ALONG THE FRANKINCENSE ROUTE INTO THE FORMER PDRY

DAY 1 – Seiyun

Meet-and-greet at Seiyun International Airport (thrice-weekly flights from Cairo) and introductory briefing about the region, the route and the set of rules to observe while travelling in Yemen.
Time permitting, the rest of the day will be devoted to a slow-paced sightseeing around Seiyun, a laid-back Yemeni town located in the middle of the legendary Hadhramaut Valley.
Overnight in Seiyun.

Full-day excursion to the pre-Islamic city of Tarim – widely regarded as the theological, juridical, and academic centre of the Hadhramaut Valley – and visit to the ancient shrines in the nearby town of Einat.
In the late afternoon we’ll then head back to Seiyun to enjoy a leisurely stroll around the old town crowned by a traditional Yemenite dinner in the company of our guides.
Overnight in Seiyun.

Transfer to Shibam, a magnificent historical city known as the Manhattan of the Desert because of its vertigo-inducing mud skyscrapers.
From Shibam we’ll head further west across Wadi Dawan, a spectacular dale that used to be the drawcard of the local tourism industry back in the heydays of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, more prosaically known as South Yemen, the only Soviet-aligned country in the Arabian Peninsula.
We’ll spend two days in the area visiting the mountain town of Al Hajrain, the kaleidoscopic architecture of Bait Bugshan, and the naturally fortified village of Haid Al-Jizil.
Overnights in Haid Al-Jizil.

Today we will slowly head back towards Seiyun stopping in a few traditional Hadhramauti villages along the way.
Late-afternoon arrival in Seiyun and evening photo tour of the town’s awe-striking architectural highlights.
Overnight in Seiyun.