Before the sun rises over Mukalla’s beaches, 15‑year‑old Abdulrahman Badr and his friend Tareq are already at their usual spot on the sand.
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Badr → rise → sand
They’re brewing tea and kneading dough for bakhmari, a traditional fermented flatbread from Hadramout – the vast governorate in eastern Yemen that Mukalla is the capital of.
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Mukalla → brew → that
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Their customers are the thousands of beachgoers gathering along the Arabian Sea shoreline thanks to a yearly climate phenomenon that turns the desperately hot summer cooler for a few weeks.
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that → say → weeks
Al-Baldah, as the climate pattern is known, typically lasts from late July to early August, and draws thousands of visitors from across Yemen and abroad to Mukalla.
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pattern → know → Mukalla
Before sunrise, the beaches, normally known for scorching heat and humidity, are packed with men, women and children enjoying the cool waters and refreshing sea breeze.
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beaches → know → waters
Business is booming and people are coming from everywhere,” Badr told Al Jazeera as he gently pressed and shaped pieces of dough by hand.
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he → boom → hand
Like many others, Badr is taking advantage of the seasonal crowds to earn money.
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Badr → take → money
At the start of the season, he and four friends set up a wooden table serving bakhmari, sambusi (a pastry similar to a samosa) and tea to hungry swimmers in search of a hot breakfast.
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he → set → breakfast
“I will save what I earn from my work here to buy supplies for the new school year, which is about to begin,” said Badr, a student, his tired face dusted with flour and beach sand.
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face → save → flour
For more than a decade, Yemen has been plunged into war between the Iran‑backed Houthis and the Saudi‑backed, internationally recognised government, a conflict that has left thousands dead or wounded and displaced millions.
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that → plunge → millions
The war has driven millions into hunger and poverty while destroying vital infrastructure such as schools, roads and power stations.
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war → drive → schools
Therefore, for many residents and visitors in Mukalla, Al‑Baldah offers not only a break from their suffering but also a rare opportunity to earn money.
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Al‑Baldah → offer → money
Fuad Hassan, a Mukalla resident originally from Taiz city, retreated to the beach after a swim while his two children carried on playing in the sea.
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children → retreat → sea
He said he recharges his energy during the dawn swim and loves seeing the beaches filled with happy swimmers.
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beaches → say → swimmers
“We come to the beach after the dawn prayer and swim in the cold water for one or two hours before going back home.
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We → come → hours
I love the fun and the hustle.
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I → love → fun
Everywhere you look, people are playing and enjoying themselves,” said Hassan, who, along with his children, was bare‑chested and dressed in long swimming trunks.
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who → look → trunks
At the bustling beaches, groups of young men played games, snatching friends from behind, tossing them into the sand or burying them with only their heads visible.
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heads → bustle → them
Women, dressed in full black abayas, headed into the cold sea to swim.
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Women → dress → sea
Along the beachfront, rows of temporary stalls sold food, drinks and snacks as vendors served the crowds.
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vendors → sell → crowds
But not everyone shared the joy.
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everyone → share → joy
Hani Abdullah, an unemployed young man with a thin, trimmed black beard who said he had quit college, sat quietly on the seaside despite wearing swimming clothes, annoyed at some of the downsides of the large crowds.
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he → trim → crowds
“Al‑Baldah revives the city of Mukalla as people come from everywhere.
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people → revive → Mukalla
But we do not benefit from all this traffic,” he said.
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he → benefit → traffic
And Abdullah said the desperation for people to go to the beach wasn’t all good news – many were escaping homes that had become sweltering due to long power cuts.
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that → say → cuts
For Abdullah, the priority wasn’t for the local authorities to spend money on organising Al-Baldah, as fun as it was, but to instead fix electricity shortages and feed the hungry.
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it → spend → hungry
“The state has spent money on activities that are unnecessary while people are hungry.
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people → spend → activities
They should take care of the people,” Abdullah said.
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Abdullah → take → people
The influx of visitors to Mukalla has not only filled the beaches but also hotels, boosting businesses and creating a rare economic boom similar to those seen during Ramadan and Eid.
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influx → fill → Ramadan
In the evenings, as people retreat from the beaches, the city experiences traffic jams, with streets, shops, and malls crowded with shoppers.
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city → retreat → shoppers
Official figures from the provincial tourism office told Al Jazeera that roughly 35,000 people visited Mukalla during Al‑Baldah this year, compared with 20,000 last year and 30,000 in 2024.
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people → tell → 2024
The hotel is full most of the time during Al‑Baldah,” said Raid al‑Sewad, a young receptionist at the Mecca Hotel, which overlooks the sea.
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which → say → sea
Ahmed, a home linens shop owner who preferred to be identified only by his first name, said that despite the official figures, this year’s traffic felt lighter than in previous years, which has affected earnings.
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which → prefer → earnings
“Business usually picks up during Al‑Baldah, although not as much this year as in previous years.
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Business → pick → years
We used to receive many customers from Marib, Shabwa and Wadi Hadramout.
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We → use → Marib
This year, however, many visitors from Marib, who generally have greater purchasing power, have not come,” he said.
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he → have → power
Local authorities have made an effort to entertain locals and tourists alike, organising the Al-Baldah Tourism Festival in the second half of July.
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authorities → make → July
The festival offered a packed programme of cultural and sporting events, including traditional musical performances, folk dances, poetry recitals, swimming races, beach volleyball tournaments and a marathon.
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festival → offer → performances
Arwa al‑Akbari, deputy head of the tourism ministry office in Hadramout, said visitors also explored exhibitions showcasing homemade products and traditional foods, alongside open‑air musical performances.
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visitors → say → performances
“The season represents the peak of annual tourist activity, as Mukalla and coastal cities such as al‑Shihr, Hami and Burum transform into vibrant destinations receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors,” she told Al Jazeera.
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she → represent → Jazeera
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
