Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
Before reaching Salalah I had never heard of small towns and villages such as Sarfayt, Hawf, Dalkut, Al Mughsail, Mirbat and others. These were all along the far eastern extremity of the Gulf of Aden and well beyond the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which is the narrow waterway between Yemen, Djibouti and Somalia and is much in the news these days.
While Bab-el-Mandeb is certainly not as well-known as the Strait of Hormuz (which even the local tea seller has heard of), it is yet a crucial waterway for the trade of oil. This narrow passage is at the opposite end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal and is a part of this famous merchant route. It is also infested by Somali pirates. Today this chokepoint is in the news as Houthi rebels of Yemen are threatening its closure if the US – Israel aggression on Iran continues. It is well known that the Houthis of Yemen are an ally of Iran and there are fears that Yemen will also enter the fray in a big way and that may lead to the blockage of Bab-el-Mandeb too.
It holds another 15% of the global oil trade, adding to the approximate 20% that used to go via the Strait of Hormuz. Thankfully the Bab-el-Mandeb dependency had already dropped by around half since 2023 due to the recent Yemeni and Somali aggressions in this shipping lane. Many ships had already started taking the long route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, all the way down the southern tip of the huge African landmass. Not really efficient or great for global oil and gas prices, but that’s the way geopolitics shapes macroeconomics.
It is because of this oil that almost all towns on the Gulf of Aden, no matter how small or sleepy, are somewhat connected to the world and that also explains US military presence in Djibouti besides other unlikely places here. Many, at some point in the recent past, couldn’t have cared about the rest of the world, but are now caught in the giant geopolitical web weaved by the US and the restless actors in the Middle East.
We also happened to see the ports and oil refineries here, just two months prior the all-out hostilities in the wake of Operation Epic Fury. The contents of these refineries are the reason why the war seems to be happening in the first place, although the reasons told seem to be different and that comes as no surprise. And now it has reached a point where the leader of the ‘free world’ is stating that he can ‘send a nation back to the stone age’ whereas the nation mentioned is writing an open letter to the American citizens declaring that ‘we are not your enemy’. And what can one say when civilian infrastructure is targeted with impunity and the UN can’t raise a finger. But I must say I am very impressed with the way the largely educated American people are standing up to this war mongering through their peaceful ‘No Kings’ protests across the country. It clearly tells us how people think of war since nothing good ever comes out of it. When inflation bites hard and families are lost, no one thinks of it as a video game anymore, but I have digressed a lot here.
I will come back to the exotic small towns that our super guide Karel Tomastik of Takamul Travels took us to in his customized beast – the Toyota Land Cruiser GXR. His SUV was much bigger than a normal Landcruiser that we are used to and it was actually standing out in the streets. The Toyota took us to the Yemini border where we met some youth (boys really) and we were keen to have our selfies taken with them just as much as they were keen to take theirs with us. This proves that ‘selfies’ are a global phenomenon. Here I also made sure to take a Google Maps screenshot to show exactly where on the the world map we were at.
There was no way we could reach the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (my parents would draw the line at that one and so would my wife), so this seemed like the closest I could be allowed till the time peace reigns on this land, not warlords. And we all could do with a little bit of peace now and we really can do without higher prices which seem to be around the corner. Inflation spares no one, and that’s why I am so happy to see India’s posture and neutrality during the war. It’s a masterclass in diplomacy and so far the macroeconomic headwinds are being braced well.
These macro headwinds are being felt globally, just as Covid was felt by all and to that extent it does create empathy amongst people across the planet. That’s why I feel that nearly the entire world agrees that this war has little justification, what with schools, hospitals and bridges being burnt and blown. People across West Asia were moving closer to peace with each passing decade, but fault lines were still there and these have been exploited well by those in power. Pardon me for indulging a bit today (it’s my birthday), but after meeting so many people in West Asia on so many trips, I have learned that most do not have hateful hearts, rather hopeful ones. And this is clearly not some geopolitical commentary running on TV shows in our living rooms; This is the truth at ground level, which I pray doesn’t become ground zero.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and is an extreme world traveller who has seen the natural world extensively and is often referred to as the ‘Most Travelled Indian’. He is on a quest to become the first person to travel to every major desert, forest, grassland, tundra & ice biome on Earth, besides every country. Nitin has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, holds National Geographic conservation certifications and loves Bio-Geography. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. Join him @ www.instagram.com/MostTravelledIndian/
