Saudi Arabia

On Oct 25 we leave Dubai by plane via Bahrain and land in the capital of SAUDI ARABIA, Riyadh. The following day there is sightseeing of this modern 4 million people city. In the morning we visit Masmak Fortress built in 1865. In 1902 it was conquered by ibn Saud and so the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was started. Then a visit to a souq (market), a modern museum showing a history of the Arabian Peninsula and another one devoted to ibn Saud. After siesta we drive outside Riyadh to the town Dir’Aiyah, the place the Saudi family came from.

On Oct 27 we take a train through a flat desert east to Hofuf. This city is in the biggest oasis in Saudi Arabia with 1.5 million date palms. Here we get a police escort. We take pictures of a fortress called Ibrahim Palace. Then a drive outside the city to the Al Gara Mountain. It is a sandy formation with caves. Back in Hofuf a visit to a ceramic factory. Next day, after visiting a date souq, we drive to the city of Dhahran a see an Aramco museum. It explains everything about oil. Then we continue to city of Dammam on the Persian Gulf (the Arabs call it the Arab Gulf). Here is an interesting museum of excavations of cultures on the Arab Peninsula. In the afternoon a flight from Dammam via Riyadh to Sakaka in the northern part of Saudi Arabia.

We reach Sakaka very early on Oct 29. It is another oasis. In the morning a visit to Qasr Zabal fortress, a Nabataean well, an artificial lake and a place where an oil is pressed from olives. After lunch a nice museum in a town Damat Al-Jandal and Qasr Marid fortress. Another stop is at Rajajil Standing Stones. There is Talmudic script on them and they could be as old as 2000 BC. Later we visit a house of a policeman and also of our local guide for tea and coffee. After a night in Sakaka we leave the town next morning. Today we drive some 400 km to Hail. At noon we see rock carvings mostly as old as 5500 years BC (acc. Lonely Planet) some 100 km from Hail. In Hail itself we visit a Qashla Fort and are overnight. On Oct 31 we leave Hail. There is another 400 km west to the town Al-Ula. All the time we have the police escort. In Al-Ula we visit the old town built from mud. Next morning we see an old Nabataean city Madain Saleh, out of which only tombs chiseled from rocky mountains are left. In the afternoon we enjoy driving on dunes among rock outcroppings in 4WD vehicles.

On Nov 2 we drive from Al-Ula south another about 400 km to Medina. Medina is the second most holy city of Islam and only Moslems can enter it. So we drive on a highway at its perimeter. For non-Moslems there are signs in Arabic and English not to turn right into the city. We go to the airport, which is outside Medina. After a short flight we land in the second largest city of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah at the Red Sea. It is home to 3.5 million inhabitants. Next morning there is a visit to a fish market with all kinds of fishes including sharks. From there to the nearby Old Town Jeddah. Its narrow streets are one big souq (market). Most of its houses are in a pitiful shape. Exception is a Naseef House with a small museum. After siesta we visit a museum of a man who collected everything. Then to a mosque built on the bay above water near the shore.

On Nov 4 a flight from Jeddah south to Abha, which is 2200 m above the sea. After siesta a sightseeing of the city. Next day drive into the mountains to 2717 m a.s. From there by a cable car down to 1534 m a.s. and by bus to a village Rijal Alma with houses 400 years old. In the afternoon by a different cable car to another village, where people used to get on a rope. They hid there from Turks. While driving back to Abha we take pictures of hamadryas baboons in one place and made a stop in the city Khumis Mushait.

On Nov 6 a drive over the rocky mountains with the often changing police escort. Before noon a stop in Al-Janoub and a couple hours later we are in Najran near the Yemeni border. Outside Najran we see the excavation of an ancient town Al-Ukhdud. Then back in the city we go into Qasr Al-Imara (Najran fort). The following morning we drive in 4WD vehicles out of the city with few stops to the edge of the Empty Quarter. However this place we came to is not empty. There are many compounds of Beduins with their camels here. Some of us ride the camels. And again the 4WD dune riding. Finally we visit a farm with Arab horses. In the evening a flight from Najran to Riyadh where overnight.

On Nov 8 flight via Bahrain to Dubai. From Dubai early in the morning next day with Swiss Air via Zurich to Los Angeles. In a rented car to Vista where in the evening on Nov 9.

Travel office: Adventures Abroad – a Canadian travel company

Who took part: I was alone in Dubai. There were 12 travelers in Saudi Arabia and 2 guides (one Canadian and one Saudi). There were also local guides in
various visited places.