Al Mukalla - Heat

The thermometer showed 50°C. I was laying on a flea-infested mattress in my room. The walls were pure concrete and there was nothing but an image of a red rose. Although her head was hanging it was a reminder, that there was still life on this planet. Due to the lack of power the air conditioner never started up and through the small window not one single puff made it to my sweating body. Al Mukalla was on the Yemeni coast far away from everything. A single road connects the place with the rest of the country and due to insurgencies even this lifeline was frequently cut. Barren treeless hills surround the city which was built along a natural bay. The only way to escape the sweltering heat was to jump into the blue water of the ocean risking to be attacked by a shark. This risk was for many easy to take. A truck came down the hill and it seemed that the only way to survive inside the drivers cabin was to get rid of the windscreen. Three guys greeted me nicely and jumped from the pier into the blue. This truck should be tomorrow the way out of here. To leave I fought hard for a permit to take the overland route through the bandit-ridden Hadramaut valley and the desert of Marib to Sanaa about thousand kilometres away. Fortunately the police officer understood my wish to get out of here and signed and stamped the carnet. Tomorrow was the time to leave.