Our first visit to a coffee area was the Saih valley. The coffee from here is called Saihi, which is the normal conjugation here… coffee from Bani Mattar is Mattari, etc.
This is coffee is different than the other origins we visited, because it is grown in the narrow confines of a valley, and it was the only place I saw the use of shade trees for the coffee in YemenYemen has a coffee culture like no other place, and perhaps some of what we enjoy in this cup is due to their old style of trade...: Technically,....
I’ll remember this hike for many things, like shooting off the old Russian “11” (AK47?) up at the end of the canyon. It was like channelingChanneling refers to the formation of small water jets during espresso brewing due to poorly distributed grounds. When high-pressure water is forced toward the espresso puck, the water... pure hillbilly but halfway across the planet.
I also remember how stupid I was for tasting a “yellow tomato” that was, like totally not a green tomato. As I wrote at the time “…Looks like some sort of yellow tomato to me, and seemed like they had cultivated it there. So I, being curiously ignorant, had a little nibble. I have never, ever tasted anything more vile, and it took everything to keep from wretching right there … and for the next 30 minutes hiking up the trail. When I asked, between gags, “how the hell can you eat that?!?” they laughed. “We never eat that.” Doh!
Saih Valley Yemen Photos
New is all relative in this ancient land, but you can spot newer abodes since they are not in the rock-walled fortresses at the tops of hills and mountains. Clearly, people have become less paranoid about invades as time as passed. Yemen 
and got a crooked self portration with Ali and Al Muhakri Yemen 
road trip to Saihi growing region, but a stop first to this great shop… Yemen Did not buy the Yemeny Baby milk, just liked the name. Yemen pretty good for a coutry that doesn’t eat breakfast, a Yemeni egg Mc Muffin Yemen A rare place where there are actually some broad swaths of arable land Yemen Arid and dry, with some sparse amounts of greenery and agriculture in the “wadi”, the valleys. Yemen As we approach the Saih Wadi, terraced agriculture Yemen Traditional hats, and some unusual cloth, in the village at Saih there weren’t many children, but later the area was flooded with them. It was a school day, duh. Yemen Okay, if I can nominate myself for one award, I think it would this photo be it. To state the obvious, the children in Yemen are just wonderful. Yemen 
Hanging out in the meager shade, a few cattle in town Yemen Typical of Yemen, but remarkable to new eyes of a visitor. Yemen Saihi is relatively flat terrain compared to the other coffee regions where the crop is terraced on steep slopes. But like other areas there are no roads directly to coffee so mules are used extensively. Yemen Direct from the back of the mule, ready to go to the local collector and on to Sana’a. Yemen Old stone walls, this without any apparant mortar to hold it in place. Yemen Traditional Homes of Saih Yemen A dry, dead tree in the middle of town Yemen Yemen Drying skins, probably goat, hand from an edifice. Yemen The terrain seems like New Mexico or highland Arizona, but the people, the towns, the culture remind you constantly you are definitely not in the US anymore. It’s as if the Hopi grew coffee. Yemen The ends of the cherry have exceptionally distinct nodes where the flower falls off and the cherry grows. Yemen The tips (new leaves) of the Tufahi are bronze colored. Yemen Saih is irrigated by a channel of water diverted from the streambed below. They have more water than most coffee growing areas in Yemen. Yemen This is the large bean Tufahi cultivar of Mokha coffee, with its apple-like appearance, and some cherries (especially those lower on the tree), have pointed tips. Yemen In this arid climate, there are many other plants and flowering bushes. Yemen Tufahi is said to have an apple-like appearance, and I think you can see it in this photo of unripe coffee cherry. It also is apple-like in the leaf appearance. Yemen Cut into the cliff, on a terrace , the diverted water from the stream bed below. This is part of the reason that the coffee in Saihi was greener, and more healthy than coffee we saw elsewhere. Yemen Looks like some sort of yellow tomato to me, and seemed like they had cultivated it there. So I, being curiously ignorant, had a little nibble. I have never, ever tasted anything more vile, and it took everything to keep from wretching right there … and for the next 30 minutes hiking up the trail. When I asked, between gags, “how the hell can you eat that?!?” they laughed. “We never eat that.” “Whay are you cultivating it here around the coffee?, asked I. “We like how it looks, but it has no use.” Groan. Yemen Here are most of the group, without the photographer of course, me. From right, thats Duane Sorenson, Mr. Mohamed Sowaid, Local Saih farmer, Mr. Ali Sowaid, and the local coffee collector Sahl-Sahl Al Hassine. Yemen Here you can see the fairly primitive method of flooding the coffee occasionally with water from diverted from the channel. There is so little rainfall in Yemen, coffee