Sellin' Chaos

Without question, my favourite kind of travel is time travel. The opportunity to use a bus or taxi to transport you to a place that has remained virtually untouched for 100s, if not 1,000s, of years. It is unfortunately becoming increasing difficult with globalization, modernization, mass tourism and other such factors contributing to the defilement of tradition. People will often refer to this as "getting off the beaten track" (i've always hated that phrase). Yemen, as a whole, could be considered "off the beaten track", so i guess a tiny market town in the middle of nowhere Yemen would so far away from any track that even the memory of civilization fades. Beit al Faqih is such a place.

The Friday market at Beit al Faqih, about 1 hour south of Hodeidah, has remained damn near the same since it was first established sometime in the 1800s. This is a place that even "chaos" and "anarchy" are put to shame in a brutal free-for-all shopping frenzy. The make-shift narrow corridors, devoid of any Martha Stewart house-keeping seal of approval, are guaranteed to carry diseases previous thought irradiated in the Dark Ages. Elbows fly freely as shopper vie for space where there are clearly more people than any fire marshall would deem safe. The air is full of the pungent aroma of faecal matter, fresh livestock kills, poor personal hygiene and a multitude of mystery concoctions prepared to feed the hungry masses. It is an overwhelming experience for the mind, body and soul. In short.... IT'S AWESOME!!!!

You won't find postcards or trinkets here, but that's the charm. If

visiting the market, any foreigner will most definitely be the only non-Yemeni there. It draws a lot of attention. But like everywhere in the country, visitors are welcome with open arms (and a fair fews stares). "Hello" is about the only English you'll hear in the place, and you'll hear a bunch of them. Vendors will shove free samples of food (or at least i hope it was food) in your mouth as you struggle to navigate through the hordes under the covered market labyrinth. On the outskirts, in the open plains, the livestock market gives a little more elbow room. In a country generally lacking in interesting markets (except for San'a Old City and perhaps Ta'izz) Beit al Faqih is the uncontested winner of markets throughout the entire country (or at least of what i've seen so far)

I didn't notice a hotel in town, but it's not really worth staying here anyway. Beit al Faqih is best visited from either Zabid or Hodeidah. It's about 100 YR either direction by Dbob (mini-bus). The market itself is pretty far from the highway (where you'll be dropped off) so you'll need a moto-taxi.

Maybe markets are just my thing. But Beit al Faqih is one of my favourite places i've visited in Yemen. Traditional, fun, exotic and numerous other such words are used to describe a unique opportunity to see Yemen away from the "tourist trail" but still in a safe environment. Absolute highlight!!

Check out the write-up in a Yemeni on-line magazine, Yemen Today.