What an awesome trip. I've wanted to go there ever since I read "Motoring with Mohammed" [1]. It's an incredible book about an American who shipwrecked on a remote desert island off of Yemen (not Socotra) and buried a bag of valuables. The book is the story of his trip back there--many years later--to retrieve his bag.
It's a damned shame that the Middle East is so ravaged by conflict. There are so many places I'd love to visit. I want to drive the Khyber Pass in my old Land Rover, I want to visit my family's roots in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon (apparently a Hezbollah stronghold these days). I want to chew qat in Yemen and float the Euphrates in Iraq. Maybe someday...
It's a damned shame that the Middle East is so ravaged by conflict. There are so many places I'd love to visit. I want to drive the Khyber Pass in my old Land Rover, I want to visit my family's roots in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon (apparently a Hezbollah stronghold these days). I want to chew qat in Yemen and float the Euphrates in Iraq. Maybe someday...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Motoring-Mohammed-Journeys-Yemen-Red/d...