8 Days Alone in World’s Most Dangerous Country (Yemen)

people always ask me Drew what's the most dangerous country you've ever visited and my answer is Yemen last night I heard some gunshots we got pulled over a few times I searched my bags I searched my pockets pretty sketchy to shoot any kind of video so got to keep the camera down visiting Yemen as a tourist is more dangerous than Afghanistan Somalia Libya and Syria put it this way I've never been more scared in my life to get kidnapped in my week-long journey across Mainland Yemen all right we just about to cross the border right

now I showed up to the land border all alone and met up with a random tour guide named Abdul together we embarked on an 8-day road trip Into the Heart of the country across the hadrat state from alqaeda to mukula shibam to seun I was determined to uncover the truth about this Middle Eastern nation that has been in a constant state of War for over a decade but Abdul did not help to calm down my nerves as he kept saying things like they are watching us they know every move we are making I mean like

like sometimes they go out without they inform us and we need to keep worried about them he was referring to alqaeda the militant Islamic extremist group of jihadists responsible for countless terrorist attacks hostages and kidnappings around the world for the last hour we have been driving through Al-Qaeda territory and it's really scary as we cross through random checkpoints looking out the window at the waving Al-Qaeda Flags I couldn't help but fear for the worst the word Anarchy takes on a whole new meaning in a place like Yemen yeah there's no laws Ste nobody cares I

saw a kid as young as 8 years old speeding down the highway while driving a pickup truck I saw child soldiers even younger with massive guns strapped to their chest and knives in their belts this little kid just has this knife in his pocket the poverty line in Yemen is unbearable with more than 60% of its 30 million residents living on less than $1 us per day the World Health Organization has declared Yemen as the world's largest humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food food clean water and basic supplies you can see it on their

faces you can see it that they are suffering but they don't want to show it and I must admit that the cuisine although very tasty was a bit unsanitary so we got the goats and the Lambs right here and then right here they eat it it gave me the worst food poisoning of my life uh my stomach is wrecked and it makes traveling not fun at all especially when you're using toilets that are holes in the ground but this is only part of the story that I want to tell you welcome to Yemen is beautiful

and there's nothing more rewarding than to witness a culture that few Outsiders get to see why does she wear the those hats to protect them from their the Sun and also it's their traditional wow that's so cool the pure raw Adrenaline Rush of just being there is what I live for much like other countries in the Arab world yemeni hospitality is warm curious and genuine hi I'm n hi my name is sh hi I'm sah hello I'm Safa and we are just cruising a r right now you have to remember that the people are not

the same as their governments and yemenis want nothing more than peace and stability he said everything is going to be okay every time I went inside a small shop or a house the local people were quick to break bread and eagerly share insight into their special culture a culture I've come to adore I even stumbled upon this crazy celebration where I was invited to dance and sing throughout the night and I came across this amazing wedding ceremony and everyone so friendly and they're doing the traditional dances thank you stick with me as I navigate Under

Pressure to amazing sites like shabam from the 15th century this is what we call Manhattan of the desert I take you deep inside the valley of Wadi Dohan which Rivals the Grand Canyon in its beauty and we venture into Lawless cities like mukula where anything can happen as I give you a glimpse of the amazing yemeni people and their Traditions I will say that this road trip is not for the faint-hearted but for all you travel crazies out there let me show you what it's really like to go solo in a war zone and why

it's so easy to fall in love with Yemen before we dive into Yemen I want to send you a free digital version of this book my top 100 travel photos from every country in the world all you have to do is sign up for my free email newsletter where I send exclusive travel tips and my best hacks and secrets for saving money on my newsletter I will also be choosing a random subscriber to come with me on an all expenses paid trip and be with me in an upcoming video and with that all being said

let's hop into [Music] Yemen we're just about to cross the border right now czy passport stamped I have officially made it to Yemen country number 171 Yemen is not a normal place to visit as a tourist in fact it's not really allowed to visit I had to pull some serious strings to get the visa my first 24 hours consisted of driving westbound across a surprisingly beautiful Coast to a town called alqaeda last night I heard some gunshots and I think it was because of a celebration but I'm not sure the drive was more Greenery and

mountains than desert but we did see our fair share of camels we stopped several times along the way first to eat we just got invited for a homecook meal going to get some yemeni food no problem come you're very nice thank [Music] you what's the name in Arabic wow a and this is AR very good then we stopped again at a local cot Market remember that video I made in Somali land it's like smoking cigarettes it's just like smoking cigarette or you not dring or something like that it gives you energy it boost your mind

