Just came back from London and ended up at my brothers house in Dala-Järna. Which is where I am born, bred and educated. Kalle, my brother, is out of work, 60 and don´t know what to do with life. Any suggestion from me, which includes him cycling from Sweden to Oman, writing a blog about his thoughts and inspiring other people in his situation how to do with life, ends with:

“Am sixty for Christ sake!”

This is putting limits to oneself, just because of age. I don´t believe in setting any limits to what is possible or not. Neither does my friends Ollie, Jamie, Gunnar and Sam whom I have met during my visit to London, this cosmopolitan and great city. I will write a bit about all of them -these inspiring people- in the upcoming blogs, because the response from my blogging from Yemen, has been amazing, an average of 1200 readers a day the last three weeks, and it is still continuing. Let me start with Olly.

He is still only 33 or something, but mature like a 50-year old, extremely helpful and generous and I have a feeling there´s no limits to what he can do. It wouldn´t surprise me if he would be running Great Britain at the end of the day. He is that good. But most of all, he is a genuinly good human being who wants to make a difference. And he is every day of his life. I am very lucky and privilaged to have a friend like him. Or, as I say after I have entered the Arab World, he is a genuine brother. And I think, having good friends, is a major part of understanding the meaning of life.

Talking about the meaning of life, I went to London to meet a person with profound contacts, Gunnar, with the very exiting country called Saudi-Arabia, who after every new visit with people who have an intimite relation with this giant of a country, grows and I really want to go there more than ever! Next country to get into deepely as part of the preparation for the Big One, Anyway, on the trip over to London, on the plane, I started to read Mohammed Asad´s book, The Road To Mecca (photo at the top right) and suddenly I realised how simple it is to make a change in life. I started to think about my brother, who is suffering from not having a job, and that just be reading you can get very inspired to change your life. Mohammed Asad changed his dramatically, from being an Austrian Jew to a Pakistani Arab, and Mohammed Asad would easily be another brother had we met or he would be alive. The book is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.

He is a true explorer in the sence of the word and his exploring, which I personally think should be the base of all explorations, is a cultural bridge builder and a search for the meaning of life. He found his version and he found in the Arab desert as so many others. Like the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ. So, maybe even mine might become a pilgrimige than….This is the book I would suggest for any upcoming explorer to read, when to find out, why do I want to explore and what is true exploration. His prose is beautiful, adventures many, knowledge of desert great and his historical significance is amazing. I will bring his book on my upcoming trip, to bring out when I need inspiration, help and peace of mind at the same time and he wrote this strophe in his book about the eternal question, why do I and we travel, upon meeting a Kurdish Beduoin in the desert: (This will become my quote of life.)

“If water stands motionless in pools, it becomes stale, muddy and foul, only when it moves and flows does it remain clear.”

This will become my quote of life. Next I will write about Jamie.

The old hajji....

“Isn’t it still expensive to do a pilgrimage to Mecca? My teacher told me yesterday it is still very expensive and for most people, if it is possible at all, that once in a life time is an achievement, a dream.” I said, remembering Rashad telling me that he hoped to do a pilgrimage, but that it would take him many years to save the money needed, “He said it would cost him at least half a million rials (approximately 2500 dollars) to do a proper pilgrimage, since he had to go through a travel agent here in Sana’a specialising in pilgrimage tours to Mecca. About 25 days including hotels, transport, air tickets, a visit to the prophet’s grave in Medina and so on. And he said that the Saudis only allowed a certain amount of pilgrims per country a year.”

The giant mosque built by the president Abdullah Saleh

“The Saudis….” , the old hajji said with a grim face, “…charge you for everything including breathing.”

A very good friend of mine, one of few Muslim explorers on earth, a true Ibn Batutta of today, said that he flew from Afghanistan to Mecca to do his first pilgrimage and was treated like shit until he showed his American passport. He wasn’t too fond of the Saudis in Mecca either. I have to say, they don’t seem to have the best reputation in the world, neither among ex pats or other gulf Arabs. Than again I have heard a lot of opposing views. That the Saudis are amongst the friendliest and best people on earth. The idea seems to be to avoid Jeddah, Riyadh and Mecca/Medina. The reason I bring Saudi Arabia up is that it is a country everyone continuously talks about in these parts of the world. In Yemen every day. The Saudis are in many ways very influential and powerful players in the global economy of not only the Gulf, but in the rest of the world as well. I look forward to travelling through Saudi-Arabia a lot!

Inside the mosque which seats 20000 devotees....

