Trip to Aden

A quick trip to Aden: Yemen's historical sea port. On the pictures the town of Crater (built next to an old volcano). We climbed up the stairs to the Sira castle and had a magnificent view all over the area. It was a cloudy day, not perfect for pictures. There's a picture of an old church. You don't see churches in Sana'a, only mosques. Aden was a cosmopolitan city, there are churches belonging to every religion in the world. Now that North and South Yemen have become one country the much more open minded culture of the South has been taken over by the more strict ways of the North.

Next we went to Aden 'tanks'. The tanks are an elaborate system of water tanks nestled in between some steep mountain cliffs. Apparently they were discovered by a British officer in 1854 under rubble and garbage. No one has been able to put a date on this very ingenious system for water gathering. The engineering is exquisite. Aden residents claim this was built B.C.

Later on we spent some time on the beach by our hotel, next to Elephant rock. The water was very warm and pleasant.