Notes on the Geography of Yemen: AdenBack in the days when Europeans went by sea to India and points beyond, Aden was busy. Not today, although the airport receives a surprising amount of traffic not only domestically but from Amman and Dubai, Cairo, Nairobi, Djibouti, and Mogadishu. Make default image size larger ![]() The coast still sees lots of small boats to and from the Emirates. ![]() Small-boat harbor. ![]() The same corner from farther back. The building in the distance is--so much for the exotic--a shopping center. ![]() Aden has two parts separated by a volcano. Within the volcano is the old part of town appropriately called Crater. This, on the other hand, is the newer part of town, the location of the modern harbor--and where the U.S.S. Cole came to anchor. ![]() Looking from this newer part of town over toward the mountain within which lies Crater, of which more soon. ![]() Nobody's idea of scenic, but not as run down as you might expect. ![]() Well, what did every Victorian town need, first and foremost? ![]() It needed a park, too. Can you make out that object in the trees on the left? It's a dark mass atop a light-colored base. ![]() Ever she sits, apple in hand. ![]() If you really hanker for Empire, you have to head this way. ![]() It's close to the old passenger dock. ![]() Last decorated in 1950-something. ![]() Playing by the clocktower. ![]() The patch of grass is a surprising touch, but we're going to jump over the mountain to see something even more startling--probably the most exotic thing in the city. ![]() Here's an explanatory note. ![]() And here's the approach path. ![]() Looks like a tomb of some sort, but it isn't. ![]() Behind the arch, a stepped tank to capture runoff from the occasional storm--increasingly occasional these days. ![]() The water is held up by a series of weirs. ![]() Follow them upstream and you arrive at impassible ravines. ![]() It's like a water park. Just without water for the last several years. ![]() Some of the tanks are deep. ![]() The interconnections seem like something by Escher. ![]() Water must once have splashed over these sills. ![]() And down several pathways. ![]() The sultan's palace, now the archaeological museum. ![]() The Al-Aidrus mosque and tombs. ![]() Entrance. ![]() Interior. ![]() In case you thought that the city's Victorian buildings had bitten the dust: not a chance. ![]() Verandas for a hint of breeze. ![]() Deco, late in the colonial day. ![]() Another example. ![]() Post-colonial progress: the same shopping center seen from a distance in the first photo in this folder. |
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