it boost your intelligence it's that same addictive plant that you chew on to get high and it's a huge epidemic here in Yemen as I gazed out the window I saw lots of poverty kids tapping on my arm to get some coins lots and lots of garbage everywhere is covered in trash and also there's a lot of military presence and checkpoints bringing me back to my time in Afghanistan I am now safe at my hotel in a city called alaa it was a wild experience today very eye opening um yeah just trying to take it

all in and mixed with the fact that I haven't slept in about 48 Hours need to get a good end rest for the last 7 years I've gone around the world to see what I could buy for $10 not only is this helpful for Budget Travelers but it really shows you what's unique about a given culture in Yemen I was super nervous to film inside random Street Markets and restaurants but it was really rewarding to be able to tell this story today I'm in a city in the dead center of Yemen called seun 10 bucks

is about 5,500 yemeni RS it's time to see how much we can get Yemen food is fantastic and is often consumed in a shared communal gathering on the floor my favorite thing is called kabus that's the big oven or basically the best tortilla you've ever had dip it in your spicy omelet and there you have a very tasty meal M so good really good one cannot visit Yemen without noticing its CAU epidemic this plant is seen and sold everywhere and is commonly enjoyed after lunch it's 100% natural and legal I guess it just keeps you

awake now we are heading onwards to the the market which is super big and bustling here in seun and I'm going to try to buy a Yin flag that's my goal but I haven't seen them selling it anywhere so if I can't get a flag I'm going to have to buy something else really crowded in this market wow so it looks like we're out of luck with the flag and second option I'm going to buy a new scarf if you visit Yemen as a tourist it's mandatory to keep a low profile or else you will

find yourself in situations that are not good the best way to blend in is by wearing a traditional outfit and a turban so I found a small shop to get the ladder that one fifth to the left one the blue and white one uh yes could you put it on me I like the feel of this one better feels nice 2,000 sh nothing and I mean nothing beats an afternoon chai all it is is sweet milk tea and you can find it from India down to Yemen across North Africa I went to the most local

shop I could find run by this little kid CH yeah okay I got my chai here it's piping hot that is just the best taste the sweetest taste the Arabian peninsula in Middle East is filled with all kinds of sweets and halva is my favorite one we headed into a local market to find some Yen halva and I landed with this one sugar on all right it's time to give it a try oh the sweet smell of sugar in Yemen everybody just uses their hands I mean it's almost like there's no utensils here you see

how hard that is there we go it almost looks like brown sugar it's like powdery texture M when you chew it it kind of forms together in your mouth it's like a sweet yummyy caramel in total I got a breakfast chat a turban Cho and Hava for $957 if you're like me then you know that the best parts of travel are the real life experiences that money can't buy and when I found myself out in the middle of the desert I came across a place that absolutely blew my mind welcome to this special Valley that

few Outsiders have ever encountered this is so cool I got caught in the middle of a yemeni wedding and their celebrations their chance are incredible everyone's so friendly [Music] all right everybody's walking so we're walking with them I don't know where we're going in the center of Yemen is a giant Canyon called Wadi Dohan and at the bottom of this Canyon you can find many settlements that are entirely made out of mud [Music] bricks welcome to sa Village and this Village is uh known with the top houses and it's very colored and the people here

are very outgoing with uh they're very friendly they welcome tourists and they're very happy to have them here and what are the houses made from is it bricks the houses are made of mud mud brick that's crazy I'm just walking around here and like these are abandoned buildings these mud bricks there's no people in there they look like Hobbit holes this is absolutely wild from the Blissful nature to the fascinating culture this is truly a remarkable place on plan Earth and it's not only my opinion in 1982 it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage

site it's just so peaceful in these Villages and they're just like stacked up on the mountain it's so cool to see they have these little squares for Windows and uh it's just filled with the nicest people I mean everyone comes up to me on the street ask me where I'm from what I'm doing here and it's really cool and it's just not really what you think what do you think about Yemen what's your name speak English H there are many thousand residents here who live quietly among themselves including a few Rich Saudis who reside in

these colorful palaces how many people live in this Village uh I think uh 900 one of them is Osama Bin Laden's family because yes he comes from this part of Yemen and his wealthy family is still here walking along the streets you'll find kids riding donkeys old men walking with their canes and women Farmers wearing tall cone hats made from Palm leaves they look like witches and it's one of the most unique things I've ever seen in all of my travels and lucky me I just happened to stumble here upon a wedding on this perfect

