicken wing batter and dropped them straight into the hot deep fryer. When they brought the plate out. It looked like a mountain of golden, ultra crispy popcorn chicken. I took the first bite, and honestly, Its the best shrimp I've ever had.
The people in Mukalla are incredibly accommodating and friendly. If you bring them the ingredients and a crazy idea, they just might create the best meal of your trip.
When you navigate the country through the network of independent local drivers and hosts, your money goes further. Instead of burning $5,000 in a single week, you can afford to stay for months, eat incredible local food every day, and still have money to overstay your visa for couple years.
Don't buy into the hype. Don't pay the tourist tax. Grab a shared taxi, keep your money with you, and experience the real Yemen.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد ان لا اله الا انت استغفرك وأتوب اليك