The main streets of the city have a number of stores located in buildings. The stores sell some interesting souvenirs not found elsewhere in Yemen, particularly antique window frames and furniture. However, most of these are not real antiques but are new pieces, made to look old by the local craftsmen.
The main thing to buy is the original wooden Shibam locks and keys. These decorated pieces are actual keys that look similar to hairbrushes. The pins in the key are made to align with holes in the lock to unlock the door. These can be bought at most shops in the city.
The shopkeepers in Shibam are not prepared to barter much. They insist that their prices are already low and that they do not intend to lower them by much. The traveller arriving from Sanaa, where the initial prices are usually exorbitant, may find this confusing at first.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Shibam
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Shibam - updated Apr 2024
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Shibam Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
