Day 2, Kalysan Canyon
Day 3: hike to Hoq Cave
That day, we hiked up to Hoq Cave. It is a natural 3-km long cave. Going there required hiring a local guide from the nearby village. Some important looking man registered our group in his accounts book, we paid the entrance fee. It took 1.5 hours to reach the cave mouth with stops to take pictures of bottle trees and to catch our breath. The hike was not strenuous, anyone can do it going at their own pace. Then, we walked to the end of the cave for another hour.
We returned after the hike to the same camp at Arher Sand Dunes tired and sweaty. The campsite had one portable shower cabin connected to fresh water. It was so narrow and unstable that showering in it was tricky. So, everyone grabbed their toiletries and went to the nearby beach for washing in a freshwater stream. A small waterfall created in this place a natural shower.
Day 4: Homhil Protected Area
Until 1990, there were two countries instead of the modern Yemen – North Yemen that was an independent state since 1918 and the British colony of South Yemen. The British withdrew from this area in 1967. Yemens were at war with each other several times. North Yemen was supported by Saudi Arabia while the South got its supplies from the USSR. The armed conflicts were short-lived and neither side was winning. They decided to reunite in the late 1980s when oil was found in the border area between the two countries. Managing oil exploration became easier when North and South Yemens became the Republic of Yemen.
