Suo Cautrat Travel Guide

Cautrat is an excellent natural tourist destination. Everything here is very similar to the scene of an alien planet. All kinds of strange trees and vegetation and many strange animals opened my eyes. Here, I'd like to share with you a detailed tour introduction.

In some plots of movies, we often see an alien world different from the earth, where the natural environment and habitat are different from the earth, which is desirable. But in fact, there is also an environment similar to another planet on the earth, which is called "the world of the only other planet on the earth". It is far from the continental plate and surrounded by the ocean. It has existed alone on the earth for 6.5438+0.8 million centuries, and most of the animals and plants on the island are invisible elsewhere.

Cautrat is an island in the Arabian Sea. The population of the island is about 50,000, and it is a mixed-race descendant of Arabs and blacks.

/kloc-In the 7th century, the Sultanate of Maheri ruled the island and present-day East Yemen. 1967 The Sultanate fell and the island became a part of independent Yemen.

Cautrat is located in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The intersection of the Indian Ocean is the main artery of maritime traffic from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and East Africa, which constitutes the maritime lifeline connecting the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, and its strategic position is extremely important. The island is egg-shaped, equivalent to 3.5 times that of Hong Kong. It is not only the largest island in Yemen, but also the largest island in the Arab world.

This is an island on the west side of the Indian Ocean, called "Sokalat", which is located in the territorial waters of Yemen. It is reported that the island was separated from the mainland plate as early as 654.38+0.8 billion years ago. Long-term geographical isolation and different climate adjustments make the scenery on the island very strange. About 40% plants, 90% reptiles and 95% snails are endemic to the island. The plants on the island, whether leaves or trunks, look particularly strange, much like the alien plants in the movie plot.

Of all the plants known on the island, the most famous one is Dracaena, which is very special. Its trunk is intertwined and grows upwards, with umbrella-shaped green leaves propped up at the top. More specifically, the mucus secreted by Dracaena is as thick as plasma. There is also a story about the dragon blood tree: a long time ago, dragons and elephants fought here, and later the dragon was defeated, so a bleeding tree grew here, hence the name "Dragon blood tree". In addition, as mentioned above, Dracaena can only grow on the island, which is unique in the world.

It is worth mentioning that there are many precious medicinal materials growing on the island, such as aloe, gentian, frankincense, Long Xianxiang and civet cats. In the past, the residents of the island made a living by collecting medicine. Now socotra has become a world natural heritage, every plant on the island has been protected, and the residents on the island can't destroy it at will. Now islanders mainly live by tourism. The week of the island is more than 2000 kilometers, so there are more than 2000 kilometers of coastline.

White and yellow beaches, emerald-like waters and novel natural creatures all seem lonely and strange. Now there are 43,000 islanders living on the island, and the scenery here is touched by foreign tourists, as if it really came to another planet.

tourist handbook

Visa:

You need a Yemeni visa to go to Cautrat. The prerequisite for applying for a visa is that the passport is valid for at least 6 months and has nothing to do with Israel. As far as I know, there are two methods at present:

Methods 1: Go to the Yemeni Embassy in Beijing in person.

Method 2: Apply for an e-visa, and apply for a visa on arrival upon arrival at Sana 'a Airport.

E-visa fee is about $ 125.

First of all, I would like to pay tribute to the two elders who provided information!

I chose the second method: apply for an electronic visa first, and then apply for a visa on arrival at Sana 'a airport. At the same time, I also recommend my chosen agent. Although the price is slightly higher than other agents, it is very reliable, enthusiastic and professional.

The website of the agent I chose: contact me directly by email, and the reply is very detailed and quick.

Tip: China border inspection does not recognize Yemeni e-visa, so it is suggested to prepare a visa from other countries in your passport to avoid border inspection. I chose to fly to Sana 'a via Dubai. Now Dubai can leave the country with white stripes, and this problem will be solved easily.

In addition, you need to pay a deposit to find an agent to book your itinerary, visa and air ticket. Yemen accepts Western Union remittance and Skrill.com remittance.

After arriving at Sana 'a Airport, you can see the "Visa" window on the left side of the arrival hall. Pass in the printed e-visa and passport, and you will get the visa in 2 minutes.

International traffic:

There are many flights to Yemen, so you can choose by yourself. If you transfer in Dubai, Dubai Airlines is also very cheap. It should be noted that flydubai needs to reserve more time to change buses at China Southern Airlines Terminal 2, 1 or Emirates Terminal 3.

