Living in Khartoum, Sudan makes it easy to visit a number of middle eastern countries. I’ve been to both Bahrain and UAE several times, made a quick layover in Qatar, and visited Jordan. The remaining countries don’t really interest me.
I’ve been interested in visiting Eritrea but didn’t want to do it alone and none of my friends showed much interest. Since Yemenia flies to Asmara, I thought that a stopover in Yemen would be appropriate. Attacks targeting the American embassy in Sana’a and the activity of AlQueda and tribal groups on foreigners make Yemen a difficult choice for tourists. However research on Yemen led me to Socotra, an island in Yemen that lies closer to the horn of Africa than the mainland. To my pleasant surprise, three friends agreed to visit Yemen and Eritrea with me. At a cost of less than $400 for flights, we were convinced. However, research on Eritrea showed that traveling within might pose a problem because of our tight schedule and the need for permits. We decided to go to Yemen only, spending about half the time in Socotra.
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