Imam's Rockin' Palace

There are a fair number of countries which can be identified (right or wrong) by a single iconic landmark. When one thinks of France, the image of the Eiffel Tower often comes to mind. For Russia, it's St. Basil's Cathedral. In China, the Great Wall is even used as a banking system. Yemen isn't exactly what one might call a major tourist destination and thus does not have this branding recognition. But once you start looking, even Yemen has such a landmark. The image of one particular building pops up everywhere. It's on the money. It's on water bottles. And it's most certainly on every tourist brochure. The building is the Dar al-Hajar, better known as the Imam's Rock Palace. Back in the day, Yemen didn't have a king or a president. Instead, leadership of the country rested on the shoulders of an Imam (Islamic spiritual leader). Yahya Muhammad Hamiddin (1869-1948) became Imam of the Zaydis (an Islamic religious sect) after his father's death in 1904, then Imam of Yemen in 1918 and remained in that post until his assassination in 1948. But during his reign, the guy needed a place to live. Magnificently extending a previous structure on a site just north of the capital, the resulting palace, Dar al-Hajar, is easily one of the most popular day trips out of the capital city San'a.

The palace now is little more than a museum nowadays. However, the interior remains rather bare. There are few displays, very little labelling and hardly any furniture. The bare white walls do act as a pretty canvas for the rainbow of light often beaming through the stained-glass windows. But it's not the inside that draws visitors here. It is instead the epitome of San'a Old City "iced-cupcake architecture" that is the real sight. The home is thrust off the valley floor and into the blue sky on it's rocky rostrum as a showpiece statue of a national hero might rest upon it's honoured podium. The palace often makes such perfunctory lists as "Top 10 weirdest homes". And it is easy to understand why. But even if architecture isn't your thing, the trip out of San'a is worth it for the views over Wadi (dry river bed) Dhar itself. But the combination of beautiful building and beautiful setting is an no brainer in terms of tourism, and certainly worth the 500YR admission.
Getting to Dar al-Hajar is theoretically easy. There is public transport to the area (some 15kms out of San'a). But it would require a PhD in Yemeni Vehicular Travel to try to figure it out. The shared taxis only go when full. Considering there aren't that many locals, this means taxis are few and far between. Buses don't go to the palace itself and require about 3 changes to get to the nearby village (again buses are few and far between). So the best option is a private taxi. Raha, the taxi company in San'a, offers the trip for YR4,500 (there, waiting time and back). But contacting a driver directly will result is savings. Fuad (733 074 372) does it for YR3,000 and acts as an amateur guide as well (his English is decent). Alternatively, most hotels and tour agencies include the palace as part of a $75 tour.

Just as seeing the Pyramids does not define an "Egyptian experience", visiting the Dar al-Hajar does not mean you've "done" Yemen. True, the building didn't take centuries to build with a workforce of millions resulting in a major accomplishment in human history. But without question, the Imam's Rock Palace is one of the top architectural highlights in the country, and arguably, the world.