Harazskie mountains - one of the most beautiful places in Yemen. Clinging to the tops of the village from a distance resemble the ancient castles in the paintings of artists of the Renaissance. Many homes are built literally on the edge of a precipice, at a dizzy height. Inhabited South Arabia, the Arab tribes were constantly fighting among themselves over territory, so the built in Harazskih mountains as high as possible, so that it would be easier to defend against enemies. Echoes of the past and are now clearly visible: on the road can be seen on the carved stones labeled paint - the border lands of any tribe. Living side by side for the first century, the tribes did not differ in nor clothing, nor language, but the inter-tribal marriages are still very rare.
Shugruf. When the bottom of the valley rises the mist, it seems that the city on a mountain top - the only inhabited place on earth. Photo:.
To actually see the village in the mountains Harazskih need for a long time to climb the narrow, almost invisible from below the trail, among the thickets of prickly cacti and terraced fields. The climate is perfect for farming, so Yemenis tend to use every inch of the mountain slope, patiently building the stone terraces and embankments with them the. Work on these plantations, and just graze goats and sheep on the steep slopes are very hard to. But local residents are accustomed to: cattle remains for them a major source of income along with the cultivation of coffee and khat - a light herbal drug.
a. Sana. For the Yemeni lives in the house, who turned a few hundred years - the usual case.
2. Jebel Shugruf. More recently, a firearm in Yemen was part of the traditional costume, and now on the streets can often be seen armed men.
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Harazskie ... Run through the narrow streets of thin women from head to toe in black tightened. Often they have in their hands or on their heads can see the bright yellow plastic jerry cans with water. Although in some places water has already appeared, and in many villages have stone basins to collect rain water, in most mountain villages of precious moisture continues to bring the bottom of the springs. And usually you can see around them, ... Most persons will be closed - as required by Islam, which took the local population in the VII century. Here and there a peasant blind person, but when strangers enter the village, or leaving for his village, but most yemenok wear the veil are constantly. And sincerely regret European women who have to constantly walk around with an open face and have to cope alone with heavy housework. Heavy in the literal sense: the local women perfectly cooked according to ancient recipes, using stone ware - exactly the same as used by their great-great- great-grandmother.
Men in white shirts to toe, zolototkanymi constricted zones, for which the curved daggers tucked bound - jumbo, willingly invite foreigners to visit. The main room in the house are always at the top, and to get to them, we have to overcome three or four of the march up the steep stairs. The guest is usually invited to mafrash - a room filled with a low sofas (from which it gets its name ), specially designed for the use of khat. Kat is not banned in Yemen, he chewed everywhere, like almost all of East Africa. Most Yemenis claim that only a cat can be a cheerful and energetic, but in fact these bitter leaves with time addictive.
Tula. Breeding sheep and goats - one of the main sources of income of local farmers. Photo:.
... As old as the tradition of drinking gyshr - a drink made from brown- green skin of coffee beans ( seeds themselves Bedouins traditionally been used as they have not expressed interest in the Europeans ). But growing category is much cheaper and easier than coffee, and a huge profit from it, so the famous coffee Harazskih mountains gradually disappears, although gyshr still not out of use.
Evenings at the village of the valley creeping fog, and it seems like they are hanging in the sky, leaning on the cloud. Right on the narrow streets in huge brass teapots tea is brewed, and important men, sitting with glasses in their hands around the cymbals with halvah, slowly exchanging news, looking, as in the deepening twilight crows circling the mountain.
Stone Yemen.
The fortress of Tula.
Tula (Thula) - the most famous of the five villages in the mountains Harazskih listed in the List of World Cultural Heritage. There is almost preserved in its original form was constructed in the V century castle Bin Sharaf Uddin Mutahar. The peasants lived at the foot of the mountain, in the village, and in case of danger, went upstairs to the citadel, surrounded by a stone wall kilometers long with 26 guard towers. And at the very top of the mountain on a small plateau, preserved walls, guard towers and stone reservoir still more ancient fortress, built during the Himyar kingdom that existed in the south of the Arabian Peninsula to the I century BC. e. to VI century.
Skyscrapers of the past.
Legend has it that the capital of Yemen, Sana'a founded one of the sons of Noah, and it was there that was built by the world's first skyscraper - dvadtsatietazhny Gamdan marble palace, the roof of which was made of marble, so delicate, that the governor could see through the ceiling and watch the birds fly at night . To judge how true legend, it is difficult, from the palace has left no traces, and even the time of its construction is unknown ( dates differ between the III century BC. E to I century AD. e. ). But high-rise buildings in Yemen there is really a very long time. Their appearance - tall, rectangular building with a room to rest at the top - remains unchanged for many centuries in a row, and among those who survived, we can find a 700 -year-old building, built on the foundations of thousands of years.
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