Yemen

Yemen is one of the most ancient and fascinating countries in the world, known in antiquity as "Arabia Felix" (Happy Arabia) because of its wealth from the incense trade. Yemen was the source of frankincense and myrrh - precious resins that were among the most valuable commodities in the ancient world, traded across Arabia, Africa, India, and into the Roman Empire. The legendary Queen of Sheba is said to have come from ancient Yemen!

Yemen's architecture is extraordinary and unlike anywhere else. The old city of Sana'a, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has tower houses built of mud and burnt brick decorated with intricate white geometric patterns - rising 5-8 storeys in clusters that look like gingerbread cities from a fairy tale. The island of Socotra is so biologically unique it's called the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean" - the Dragon Blood Tree, which looks like an upturned umbrella and bleeds red resin, grows nowhere else on Earth. The ancient mud-brick skyscrapers of Shibam (the "Manhattan of the Desert", built over 2,000 years ago) were among the world's first high-rise buildings. Yemen has dramatic landscapes - the Haraz Mountains, ancient wadis, and long Arabian Sea coastline. Yemeni coffee is world-famous and coffee trading in Yemen dates back to the 15th century.