evening it's really a special s to see I'm loving this right now what you're seeing now is life as simple as it can be life here is simple if you drive 2 hours north of here you'll find a settlement called shibam which is known as the world's oldest skyscraper City shabam this is what we call Manhattan of the desert in shabam you'll find about 500 tall and ancient mud brick Towers it's really amazing like these buildings are so tall and it's 650 years old and instead of the tents the firstest houses that the bedwin choose

to build it was in shibam seven floors it's so cool to be here in this moment right now I'm not trying to trick you or lie to you by telling you how incredible Yemen is I'm just being honest I mean these people at least in this part of Yemen are peaceful they have lots of smiles and they're very humble yemeni hospitality is some of the best in the world and there's no better place to experience it than inside a local household I was invited to try one of the craziest meals in my life if you

happen to be squeamish or vegetarian then you might want to skip ahead to the next part so we have just arrived here in seun right in the heart and center of Yemen some of my buddies who are driving with are from here and one of their friends invited us into their house for some home-cooked lunch it's about 2: p.m. I haven't eaten breakfast yet I'm starving and I'm really excited to eat some really home-cooked traditional Yemen food I already know that this is going to be a great experience that people are going to going to

be super friendly it's going to be [Music] amazing so this is the room that they eat in just a bunch of rugs on the floor and the food will be served right there on the floor behind me thank you CH I headed upstairs to see the kitchen very old style house yeah this is awesome and look at all this delicious food [Music] the generous offering of food to guests is one of the best customs in yemeni culture if you're a visitor and you don't accept the food given to you then it's a huge insult Yemen

food consists of meat either goat lamb or chicken then lots of rice flatbread and this really tasty mixture of chili peppers tomatoes garlic and herbs ground into a salsa this stuff called Sala is considered the national dish almost all meals are consumed while sitting on the floor and contrary to most Arab countries lunch is the main meal of the day in Yemen not dinner I should mention that I've had some food poisoning so hopefully that this meal is going to do me okay but I'm going to eat it anyways even if I get sick it's

going to be worth the experience this one is bread with soup this one is corn with soup Sala and soup and this is a head of goat that's aead of the goat yes do you eat every part they just eat only the brain because they want to be clever you think I'm going to my stomach's going to be no really sure you will not it's it's like a cheese wow want to get the [Music] mine goat brand yeah it's like a cheese The Taste isn't bad but the texture it's like creamy yeah goat brains aside

the rest of the meal was pretty damn good and I thoroughly enjoyed it tell them I say thank you very much for having me over welcome this is the best um eating experience I had in Yemen said you're welcome and take me to your home in the United States yes after about 20 minutes or so of eating hot tea is served and it's loaded with sugar what is that for oh fluff that's a Yemen Dental fluff then everyone gathers on the floor for some cot chewing cot is synonymous with Yemen and is consumed by the

vast majority of men this one is a god it's a y God and everybody in Friday they meet together it cost like all this tree it cost about like 20 bucks how does it make you feel when you eat it when you chew you feel like more wake up and you want to work more and he wants to move he wants to do something so it gives you some energy it's like coffee they sit here for hours and hours and hours chatting and chewing c it's the ultimate way to pass time for yemenese I'm chewing

I feel more better and I want to work and I want to do a lot of things so you just take the the wooden from here you don't chew the branch like the the stick no you chew only the soft one like a gum like a gum yeah and then how long do you keep it in your mouth for for 5 6 hours all right let's try it it l tastes like you just grab a tree branch and you eat it and it has this texture that like sticks to your tongue well now I am

extremely full and that was an amazing experience and also a great way to passed by a couple of hours during the hottest time of the day it is boiling outside it's like I don't know 45° C or 115 F but anyways now you know what Yemen food and hospitality is all about byebye through my travels I've often found that the kindest people and cultures come from countries that suffer the most from hardships and here in Yemen one of the strongest challenges that locals are facing is the crisis at the gas pump we are right now

road tripping across the southern part of Yemen from alqaeda to mocha and we pulled over to get some gas so you have all these kids that are like I don't know 5 to 10 years old on motorbikes that are running by selling you um liters of gasoline for a lot more expensive prices than they used to be someone's honking at me you have to get the gas when you can because once you hit the open road there's not that many places to fill up and the worst case scenario here would be running out of gas

