Asia

[Visited: December 2021]

After a breakfast on the beach near the sand dunes, we drive towards the west. After a while we turn south, leave our cars, make sure we have enough water, and start hiking up. We follow a stony path through an orchard. The trail takes us to the foot of the rocky mountains above us. With two other guys, we want to push on, but our guide tries to slow us down, proposing breaks after every few minutes. At first, we obediently wait, but get restless within seconds, and then just keep on climbing. The guide is visibly annoyed by our will to push on, but can only comply and follow. After seeing a multitude of bottle trees, we then comes across a few dragon blood trees, before we reach a gully, and head down the rocks and natural pools, to soon thereafter arrive at the infinity pool of Homhil.
Getting rid of our sweaty clothes doesn't take long, and we soon dive into the cool water of the pool. It is Christmas, and one of us even does so with a Christmas hat. The beauty of this infinity pool is that it is situated on the edge of a ridge, has great views towards the Arabian Sea, and when you are in the water, seems to have an endless view towards infinity. I find a rock to dive from, but otherwise, we are just content to lazily lie in the water, chat, laugh, and enjoy the views. I clamber down the steep rocks for even better views of the valley below and the sea ahead: on the edge of a rocky cliff, a lone dragon blood tree makes the composition perfect. I wait until the others have left for some pictures of an empty pool, and then follow the others on a climb a little higher up.
We follow the rocky river bed, with small pools everywhere. On both sides, we see plenty dragon blood trees. The slopes of the mountain on the other side of the valley has many more of the umbrella-shaped trees, endemic to Socotra. Even though we said goodbye to them a few days before, we are happy to find these unique trees again: every single one of them is unique. It is time to head down again. Where we thought we would have another dip in that gorgeous infinity pool, we have spent too much time exploring the valley, and continue straight down the steep slopes of the mountain. We do get a lovely view from the trail of the infinity pool dwarfed by the mountains rising high above. When we pass the last dragon blood tree, we know that we will definitely not see them again, unless we return to this magical island one day. And indeed - why not?

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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Homhil infinity pool (Yemen)

Homhil infinity pool > Yemen > Asia

[Visited: December 2021]

Around the World in 80 Clicks