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| Sailors will always find each other! |
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| Walking along the Jeddah corniche. Very pretty. |
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| There’s a lot of art on display along the corniche |
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| The beautiful Floating Mosque |
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| Ladies at prayer in the Floating Mosque |
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Fun with the locals along the corniche.
We met and laughed together again the next day in Jeddah’s Al Balad district. |
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| The Floating Mosque and more landmarks along the waterfront. |
Locals were excited that the Formula One Grand Prix race would take place in Jeddah the coming weekend. Jeddah is said to have the best pavement/course for that race in the world. We stopped for sunset photos at the King Fahd Fountain, the largest in the world with a water jet shooting up to 260 meters high. The light was golden and we were happily snapping pictures when we were intercepted and told to cease and desist by a skinny cop, who became increasingly agitated as more tourists arrived, taking more photos. He ended up calling in reinforcements. His supervisor arrived, a Saudi in a snowy robe and red khaffiyeh, issuing orders from the window of a black staff car. Headline: “Tourists mob rushes police to take photos of fountain”! As the official excitement escalated, we beat the retreat back to the bus, hoping to avoid trouble for Haroon and ourselves. We later learned that in the distant background of the fountain lies a royal palace. Top Secret: NO PHOTOS!
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| The landmass to the left is the island with the palace! |
Day 10
Jeddah is Saudi Arabia’s second city, and a major port of entry for pilgrims. It feels a lot more lively, more cosmopolitan and relaxed than Riyadh. Here you see more ladies with faces and hair uncovered, wearing abayas in colors other than black, and sometimes no abaya at all. First we visited the Al Tayabat museum, housed in a beautifully restored traditional family housing compound. The latticed teakwood balconies and hand-carved doors were finely wrought and so picturesque.
Different regional styles of architecture, decoration, costume and folkways, as well as collections of ivory, musical instruments, ancient weapons and firearms, and an intricate mother-of-pearl model of Jerusalem were displayed.Another day on the road brought us to Jazan, where we took a welcome stretch climbing the Ottoman castle overlooking the harbor. We went on to the ferry terminal and left our excess gear on the bus with Ali, who parked the bus and came with us on the ferry to the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea.
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Ali, our driver. He made a little camp in the luggage compartment of the bust
when it was empty, and often brewed a nice cup of tea there. |
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| Our group on a bus. |
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| The Ottoman-era castle at Jazan. |
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| At the helm of the Ship of State |
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| Sunset on the beach at Farasan Island |
We checked into the hotel just in time for sunset. These islands are off the tourist track, even for Saudis, and are true desert islands; completely flat with rocks, more rocks, and thorny acacia. The people we saw here were 90% male and South Asian, fishermen all, wearing colorful sarongs rather than shorts. It’s a sleepy backwater settlement, but it has an inexplicable sprawling new 400 acre parking lot with endless street lights, built and ready…but for what? We had dinner at a fish restaurant, white tiled and lit with fluorescent lights like a bus station, where several whole grilled fish were brought to the table. We got back to the hotel in time for a swim in the Red Sea, warm as milk. As the moon rose, out on the jetty Ali treated us to a concert, where he sang and played his Egyptian zemzemia, a lyre-like instrument originating in the time of the Pharoahs. It was magic.
Day 12. Our boat trip was on a robust Fiberglas boat with a big Honda outboard. We sped out to Crocodile Island (or Crocodile Rock, as Elton John would have called it ) to enjoy snorkeling in the lee of the rocks.
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| Crocodile Rock |
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| Little dolphins along the way |
The bottom was a mix of weed and coral, with interesting fish. We zipped back with the wind in our hair, passing a pod of small dolphins, then slowly motored through a mangrove maze, finding snowy white pelicans.
After, we went into the old town to the Pearl Merchant’s House, an extraordinary late 19th century home elaborately decorated with carved gypsum, still in good condition but with no government support for conservation.  |
| Ros in the Pearl Merchant’s House |
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| Inside the main house, with typical built-in shelving alcoves |
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| The beautiful main gate to the Pearl Merchant’s house. |
An old man in a wheelchair met Haroon and regaled him with memorized verses of poetry, in the Arab tradition, and stories of his life in the old town. I suggested to Haroon that stories like the old man could tell might be written down before they are lost in time.
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| The old generation and the new |
We went on to see the coral rock ruins of the Al Qasr village, then went to the local pizza parlor. There was a bet to settle.