and being stranded on the side of the road [Music] is that gasoline really life in Yemen is not easy for anyone as most of the borders and airports are closed off that means it's hard for basic Goods to come in because of there is no oil and always we have only black markets for buying oil so now it's increasing because of the situation in Yemen and it's so complicated so now it's the the oil is double three times they don't have gas here what happened that's the third gas station we found and they're all eating

lunch they don't want to help you despite Yemen sitting on large oil reserves it's getting harder and harder to come by basic gasoline to fill up your car it's so old schooled it looks like 1945 so now because we have this situation and always we are in a war so they didn't yet uh produse oil yet or maybe it's being by your neighboring country maybe and they are selling it for us he carries that in the car the the extra gas how many lit is that 20 l oh [ __ ] what used to cost

50 Cent a liter now cost a $150 making it all the more difficult to get across the country I see kids selling it on the black market where do they get it from they get it from like what you call different countries that they comes to sell it as a black market because now it's very expensive especially it comes from Oman despite having to compete for gas yemenis are the most humble people in the Middle East they are always thinking about others rather than themselves to the point that they don't even keep track of their

own birthdays so do you know do you know how old you are do you know when your birthday he doesn't no idea no year no month no nothing over the the last 5 days in Yemen I've been asking random people about their age and nobody seems to know the answer so what do you know when you were born what year he doesn't know he doesn't know no do you know when is your birthday how are you can I ask you can I ask you like two questions do you know how old you are yes how

many years old are you 19 years old um do you know when is your birthday no he doesn't know when but he knows that he's 19 because he saw his parents that big and as a default response most of them tell me they were born on January 1st and it's even written in their passport ask him if he knows um his birthday how old he is doesn't know he doesn't know his birthday ask him how old does he think he is come come on he said like you like me I'm 28 he doesn't know okay

thank you doesn't know doesn't care why does nobody know their age and birthday because normally we don't have like a birthday we don't celebrate that so people they don't care about their age or so why do they say January 1st is their birthday it's just like a joke mostly people they don't care about their birthday or their age just because yeah as I told you we don't celebrate it no one cares about it in general I wanted to make this video to show you that yemeni people and culture represents life in its purest form nobody

cares whether you're five or 30 or 90 years old because they all treat each other with respect in the Western World we're so caught up in these numbers and we think we're getting old I'm 28 years old does that mean I'm old no today's people they don't even care they also don't have this concept of materialism like we have in the Western World in other words wealth is not as important to them when compared with family and friendship I've hardly seen any big houses fancy cars smartphones TVs and even basic appliances like AC and seated

toilets are few and far between but smiles family gathering and laughter is seen everywhere in one peculiar way traveling through Yemen brings me back to my senses and that is one of the most beautiful things about life in Yemen as you know not all life in Yemen is so beautiful and safe especially for the women who face many difficult challenges but one woman who I met is changing her personal narrative finding Beauty in even the most intense circumstances this is Fatima and I moved to Yemen 6 years [Music] ago Yemen is going through a brutal

War right now and people have been doing anything they can to escape but not Fatima she did the exact opposite I am 22 years old I was born in real Saudi Arabia I lived uh 17 years of my life in uh Saudi Arabia but her family ran into some difficulties and were forced to move to Yemen when you move from a place to another you actually want to move to a better place but in my story I had to move here uh so uh moving from Riyad was hard was difficult I had to adapt to

uh different situation she essentially went from the first world to the third and it was not the easiest of transitions I was living a modern life in RI but now yes I love lost some things I uh don't have what I had before but uh I got used to it out of all the hardships about living in Yemen Fatima says the most difficult thing of all is staying healthy I struggled with my health a lot you can't find good hospitals or good Medical Care here it's really hard people actually die doing labor which is uh

pretty scary if you are a woman also you can't find the healthy food you can't find uh running water in some places the electricity goes on and off sometimes it it cuts off for about a whole day you have to go through a whole day without electricity so yeah it's it's really hard have you left since you've been here no I haven't left at all because you are in a war country yeah so you can't actually leave it's really hard have you ever met another tourist here aside from myself am I the first tourist you've

met here you're the Very Yes have you seen any on the street no never so in 6 years I'm the very first non yemeni I mean maybe not nonen tourists that you've seen come to no you're actually the first non- Yemen I've ever seen since I came here wow that's I'm feeling strange yeah so what do you think has to happen for Yemen to get back to his olden days people should start loving each other people should start to accept each other more I mean we are all human beings so we should love each other

more we should accept each other's point of view no matter what no matter what color what race what religion we have to accept each other we have to love each other in order to overcome these problems are you scared living here like when you walk outside has there been any times where you're just like I need to go back home I'm really scared right now what's happening at first at the first couple years yeah we I was really scared if if I heard a gunshot if I saw something I would be like no I want

to go home I want to go to my bed don't talk to me but when you get used to it when you see these scenes daily when you hear gunshots basically uh every couple days you get used to it so yeah we kind of got used to it but sometimes yeah we got we get scared Fatima is brave even though it wasn't her choice to move to Yemen she's now stuck here for the fore future and she's been forced to adaptt to this lifestyle this girl represents the 30 million other innocent civilians in Yemen who

are sacrificing their health their safety and their overall well-being to tough out this war only time will tell when life will get back to normal but all I can say is I hope it's soon now we are going to hear from another female in Yemen who has decided to turn her hardships into a success she is going to paint a more complete picture of what life looks like for many other women in Yemen this is sh and I'm living normally as a am any women this young woman comes from the south coastal town called mukula

life is so safe we are like the savest Govern in Yen and we having our normal life sharuk is back in school and doing very well I'm studying architecture and environmental planning and you're also studying English too I'm not studying English you just learned it like you're brilliant yeah I got it from Disney Channel which movies Han yeah exactly when we think about Yemen we tend to think about war and terrorism that's certainly what I thought before arriving here but things in hrat at least the region that we are currently in seems to be going

okay sure there's a lot of police checkpoints and security but what I've been seeing is markets that are Lively Late Night concerts that are crowded and a Riverside that is charming the city is honestly beautiful people are out and about on the streets just like in your hometown okay let's get back on topic to sharuk and her role in Yemen Society there's no denying that being a female here overall isn't as easy as in the Western World there are many restrictions revolving around religion and tradition which can be discussed in a separate video but she's

doing everything in her power to fight it starting with showing her facei because about 99% of women in her City keep it completely covered I'm showing who I am and my ident identity as simple as that that's how it should be in my vision women are have the society so women trying to do what men can do here so uh me and my friends a lot of women do the same what men can do working studying having our activities a lot of normal things to have a normal life sharuk and a couple of her girlfriends

started an activist Club in Yemen called taen which revives culture in hadrat we are doing like um musician Nights movie Nights discussion books also like uh we care about how we can develop ourself as youth to build our own area small area to live in peace it's amazing how they're all so fluent in English hi I'm n hi my name is sh hi I'm Sarah hello I'm Safa when I'm hanging out with them I feel like I'm home in the US hanging out with my friends and believe it or not being a women in Yemen

does have its benefits yeah women go in this level I've spent the last 24 hours with these girls and I'm Amazed by the priorities they have especially with policemen in our society Society filled with traditions and cultures they believe that we they should take care and everyone should take care of women because women like um need to be protected yeah during this messed up situation it's good to be a woman in checkpoints and those things in lines and that things the that stop by there but they're so crowded so uh he said okay we'll make

the BL for you who said the policemen the policemen they let you come in women women Queens it's great to see sharuk and her friends Paving the way for the future of Yemen they are so sweet and so sincere and I really hope the situation clears up so more people can experience their hospitality and see the beautiful wonders of Yemen uh we're trying to have a normal life here despite everything happened uh here in Muka we have a simple normal life amazing thank you as you can see from watching this video Yemen truly has a

special place in my heart I mean despite it being one of the most dangerous and most impoverished countries in the world there is so much hope that remains in the eyes of its people they are without question some of the most resilient that have come across in all my travels toughing out severe living conditions and pushing forward to a brighter future we can only hope for a safer situation in Yemen when the people in power realize that this is one of the most unique and special cultures in the entire world and all 30 million yemenese

deserve better I mean the country is full of so many hidden wonders and surprises and as I sit here and reflect on my trip I can't help but have a huge smile on my face I'm really looking forward to returning back to Yemen soon maybe to the island of cotra or back to the hadrat province or even to the capital of Sana to see the famous gingerbread houses thank you guys for watching and if you want to stay updated on my travels you can do so on my free email newsletter where I send exclusive updates

and my best tips tricks and secrets from visiting every country in the world and how you can save money and don't forget about the giveaway that I'm offering you right now this book for free a digital copy of my top 100 best travel photos from visiting every country it's pretty amazing it'll be sent to your inbox immediately if you sign up on the link below in the description all right guys be well and I'll see you in the next video peace