“So you are contemplating to travel by camel?” the old man said more as a statement than a question and than added: “It is the best way to travel! Just treat them well and they will be your best friends forever!”

It was Mohammed, Hussein’s employee and best friend, who had set me up meeting this old man, who’s first name was Abdullah and came from the same village as Mohammed. They had the same second name, Al Mawari. Many people’s second names in the Arab World also tell a visitor the geographical background of a person. And ever since I was given a great gift from my great best friend Pamela, see last report, a zannah (ankle long white robe), a silver belt with an expensive jambiyyah with a Bedu background and a turban or head cloth, sharh,  with a colour and pattern which makes locals sometimes call me Palestinian, I have honorary been given the name Ahmed Al-Hamdani. Basically due to the way Hussein made up my turban, just like a Bedu from the Hamdani region. Even Abdullah called me a Hamdani, even though Mohammed had to translate. I have to say I still somewhat surprised how honoured and happy the locals are when you are dressed like them. This I have never seen anywhere else, well, maybe Oman.

Hussein, Ahmed Al-Hamdani and Mohammed outside the presidents mosque...

“So you stopped using and working with camels as long back as 30 years ago, what do you miss the most regarding these fantastic animals and do you have any advice to me to bring on my journey?” I asked him, because I had earlier asked Hussein if he could find a Yemeni who had travelled to Mecca by camel and could tell me which route they had taken, since I would like to stick to the traditional pilgrimage route from Sana’a to Mecca.

“I used to travel from Sana’a to Al Hudaydah (link to Yemeni map) on the west coast, and back, bringing food for people and animal, it used to take eight days and we travelled 16 hours per day”, he recounted with passion, “And what do I miss? I miss the freedom and the evenings in front of the fire. And I miss the camels. If you treat them with love, you will always have a loyal friend.”

Praying at the mosque....

“Which route did your dad take to Mecca?” I asked again, because our conversation was on and off disturbed by other locals in the room teasing and laughing at the old man, just because he used to work camels and right now was a quite hard line Muslim belonging to the Shia arm of Islam. All others Yemenis in the room were Sunni. The war in the north, between the government and the Al Houthi could in some ways be called a religious one. A war between Sunni (government) and Shia (al Houthi).

The "birthday" cake from my friends....the inscription reads Mikael - the sheikh of the Bedu

“Quiet!” he hissed at his teasers, who laughed back and teased him a bit more, but he continued: “Well, the pilgrims and hajjis to be, always set out from Saada and from there travelled to Mecca via Baqim, Zahran, Haraja, Khamis Mushayt, Abha and down to the Saudi coast and from there on to Jeddah and Mecca.”

Amazingly enough exactly the route I had planned just by looking at the map geographically 3 months back and searching for the existence of valleys, plains, paths and roads. However, my Expedition is still far off in time, in shallah, if all goes well, we will set off in January next year, but, this fact apart, yesterday I was also given an especially made cake by Pamela, Hussein and Mohammed, thick and tasty and its chocolate decorated with a white camel and the words:

“Mikael – the sheikh of the Bedu”.

After the party we went to the souk after midnight to eat some kebabs at this place....

People here in Yemen, my friends, are the best of the best. Warm, generous, funny, smart and they all love life. I still don’t know what we were celebrating, but it filled me with great joy! On top of that I was given a full Sanaani outfit including the most macho of all male symbols in Sanaa, a jambiyya, and together with Pamela, Hussein and Mohammed we took a taxi –this was another “birthday” surprise organised by Pamela for me- and we ended up at the spectacular Presidents Mosque. Its main hall is so big so that it can seat 20 000 devotees facing Mecca in prayer! We weren’t the only foreigners there, me, Ahmed Al Hamdani, and Pam dressed as a Sanaani woman, then named Pamela Al-Sanaani to make it easier to get in during prayer. There were many Indonesians and Malaysians amongst the devotees. Security was hard, but Hussein got us through everywhere with his kindness, humour, baton and peculiar ideas. It beats the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat. It is grander.

“The cost to build this mosque equalled ten hospitals”, Mohammed commented with his down-to-earth wisdom:” I think most people wanted hospitals, but the president wanted to be remembered.”

Hussein, Pamela and Mohammed outside the Presidents Mosque.

I have also realised that most local people don’t really appreciate the war against the Houthis, which many see as their brethren and fellow Moslems. The war planes are still leaving Sana’a in great numbers. It is still a very unnerving feeling. Thank God for friends like Mohammed, Hussein and Pamela!