The Islamic world’s mystery and riches once attracted droves of western holidaymakers. But terrorism has devastated the industry in Egypt and Tunisia – and even countries untouched by clash. Is there any way back? It was a wild night in the Yemeni port of Aden. At the first nightclub,we met a group of musicians who had finished their set and were drinking local beer – made in Arabia’s only brewery. They said we should all move to the Mövenpick hotel club. They promised a sensational evening.
When we arrived, a full Egyptian orchestra in tuxedos was already whipping up a storm of wailing and crashing for a Syrian bellydancer who was gyrating across the tables. The songs were all classics from the 1930s and 40s by singers such as Umm Kulthum, and Sayed Darwish and Mohamed Fawzy,an urgent storm of melancholy and longing. I felt we had entered an orientalist’s paradise: the world of classic Egyptian cinema and Flaubert’s Cairo. No one mentioned the explosion in the car park a few weeks before. None of us noticed that we were witnessing the end of an era in the Arab world.
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Source: theguardian.com