It raises the question, is it the allure of a thing denied that makes us more desirous? Spend a moment to see what you’re missing.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Slightly smaller than France in geographic area, it boasts four properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites including the old city of Sanaa (following two images), the historic town of Zabid, the old walled city of Shibam made from earth, and the otherworldly Socotra Archipelago and islands with the trees that bleed.

Ten other Yemeni sites await determination on UNESCO’s “tentative list”.

Yemen has been at the crossroads of the Middle East,  Africa, and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its place on the ancient spice routes. It’s capital city Sanaa is one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities. The country is the only republic on the Arab peninsula, all others are emirates or kingdoms each ruled by a single family.

The country is an unhappy marriage between two distinct states, historically divided as North and South Yemen. North Yemen declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British had set up a protectorate centered on the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, and when they withdrew in 1967, South Yemen emerged.

Following years of civil war, Northern Yemen became a republic in 1970. Two decades later, Southern Yemen agreed to merge with the  northern republic but the states soon entered into a new civil war, resulting in thousands of casualties. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

Twenty million people call Yemen home; half are under age fifteen.  They are predominantly Arab, but native ethnicities also include Afro-Arab, South Asians, and Europeans. Ninety-nine percent of the population is Muslim, fairly evenly split between Sunni and Shi’a, with tiny numbers of Christians, Jews and Hindus.

Life is difficult. Unemployment hovers at 30%, with most people employed in agriculture and herding. Less than a quarter of those employed work in white-collar or professional services or in trades. Per capita income hovers around $1000 USD per year.  Life expectancy is short: 59 for men and 63 for women. The average Yemeni woman gives birth to 6.75 children.

Yemen has several distinct climate regions due to extensively variable topography. It’s high mountain ridges run parallel to its coastline, trapping moisture from winds blowing in from nearby seas.  The country has adequate water supplies and is one of the most arable spots on Arabian Peninsula.

It is perhaps most famed for Socotra Island, which boasts its own unique fauna and flora, including the ethereal Dragons Trees – umbrella-like plants that bleed red sap when cut. (See them atop the mountain above.)

Centuries of intensive hunting and agriculture have decreased the natural fauna and vegetation. But Yemen’s natural environment remains fairly robust with about 3,000 plant species, 85 types of mammals, 400 birds and over 100 reptile species. This does not account for Socotra Island’s unique ecosystems.

Have you tried Yemen’s Sidr honey from the mystical and biblical Sidr Tree?

The Grand Mosque in Sanaa is one of the most important mosques in the Islamic world.  Built during the life of the Prophet Mohammad in the 7th century AD, it is the world’s third earliest mosque, preceded only by the Qa’ba Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina.

Some embassies are warning visitors to defer “nonessential travel” to my stable hometown of Amman, advising people to avoid “western” shopping malls and areas of peaceful demonstrations, precautionary guidance that we swallow with a grain of salt.

There are wide opportunities for stellar and safe exploration of the Middle East, but the long-term effects of civil unrest threatens tourism in general, and the environmental programs that depend on touristic income for support.

These important images remind us of the breathtakingly beautiful countries, rich with history, that may one day soon be reopened for exploration.

That will be a happy day for Yemen, long ago described in Latin as the Happy Arabia.

Images from Mashable, taken by – in order of appearance – boats by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis; Haraz mountains by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; Sana’a clothes-seller by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis; shopkeeper in Old Town by Michael Runkel/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis;Village in the Haraz Mountains by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; mosque by Arne Hodalic/Corbis; and Sana’a at night by Arne Hodalic/Corbis

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I remember that when I visited Byblos, in the Jbeil district of Lebanon, in the summer of 2011, I felt like a true beholder of history. Historians agree that it’s the second oldest continuously-inhabited city on earth, runner-up only to the Palestinian city of Jericho. I sat at Feniqia restaurant in the heart of the old Phoenician city, eating shanklish cheese and tabbouleh and imagining life in that very spot, if time were to rewind 7,000 years.

Since about 5,000 BCE, people have been walking the streets of this city. Bartering turned into buying and selling; hunting and gathering was first conducted out in nature, but in the present day, it all goes down in the local souk. Undoubtedly, homemakers hunt for the freshest red peppers to use for muhammara (see our recipe here) and gather the heartiest chickpeas for making hummus, a recipe that has been perfected over generations.

Through successful trade with Egypt, Byblos grew from a small village to a wealthy city. Today still it thrives, by way of a modern phenomenon called tourism, attracting travelers like me looking for a journey back in time.

Byblos was named the 2016 Arab Tourism Capital by the Arab Council of Tourism. Green Prophet was here to salute Erbil and Sharjah as the Arab Tourism Capitals of 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Although thousands of tourists visit Lebanon every year, with Byblos as the top of their to-see lists, municipal leaders say they expect an increase in tourism by up to 30 percent, in the foreseeable future. There are plans to inaugurate five-star international hotel chains and, well, keep up the good work with the Lebanese cooking.

Archaeologically, Byblos is fascinating. It is home to Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Greek and Roman ruins, including a Church of St. John the Baptist and a restored 12^th century Crusader castle.

The Byblos International Festival is an annual summer music festival and the biggest public event in Lebanon. Musicians and singers from all over the world, including but not limited to the Middle East, fill the air with everything from classical sounds to pop tunes. For the last few years, the municipality has projected a brief 3D animation movie showing historical highlights of Byblos on tower walls in the fishermen’s harbor.

Efforts for environmental sustainability are also at work. The air in Byblos is cleaner than it has been in a while. With aims to make Byblos more pedestrian-friendly, local leaders recently closed part of the old city to vehicles after 4pm on weekdays and noon on weekends. With decreased air pollution and less noise, visitors will be breathing fresh air in this very old city.

I’d recommend a few days in Byblos, although it could easily be made into a day trip from Beirut. I think spending more than 24 hours there only makes sense, for you’ll be stepping far, far back in time and there’s a lot of ground to cover!

What will the Arab Tourism Capital of 2017 be? Comment below with your guesses.

The post Byblos, Lebanon is best Arabian city to visit this year appeared first on Green Prophet.

My great pal Agnes just announced she’s coming to visit me in Jordan from the USA. This intrepid Hungarian has been to more countries (and speaks more languages) than anyone I know.  She doesn’t blink at being cooped in an airplane for double-digit hours.  She’s sampled freshly fried grasshoppers off a Singapore street vendor, noshed on baby sea cucumbers in rural China, and – in the Little Odessa neighborhood near New York’s Coney Island – chased Russian stroganov with vodka that can strip paint.

My travel hero survived Havana pickpockets and Macchu Picchu altitude sickness, but for years was steadfast in her refusal to hop over to the Middle East. It took a National Geographic special on Jordan’s epic UNESCO site, Petra, to get her shopping Amman flights.

I stumbled upon a short YouTube clip that produces the same effect in just five minutes.  It takes you to Egypt’s pyramids, Jordan’s Red Sea, Dead Sea and moon-like desert in Wadi Rum.  There’s Turkey’s Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar, Cappadoccia seen by hot air balloons and Pamukkale’s carbon calcinate baths. I’ve been to these places, all deftly captured by amateur videographer Daniel Camenzuli. Check it out:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/wAMXKnEjSOc[/youtube]

If travel teaches us anything it’s that the nuance and diversity within geographic regions cannot reduce to a singular description. Is ‘Europe’ an Irish pub ceili or a Northern Lights dip in an Icelandic hot spring? Is ‘Canada’ explained by a Québécois ice festival or a stellar Chinese dinner ordered up in Vancouver? Probably nowhere is it harder to condense culture to a stereotype than here in the Middle East, yet it’s the place so broadly painted as backwards, violent, and terribly unsafe.

Bad stuff happens everywhere.  Some of the baddest being in places that sell most of the world’s postcards (consider Paris, London, New York and Madrid).  Open your mind and park paranoia. Brush off your passport and come see this slice of the globe. Television documentaries and YouTube clips can whet your appetite, but experiencing it all in person is a mind-opening game-changer.

Image of Petra, Jordan at sunset from Shutterstock

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