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| The new Disney gate of Al Qasr village |
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| A peek inside the village mosque, still in use. |
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| The unrestored part. |
Haroon bet Marco (from Naples, Italy!) that this was the best pizza ever! When asked, Marco diplomatically replied that it was “interesting”. Silvia leaned over to me and whispered “Interessant ist der Bruder von Scheisse”. (Interesting is the brother of shit!) Best saying ever. I think Haroon did not win the bet.Day 13
A schedule change delayed our ferry’s departure from 10:00am til 1:00 pm, so I had a beach walk and a swim. We ferried back to Jazan, and resumed our roadtrip up into the mountains, climbing winding switchback roads, reaching our destination at Rijal Alma in Asir province just after dark.
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| On the road to Rijal Alma as dusk closes in… |
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| Wow. Rijal Alma in the “blue hour”. |
Multistory black stone buildings incorporate gleaming white quartz stone patterns around windows and doors, a style native to nearby Yemen. They climbed the steep cliffs above the small stream that snaked through the valley below. In spite of the darkness, lights along the steps and our flashlights permitted us to explore the stairways and lanes which snaked high through the town. A wander through the museum in a restored building, and nice gift shop rounded out our visit. I was glad to have seen these traditional Yemeni style buildings, since a visit to war-torn Yemen is sadly impossible.
Day 14
We drove onward and upward through the mountains. Dense fog blew in and out, and at the high mountain pass famous for its scenic overlook of Mt. Soudah, the fog was like pea soup.
| We could catch occasional panoramic glimpses of road tunnels, switchbacks, and agricultural terracing along the floodplains of the steep-sided wadis. Troops of baboons lounged along the roadsides. |
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| Baboons on the roadside. Little jerks. With big pointy teeth. |
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| A pretty impressive tunnel. |
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| Here we go! |
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| This is the only road through the mountains open to truck traffic |
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| A scenic overlook, the stream running through the wadi is far below. |
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| Who knew they have pea soup in Arabia?! |
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Ali drove almost 8 hours this day, through thick fog. Like a hero!
We arrived in the mud-brick mountain village of As Soudah, where flat stones protrude like ledges from the walls to help protect the mud facade from erosion by the rain. The weather was foggy and rainy. So typical is this that residents built tunnels between the houses as a day to day shelter from the elements.
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We were beckoned into a little museum in a building where community storage cellars had been dug in beneath the floor, and chatted with the “docent” who, it turns out, was here to interview for the job. Smart move to get a little on-the-job experience before the interview!
We drove on to the “hanging village” of Al Habala (derived from the Arabic word for rope). Here people had built their homesteads down in a canyon on tiny ledges protruding from sheer rock cliffs, and had to lower themselves down by ropes to keep themselves safe from raiding Ottoman armies.
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| This little village clinging to the rock face… |
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…is built at the bottom of the vertical piece of this cliff….
The people lived in terror of invaders. |
The fog obscured the view, so we wandered along the canyon rim. Marco, Ros and I ended up being invited to join a group of five teenage boys, who had spread a carpet for their picnic. Laughing and joking the whole time, they encouraged us to take a turn at grinding the coffee in the mortar and pestle, and then to join them in sipping the hot brew. We had such fun communicating with almost no words in common. We were late in rejoining the group, but it was worth it. Afterwards, our group of travel friends had one last meal together, and it was sad to think that we’d soon have to say farewell.
Our trip was at an end. We traveled nearly 2700 miles in Saudi Arabia, often driving between 6-9 hours a day. The Saudis in general enjoy a high standard of living, though among the ~40% of the population who are guest workers and expats, the standard appears lower. The men are always neat in their manner of dress, with their immaculate white thobes and their red and white kaffiyehs (how do they keep their thobes so clean?!!) Though commonly clothed in black with faces covered, the ladies we asked about it seem quite comfortable with their attire. The Arab people love perfumes and incense, and there was scent wherever there were people. We were received with generous hospitality and good natured curiosity. Tourism is still in its infancy in Saudi Arabia, so we were sometimes a bit of a novelty. Respecting local custom is important; by dressing modestly, with arms and legs covered and loose clothing, and wearing a headscarf when it was occasionally called for, I was happy to conform with local expectations. I arrived with few preconceptions and so each discovery was a delight. Special thanks to my pals Silvia and Ros, and the rest of our travel group for sharing the laughter, insights and amazing experiences.
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| It was time to board my flight to OMAN! |
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| Flying over the Rub al Khali, the Empty Quarter. |
