Away from the temple in Marib, there is the mysterious Empty Quarter. Ancient legends tell of the buried cities of 'Ad, and Ubar, which has been called the Atlantis of the Sands.

And the 'Ad, they were destroyed by a furious Wind, exceedingly violent; He made it rage against them seven nights and eight days in succession: so that thou couldst see the (whole) people lying prostate in its path, as they had been roots of hollow palm-trees tumbled down! Then seest thou any of them left surviving? -- Surat al-Haaqqa: 6-8

We will be camping in the area where these fabulous cities are believed to be buried. But while we're searching, we'll be sampling the local cuisine, seeing the sights and reporting our travels with frequent uploads and daily journals. This might be a difficult task, since we will be traveling through the oldest inhabited land in the world.

How old? Well, consider that Yemen's capitol city, Sana'a, is believed to have been founded by Noah's son, Shem. That's old.

But, happily, Sana'a has its share of modern technology and there are many successful internet cafes. We will see.

Our Yemen trip will take us to the four corners of this beautiful land. Yemen is not all desert. In fact, Sana'a is located along a mountain range that is in excess of 6000 feet in altitude. But where else would you expect Noah's son to have built his first community but on top of the world.

We'll be visiting the Red Sea, where archaeologists have recently discovered a submerged shoreline from a time, long ago, when the water level was much lower. Perhaps, they believe, this could have been as long ago as the last ice age -- some 13000 years ago.

For half a century, the world has known very little of Yemen's remarkable archaeological finds and their emerging significance in human history. In fact, Viewzone's Expedition 2001 will be the first time that a documentary has been made of the entire country with the cooperation of the Yemen government and our hosts, Marib Tours and Travel.