Thursday 21 Nov. 2019 @ 17.45
Room B104, Brunei Gallery at SOAS

Walking the Longest Wadi in Arabia

Presented by Chris Bradley
Co-hosted by The British Yemeni Society

After three weeks of walking solo for 500 km through Southern Arabia, Chris reached the Indian Ocean. Little known to the outside world, Wadi Hadramaut is rich in culture, history and stunning scenery.

Chris became the first westerner in modern times to walk the entire length of Wadi Hadramaut in Southern Arabia, the longest wadi in Arabia. Solo and unsupported, it took him 21 days to cover a total distance of almost 500km through historical sites and well-armed tribal communities. His route took him past the mud skyscrapers of Shibam, an ancient incense trading town, little changed in 3,000 years. He then travelled onto the capital of Wadi Hadramaut at Seiyun, with its mud-built sultan's palace, before reaching the religious centre of Tarim. After a detour to a Bedouin wedding, the most difficult section was crossing 70 km of desert with no access to water.

As a professional tour guide and lecturer, Chris Bradley has led groups throughout the Middle East and Asia, specialising in Arabia and Yemen in particular. He has written extensively on Arabia and is the author of ‘The Discovery Guide to Yemen’, ‘Insight Guide to the Silk Road’ and Berlitz Guides to the Red Sea, Cairo, Libya, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Nile Cruising.

As a film producer and cameraman, he has made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic TV and Channel 4.

His solo, unsupported walk down Wadi Hadramaut was the culmination of five years travelling around Yemen researching for his guidebook.

You can download a pdf flyer for this lecture.

In order to reserve a seat for the lecture, please email [email protected] as seating is limited.

Please note that the views expressed by the speakers in this lecture series should not be interpreted as views held by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation.