11.12
Gulf of Aden kind of hit the headlines globally at the same time as we sailed to Yemen. The pirate activity was soon to hit its height but we managed to avoid the cut-throats on our feeble tub. I tell you, the “ship” in question would have been useless in outrunning their guns and boats. Madventures does not recommend sailing too far into the open sea without proper horse- and firepower.
We were loaded in a car as soon as our feet touched the ground in Aden and we started the jeep ride to the capital city of Sana’a. We heard about the recent US embassy bombing by Al-Qaeda and wouldn’t you know it, our first real scare was soon to follow. I made the mistake of pointing my camera to the presidential palace.
Next thing you know, the car door was yanked open and guard screaming loudly in Arabic jumped into the backseat, pointing his assault rifle in my general direction. I didn’t need a translator to understand I was meant to put down my camera and put it down RIGHT NOW. I did as my gut feeling (Read: soiled pants) told me to do and turned the camera off.
Thinking back, it might have made some interesting material for the show, but they would have confiscated everything anyway, if we had got arrested. And honestly, jail time was least of my worries right then, I truly believed this guy was about to put a bullet through the back of my head in the name of national security.
We avoided the incarceration. There was a bit similar situation a couple of days later, when our driver asked if we wanted to see the house where Osama Bin Laden’s father was born. We thought he meant from the high cliff, where we had a perfectly nice view of the village anyway.
No, our driver pulled over right in front of Muhammad Bin Laden’s childhood home’s door. I don’t know if the guys who started to gather at the scene with their AK-47’s were family, but cousins or not, we felt better to hightail out of there before they got too interested in who the two white boys with cameras were…
T
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Madventures, Steven W. Schmidt. Steven W. Schmidt said: RT @madventures: Yemen is a hell of a place. http://bit.ly/26bIxB [...]
Tunnan kommentti ton kohtauksen jälkee varmasti ollu: VITTU MIKÄ KUUMOTUS!
Be safe out there riku and tunna this is a crazy world blessing from the most high and most blessings to madventures
You’re just determined to make all our travel stories sound lame by comparison now, aren’t you? I got shook down and interrogated by Secret Service in D.C. this summer. Unbeknownst to myself at the time, Obama himself was inside the building I was innocently filming (I admitted to the SS guys I was filming them because I had never filmed SS before). After about 20 or 30 questions it was determined I was indeed just an idiotic tourist with a filming fetish and I was released. Got to see the Presidential motorcade up close an personal a minute later, but the best part was reviewing the tape later of my slow pan to a handful of SS agents charging over to me just before I stopped taping.
But I never feared for my life or had an AK pointed at me, so yours is like my story on acid.
Love you guys so much for pushing so hard for perfect journalism. I’ll support your dudes forever.
you* dudes
“your dudes”
Hahaha oh wow
Hurja meininki!
Madventures!! WOO!! Helvetin paras ohjelma ikinä!
Do you understand how important work you are doing. Generally, because of you guys, there is very good information expanding in the world most propably in fractal-like patterns!