| We drive Northwest out of Sana'a, through Yemeni highlands, on a road that will take us to the Red Sea. The Yemen roads between villages have two lanes and smooth tarmac. We listen to our guide, Ahmed, a liberal Muslim, argue about theology with our driver, Muhammad, a fundamentalist. Ahmed calls Mohammad a silly Bedouin. Mohammad wants Shari'a law to be more strictly enforced. He prays constantly under his breath. He won't touch alcohol. Ahmed wears Western clothing and is willing to take a drink or two. They both have a good sense of humor. It's interesting to listen to two people talk with opposite views about Islam. Ahmed teases Mohammad; he argues for women judges, qat chewing, bars with alcohol. Mohammad becomes quiet and drives faster when he gets upset. Meanwhile, we pass many mountain villages. Most notable is Manakha, a stone village in the middle of terraced hillsides. Each village displays different architecture from its neighbors. The people decorate their houses in subtley different ways - round, angular, even arrow shaped windows built in houses of mud or whitewashed stone with various archways, doorways, and cupolas. The landscape gradually flattens. At last we pass through a steep sided canyon and reach the humid coastal zone, Tihama, on the Red Sea. We stop for the night in the port city of Al Hudayda.
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