---
type: Place
title: Al-Mukalla
description: Yemen's coastal trade port and the end of Harry's road trip — a fish market staffed partly by Somalis who earn more than locals, Saddam Hussein's face on car windows, and a camel pressing sesame oil.
tags: [al-mukalla, yemen, fish-market, ports, somalia, food, electricity]
coordinates: {lat: 14.5425, lng: 49.1231}
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# Al-Mukalla

The port city on [Yemen](/countries/yemen.md)'s southern coast, and the
destination of the road trip that started at [Seiyun](/places/seiyun.md). It is
known for trade and for fishing.

**The port is owned by the United Arab Emirates**, which Harry offers as the
clearest single illustration of how fragmented the country has become.

## The fish market

The main thing to do here, and the place he goes to see what ordinary life looks
like. He arrives earlier than usual, so the boats are still landing the catch.

- **Around 6,000 per kilogram (from video – unverified)** — his conversion is
  about **$6 for one of the big fish**, which he calls very reasonable.
- **A lot of the workers are Somali.** Somalia is directly across the water, and
  the men working the market tell him the Somalis **earn more than Yemenis
  because they are paid in dollars**. Harry spends a while unable to tell who is
  from which country and asking.

## Saddam Hussein on the cars

Portraits of Saddam Hussein are stuck in car windows all over the city.
[Jamal](/people/jamal.md) explains it: since his death he is regarded as a martyr
and a hero here — for never betraying Muslims, and for going against the United
States, which Harry is told not many people do.

## Sesame oil

A traditional press that has been worked the same way for thousands of years and
needs no electricity: a **camel walks in a circle turning a stone grinder** that
crushes the sesame into oil. The camel is **blindfolded so it doesn't get dizzy**
and believes it is walking in a straight line.

It has no name, so Harry is invited to give it one and calls it Bing Bong.

## Electricity

The shortage is the same as everywhere else in the country — three hours on,
three off — but here he sees the workaround: **diesel generators**, which the
richer households run to have power around the clock. He recognises them
immediately from Lebanon, where the wealthy do the same. They run on fossil fuel
and he notes that the environment is not the priority anyone here has room for.

## People

- **A woman named Huda** talks to him about the "worst place in the world to be a
  woman" ranking. On whether she can drive, the answer comes back that if she had
  the means and the money, she would. Her hands are covered in henna, which she
  shows the camera.
- **Boys who ride up on bikes** the moment they see a camera, stop whatever they
  were doing, and ask what his favourite football team is. Harry says there are
  few places where people are this confident approaching a stranger — India is
  the comparison, and even there people tend to be shy.
- **A man who invites him for tea** at the end of the trip and tells him firmly
  that this is not Yemen, it is **South Arabia** — a separate country until sixty
  years ago and British before that, a point he makes by listing British cars.

## Harry's tips

- **Go to the fish market and go early.** It's the main thing to do and the boats
  are still coming in.
- **Ask who is actually working the market.** The dollar wages, and who gets
  them, are the most revealing fact in the city.

## Source

- [Inside Yemen: A Country in Freefall 🇾🇪](/videos/Sy2AGeH8u3c.md) —
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy2AGeH8u3c