The picture page

This page is dedicated to the memory of Valerie Lambert (the nearest figure in the photograph) who died of cancer in 1989, aged 46.

The scene is a cross-over walk in 1986 through Wadi Dayqa, a narrow passage about 17 km long through one of the mountain ranges of northern Oman. The nick in the skyline is known to sailors on the Gulf of Oman as the Devil's Gap.

Before setting off through a wadi a check on the weather is essential, as Wadi Dayqa can increase its flow one hundred thousandfold in a few hours after rain. A group of walkers were trapped in another Omani wadi in 1996, and eight of them lost their lives.

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I was lucky enough to visit Yemen in August 1990, between the union of the North and South and the subsequent civil war. Saddam (who was supported by most Yemenis as the champion of poorer Arabs against the rich who allied themselves with the West) invaded Kuwait during my stay, but this did not spoil my visit. I found Yemenis friendly and courteous.

With a companion, I toured the the North and travelled to Aden and as far as Tarim in the Hadhramawt. The most economical transport is by shared taxi.

This is one of the most famous sights in Yemen, the Dar al-Hajar or Rock Palace in Wadi Dhahr, perched on a rock and built as a home by one of the former Imams.

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Another picture from Yemen: two children on a rooftop in the town of Thilla'.

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