Where the paved road ends: one woman's extraordinary experiences in Yemen

296 Pages·2012·1.047 MB·English

by  Han, Carolyn

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Also by CArolyn HAn
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One Woman’s Extraordinary Experiences in Yemen
C h
arolyn an
Potomac Books
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2012 by Carolyn Han
Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No
part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Han, Carolyn, 1941–
Where the paved road ends : one woman’s extraordinary experiences in Yemen /
Carolyn Han.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-59797-725-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-59797-726-5 (electronic edition)
1. Han, Carolyn, 1941—Travel—Yemen. 2. Women travelers—United States—
Biography. 3. Women travelers—Yemen—Biography. 4. Yemen—Description and
travel. I. Title.
G226.H35A3 2012
915.304’53—dc23
2012014705

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the
American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.
Potomac Books
22841 Quicksilver Drive
Dulles, Virginia 20166
First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Daood and Kamal
Thanks for the memories
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Contents
Author’s Note xi
Part I a Far-oFF Corner oF the World
1 The Journey 2
2 Places Find Us 4
3 Embracing Adventure 9
4 Travel Awakens 12
Part II aCross the desert
5 Camel Shadows 16
6 Crossing the Ramlat as-Sab’atayn 22
7 Into the Hadramawt 30
8 Walking the Desert 36
Part III BaCk to yemen
9 An Unmarked Path 42
10 Journey to Marib 46
11 Landing Head First 52
Part IV liFe in mariB
12 Awaking in Marib 58
13 Following Mohammed 62
14 No One Walks in Marib 64
15 Ancient Marib 67
16 Beginning to Disappear 71
17 Sunflower the Cat 74
18 Foule, Bread, and Tea 79
19 Black Goat-hair Tent 82
20 Confronting Conspiracy 88
Part V learning and listening
21 Queen of Sheba’s Temple 94
vii
viii Contents
22 Ali’s Invitation 100
23 Eating Arsenic 109
24 The Looking Glass 115
25 Words of Condolence 121
26 Choosing the Veil 124
27 A Bedouin Tale 127
28 Disappearing in Marib 131
29 My Teachers 136
30 Rafallah’s Tent 140
31 Broken Images 143
Part VI neW Friends and old traditions
32 Sana’a 148
33 Living Traditions 156
34 Marib by Taxi 163
35 Bedouin, Russians, and The New Yorker 167
36 English-Arabic Dictionary 174
37 A Restaurant Guide to Marib 179
38 Blown by Desert Winds 183
39 Princess Shoes in a Fish Restaurant 189
40 Classics and Camouflaged Cars 196
41 Isolated Lives 199
42 Women over Sixty 203
43 Superstitions 207
44 Without Words 211
45 Spells Cast 215
46 Pre-Islamic Glass Beads 221
Part VII the end oF the Journey
47 Christmas 228
48 Wine and Cheese 237
49 Diplomas 244
50 Celebrations 250
51 Tarim 257
52 Mud Mansions 261
53 The Last Supper 267
54 Packing Zhara 271
55 Graduation Lunch 273
56 Gifts of the Desert 279
Acknowledgments 281
About the Author 283