What it’s like to live among the clouds in remote mountain villages in Yemen

October 12, 2016 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Boys swim in the mountainous Jafariya district of the western province of Raymah. All photos were shot between May 20 and June 3, 2016. (Abduljabbar Zeyad/Reuters)

Perched in the upper altitudes of Raymah province are villages, centuries-old houses of stone that stud a series of mountains. Though these people are largely sheltered from the raging Yemen war, the remote lifestyle creates basic survival challenges.

Get the full experience.Choose your plan

The people live without electricity or running water, according to Reuters photographer Abduljabbar Zeyad, who visited the area in May and June. Residents must travel long distances to see a doctor. To move goods, they have three choices: by foot, by donkey, or by a rickety, rusted cable car powered by an automobile engine.

“Despite the difficulty of life, we’re still living here, just as our fathers and our ancestors did,” Mohammad Yahya Haidar told Zeyad. “We grow coffee and grain like they did, and we’ve grown accustomed to this life with all its cruelty and extreme hardship.”