must be watered somehow, but the conditions make these methods, while ancient, less than ideal. Yemen The canyon was at least as beautiful as ones I have hiked up in New Mexico and Arizona, but this is someone’s backyard basically, and coffee is growing on every arable meter. You can see the irrigation terrace, and the people are on the path we followed up to the terminus of the canyon, a waterfall. Yemen from the top, Ali Sowaid, Sahl-Sahl Al Hassine, and Al Muhakri. Yemen Well armed, but for no apparent reason than looks. When Ali told me that it’s simply a tradition to have a gun around in rural areas, I told him it was just about the same in the US, it’s just the guns look a little different. This one is called the No. 11, from Russia. Yemen It’s also typical that, on special occasions, you take a few shots. Mr. Al-Hassine had first honors Yemen Sahl-Sahl Al Hassine’s buddy and his favorite waterfall. Yemen The water had carved out some intereresting shapes, including this eye-like slit, where the person in front of me because the pupil. Yemen Ali had the next shot… Yemen The creek made it’s way between massive boulders where it formed interesting pools … this one looked like an indoor bathtub, hidden from the heat of the afternoon sun. Yemen Here are unripe green Shibriqi coffee cherries Yemen Here we found a distinct type of the Mokha seedstock, Shibriqi, with it’s brown tips (new leaves). Yemen 
We followed the streambed back down the valley from the waterfall, where it formed interesting pools with water-carved rock all around. Yemen Along the base of the valley was coffee, planted on every bit of arable land, with shade trees above. You can see this on the right here. Yemen Shibriqi coffee cherry is smaller than Tufahi, and has a very rounded shape Yemen Ali poses atop a rock down below. Yemen In a shaded part of the canyon, the coffee looked fairly good Yemen We came to a place where you had 2 rather unattractive options; to traverse across a narrow path on all fours, with a 50′ drop below you, or to make your way between 2 boulders down to the stremabed, and jump the last 6 feet. I chose the former, Duane chose the later (he’s in black). Yemen Here we found coffee cherry that was turning yellow, but it is not a yellow cultivar (ie. turns yellow when it ripens). This appeared to be a nutritional problem, or lack of water. It looked to me as if there was very little composting, and the soil around the coffee appeared too fine, too heavy, too silty, without organic material. Yemen The cherry here was a combination of ripe, under-ripe, and these odd yellowish cherries I mentioned before. This is not a great example of ripe coffee harvesting. Yemen We came across a guy resting after picking some coffee (not the guy in the image – that’s me.) In Central America you see pickers with huge amounts of cherry, but with such low production in Yemen, with so little coffee in the trees, this was a miniscule bag in comparison. Yemen Out in the full sun, the trees looked depleted, a combination of needs for both water and nutrients Yemen Of course, they wanted a picture with the tiny bag of coffee cherry. Saih valley, Yemen. Yemen The larger, apple-shaped coffee tree with the slightly conical cherry form. This is one of the most cherry-laden branches I saw on the whole trip! Saih Valley, Yemen. Yemen This is the only one that would stay still for a photo. Yemen Tufahi Mokha Coffee Cherry on the tree. This is probably the most production I saw on any tree in Yemen, which is not much compared to other origins Yemen Yemeni cow and calf drinking up the cool water in the Saih Wadi. Yemen There is a reason that the town’s look a little desolate; they are! In many of the coffee areas, over 80% of the rural population has moved to Sana’a, where jobs are more plentiful. Then they send money back to the coffee areas to help their extended famlies Yemen Much of the hauling is still donw by mule. Since the road ends at the town, everything past there, including access to all the coffee, is by mule (or human) hauling. Yemen He wanted a picture with his little boys and girls… Yemen I had a lively soccer match with these guys, and suddenly school was out and it was like 20 on 1! I played goalie and they all took shots. Yemen Qat is very mild really, but is a stimulant. (If it was something, like alcohol, that could lead to unconciousness, it would be forbidden under Islam). You eat the very fine leaves and stems from the tips and outer branches. Yemen Well, it’s chat in Ethiopia and Qat in Yemen. After an incredible meal, we had some more quality qat time which always includes a lively discussion. chewing these shrubs makes you feel more like a wandering goat than anything. Yemen This little guy was rooting around for food, and hid in the rocks when I tried to take a picture of him. Yemen With much flourish, they toss the inedible, undesireable parts into a big pile on the floor. Yemen Sunset in Saih Valley, Yemen Yemen In places, the terrain is so much like the United States Southwest. Yemen You can forget exactly where you are. Yemen We stopped a few times on our way back to Sana’a that day for pictures … Yemen
