aden

Aden used to be this busy port strategically positioned in the gulf of aden where most ships going through the indian ocean to the red sea or the other way around would stop. What we saw however was completely different. mostly because the effect of the pirates and partly because of the unstable situation of yemen, the port had only half of the traffic it used to have and the facilities looked a bit dilapidated. the city itself had closed streets with barricades and leftovers of debris and rocks probably from manifestations that had taken place not too many days or even hours ago. just across the anchorage was a famous bar and one of the only 5 establishments in the city that sold alcohol. apparently it was a cool place where locals would hang around. unfortunately for us the place was burned down a couple of days before we arrived along with the other four hotel and bars that sold alcohol. We asked and were told that a group of fundamentalist muslims had done the job.


despite the once again heavy atmosphere and sense of turmoil, the people were extremely friendly and we felt welcomed. they even apologized for the crisis their country was going through. we had planned to fly to sana, the beautiful capital of yemen but were strongly advised not to go. We of course took the local’s advise and sadly gave it a miss. so we stayed near the port and did our usual chores such as getting water, diesel, food, change oil, filters, belts, etc… we also had a celebration for having left the most dangerous pirate area behind. So once again we had a good time, rested and relaxed and prepared to move on and finally out of the indian ocean into the red sea.