Description :
Like a storyteller, Michel Hellas describes his journey to Yemen in the late 1970s. He set off with a rucksack, without a precise itinerary or reservation, and travelled through this country of tribes and mountains at the whim of the drivers who agreed to give him a lift. A night spent in a cave, a war dance, jambiya (the traditional dagger with the curved blade) brandished to the sound of a portable cassette player, a swim in the Red Sea or at an arms market - the author shares all these unexpected and unusual moments. Fascinated by Yemeni architecture and the warrior spirit of these people, he shares the construction details of these vertical houses, describes the people and the encounters made along the way, and offers a vision of Yemen still living according to its traditions and unscathed by the war that has been battering it for several years.