^Loads of single brothers who dont have a place to stay sleep in the masjid. But its nicer to have yoru own place of course..

Maaan, I so badly wish to be at one of the Daar-ul Hadeeths. I'm struggling to have the patience to wait. Yemen sounds like such an awesome place to study.

Assalaamu alaykum,

Jinn Mountain is actually the highest peak in Yemen, it's identified on most major atlases and globes. If you do eventually go up there, you'll find it very difficult to breathe because of the elevation. There aren't any jinns up there, but there are graves around the foot of the mountain, where egyptian soldiers, who came to fight the communists in the seventies, are are buried. It used to be their outpost during the civil war. You can still find their homes in the nearby village.

Single brothers can live in the Masjid, but the extremely poor sanitation and hygiene will be beyond the stomach of most westerners, so you will most likely end up sharing accomodations with other single brothers, or getting a "ghurfah," a single room, with a closet sized washroom.

The population in Dammaj has greatly increased since any of us were there, apparently, but it seems that foreigners come in cycles, and the current crop are mostly Americans. And by the way, they have streetlights in most places now!

Update:

The situation in Dammaaj/Yemen has settled down walhamdulillaah. People are found to be entering and exiting with not so much of a problem (that's with the Yemeni & Somalis; other foreigners always will and still have that problem).

Phone lines are still down though.

Yup that's Right alhamdulillaah.

If someone's setting out firstly they've got to get past the airport which is real tricky because the people who run it are either Jews or shiah who do not like Ahlus-sunnah!
So when they see you (dressed in the way of the sunnah) they'd be all like: Lookit this Mutawwa' (religious/practisin man) where are you going? Muqbil's Camp!! *sn-igger sn-igger*

You've got to bluff your way through and tell them you're just here for a few weeks or so visiting the country as a tourist. (That's what we said).

If they do suspect that you're headed there, they'd send you back on the next flight home. Which has happened quite a number of times with single people and even families all wanting to head out there.

It also might be a good idea if you know someone there, so you could say you're visiting so & so, and give them their details.

If you get past step 1, then it's fairly easy after that. You'd go to Jaami'al Khair, A Masjid in the Sanaa' and you'd ask them for a personal driver to take you to Dammaaj(When ever you're ready to head out).
You'd hire out your own pick up truck which is roughly around $50.00 for that 6 hour ride journey. It's more expensive than the normal coaches that head out to Dammaaj because with foreigners we'd have to use the back door (the mountainious route) rather than the front door where you go through the check points.

You don't really need any documents, Just a visa for when you reach the airport.

sisters jazakallah khayr for all the info about Damaaj
Amirah inshallah i will see you there after i finish my A-levels Inshallah Inshallah
with Ruwaydah

Wa alaykum as salaam Aisha,

Wa Iyyaki sis, If you have any questions: post 'em right up ;)

And Yesh, it'll be nice to meet up there Bi'ithnillaah

Off-topic

NPC Launches Ambitious Red Sea Crossing

Acting on endorsements and pledges of land from the president of Yemen and the president of the African nation of Djibouti,a Dubai-based developer has tapped an American firm to build a bridge across the Red Sea.

Middle East Development LLC on April 25 issued a notice-to-proceed to Noor City Development Corp., Napa, Calif. It authorizes Noor City, as sole agent, "to proceed with the planning, development, construction and management of the bridge between Yemen and Djibouti."

MED is chaired by Tarek M. Bin Laden. His second-generation company, a powerhouse of construction in the Middle East, labors under the dark reputation of Bin Laden's notorious half-brother, Osama Bin Laden. While Osama's name is an anathema to much of the world, the greater Bin Laden family has a long history of driving major construction and development in the region. Its work continues today with signature projects throughout the region. Tarek Bin Laden turns aside questions about his half brother, saying he has no contact with him and no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The newly formed Noor City Development Corp. is led by Tariq E. Ayyad, president. Ayyad is also president of ShareChive LLC, San Francisco, a technology firm with patented systems for delivering constantly refreshed project data to mobile computers on jobsites, with an emphasis on highway and large infrastructure. Ayyad is an American of Kuwaiti extraction, a civil engineer, construction manager and a former bridge engineer with the California Dept. of Transportation.


Ayyad says MED's goal is to create economic opportunity and stability on both sides of the Red Sea by tying in the bridge to new rail and road construction hubs and networks in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

"MED is a developer. They want to create jobs, they want to move products," Ayyad says. "It is very, very critical to connect the African nations and their products and crops right to the Middle East. The Middle East is extremely wealthy in money and oil, but we lack quite a lot of crops and services."

Noor City is forming an international commission to refine concepts for a design/build/operate/transfer concession to create the rail and highway crossing. Concepts developed by Danish engineering firm COWI envision a 28.5 km crossing with a suspension span over the Bab al Mendab Straits.


Phase I will likely be a 3.5 km leap to the Yemeni island of Perim and a 4 km land link to the western channel. Phase II may be broken into several contracts for the 21.5 km transit to Djibouti, which will include 13 km of suspension bridge and 8 km of girder bridge. Cost is estimated at between $10 billion and $20 billion, depending on design, project organization and financing. Construction would take seven to nine years.

"If you open up to this [transportation system that provides access into the heart of Africa] then you can create jobs by moving products, moving services," Ayyad says. "You can ignite economic development just by the transportation element. The bridge is really critical."

Source

Wallahi, if I get stuck in africa Im gonna run away to Dammaj insha'Allah I'd make it.

get a camel too and a fish just incase you need to ride the sea.. and get an action man suit incase you need to erm.. nah 4get dat

Wa Aleykum Salam Wa Rhametullahi Wa Berekatu,

I heard on the EriTV programme about how the president was settling some stuff with Yemen about some Alp...something Islands, anyone, I'd have to swim or catch a boat there then sneak in.

Its save to go there now isn't?