Yemen

There can’t be many places left in the world that could make God smile, but Yemen is one of them. Inhabited almost forever Yemen is, in many ways, the birthplace of all our lives. In days past, the sons of Noah knew it as the land of milk and honey, Gilgamesh came here to search for the secret of eternal life, wise men gathered frankincense and myrrh from its mountains and, most famously, a woman known simply as Sheba said Yemen was her home.San’a isn’t where it was supposed to be. Shem, the son of Noah and founder of San’a, had originally chosen to site his new city a little further west, but just as he set out his guide ropes and prepared for some major DIY a bird dropped out of the heavens, picked up the guide rope and moved it further east. This, Shem knew, was a sign, and so it was there, where the bird had dropped the guide rope, that San’a was born.San’a, the world’s oldest city, will be their first taste of this most mystical of Arabian countries. It’s a good arrival, for this sickly, sweet cake of a city is one of the world’s great urban centres, and its many layers, colours and patterns make it the most romantic, living, breathing Islamic city you could ever hope to find.