Sana 'a Airport is the best international airport I have ever seen. There is no distinction between international and domestic. Upon arrival, passengers on international flights line up at the counter and stamp, while passengers on domestic flights do not line up and go through customs directly. The same is true of leaving the country. Passengers on international flights wait in the same terminal as passengers on domestic flights after stamping at the border inspection counter. When boarding the plane, a staff member will come and shout.

Domestic transportation:

However, the Hadib Airport in Sana 'a flies to Karath, with only 1/3/6 flights every week. It goes back and forth on the same day and stops in the southern city of Mukala.

Among them, Yemen Airlines flies every Monday, and each flight can take about 200 people. Flying on Felix Airlines on Wednesday and Saturday can only take eighty or ninety people.

As there are few flights, you should book flights at least one month in advance! ! ! Buying tickets temporarily can only rely on luck, and the visual inspection is basically full.

The local round-trip ticket price from Sana 'a to Karath is about $400.

Power supply:

Only hotels and restaurants in Hardyber Town on the island have a stable power supply. Hardyber suburban camp and Delisha beach camp also have several hours of power supply time for charging at night, and the camp is also illuminated by electric lights. Other camps only have emergency lights and flashlights. If you want to camp and worry about not being able to charge, you can buy a car socket adapter in advance, and it is no problem to charge the camera phone in the car.

Tour routes in Cautrat:

There are only three main roads on the island, with the capital Hadib as the center and divided into east, west and south lines. Detwah Lagoon, Dixam Nature Reserve and Araher Sand Mountain are the three essences of Suo Cautrat, but they are located in the west, south and east respectively, so it takes five days to see the essence of Suo Cautrat (actually, it only takes four days on the day of flight return). It takes seven days to visit all the scenic spots on the island.

I really recommend seven days to enjoy the island, because it is rich in content.

Accommodation:

There are only four hotels in Hadib town on the island, and the best is Summer Bay, which is also very expensive. The hotel has air conditioning, hot water and Internet. I went to see this hotel specially. In fact, it is equivalent to the level of domestic express hotels, but it is very good in koala. The conditions of the other three hotels are average, similar to those of low-grade guest houses.

There are many camping areas on the island, which provide cooking, shower and arbor, and some even have wooden houses and beds and power supply. Therefore, camping on the island is strongly recommended.

About diving:

Although the corals and fish schools in Suo Cautrat are very good, the light is obscured by the scenery and creatures on the shore here. Diving and snorkeling can be done in Di Hamri Nature Reserve and Rush Coast, with good corals and many kinds of fish. Deep diving should be booked in advance, tell the tour guide in advance, and make an appointment for the coach to transport equipment in Hadib. The onshore launch price is $75, and the maximum depth is 1 1 m. The ship dives 105 USD once, within18m. If you can dive five or six meters freely, you can actually see deep diving, so you don't have to dive.

You can rent diving equipment and life jackets in Di Hamri Nature Reserve, but Rush doesn't.

Secondly, it is also a special experience to go fishing and catch lobsters with fishermen in Qalansiya on the west coast. Although it is not a snorkeling area, the submarine cliff there is another scene. If you are lucky and tough, you can swim with thousands of dolphins.

Eat:

There are only a few restaurants in Hardyber town on the island, and the taste is not good. But if you choose camping, the chef and the guide driver will cook for you. The food is simple, every meal is seafood, and it's just fish; Vegetables are only potatoes.

But don't worry, you can shop in the market or fishermen's hands, and the price is not expensive. The guides and camps are processed for free. A lamb weighing about 8 kilograms is about 20 dollars, a large plate of sea shrimp 10 dollars, and two big squid are equivalent to 30 RMB. As for lobster, although the price is cheap, it is not recommended to buy it, because catching lobster is very destructive to the ecology, which will be introduced later.

As for fruits and vegetables, they are all luxuries on the island. The price of a big watermelon is similar to that of a crayfish. It is suggested to buy enough fruit in Sana 'a before going to the island.

The daily necessities and drinks on the island are not expensive, but after visiting so many places, I only saw shops in Hardyber Town, but I didn't see them elsewhere.

Other considerations:

About taking pictures: Yemen is a conservative Muslim country, and it is impolite to take pictures of women. Especially in Cautrat, it is forbidden to take pictures of women. At the same time, shoot as few military facilities as possible. Strangely, it is considered impolite not to take pictures in the village.

Cell phone signal: Yemen mainland can basically receive cell phone signals. Unicom is not clear. Only if the Yemeni CDMA mobile phone matches the phone card of Suo Cautrat, Suo Cautrat can get the signal. I can't change my calling card into an Apple phone.

Network: There is almost no wifi signal on the island. As far as I know, only the front desk of the travel agency and Xiawan Hotel have Internet access. So, be prepared for isolation.