Into the Desert Kingdom: Saudi Arabia Part I . Feb-26 - March 1, 2024

Arabia is the largest country on earth with no rivers. In the past it was thinly populated by restless nomadic tribes, subsisting on their herds of goats and camels, date palm oases, and raiding their neighboring tribes, until the discovery of oil enriched them beyond wildest imagining. The homeland to Mecca and Medina, the Holy Cities at the heart of Islam, they remained a closed and strictly conservative society, with zero tourism, until 2019.  Social restrictions were eased, allowing women more rights, and opening Saudi Arabia to tourism.  Since the world reopened after the pandemic, visitors have been trickling in. I wanted to be one of the early ones.

A map of the journey. You can enlarge any phot by clicking on it.

I arrived on the evening of the Foundation Day holiday, celebrating 300 years of rule by the Al Saud family. It was the weekend, and traffic was heavy, cars zooming by flying Saudi flags and huge banners depicting camel riders and Arab cavalry charges. Riyadh is a sprawling modern city of over nine million people, with miles of suburbs and a widespread district of skyscrapers.  I took a walk near the hotel, watching from afar the men praying in the courtyard of a mosque to observe their practice.  I went to an ATM to get some local currency, and the machine seized and retained my credit card! A moment of panic, then I called my bank to cancel it and retrieved the spare card which I had stashed in my duffel, on the offhand chance that I’d need it. Whew!!  I remained paranoid of ATM machines for the entire trip!

The next day our travel group gathered. All 15 of us were very experienced travelers, from seven countries, all with great stories and humor. I was absolutely delighted with my randomly selected roommate Silvie, from Austria, and we instantly became pals.  With our guide Haroon and driver Ali, we started out by passing Murabba Palace of King Abdulaziz, which was closed, and then on to the National Museum.

The National Museum

The water feature of the landscape at the Museum

A steel spearhead is still embedded in the Murraba fortress gate.

We stopped at an outdoor cafe for tiny cups of Arab coffee, brewed from green coffee beans and cardamom pods, with a surprisingly mild and floral taste.  Served with sweet dates, this is a traditional welcome we would experience again and again in the days ahead.  We were the only tourists around and were subject to friendly local curiousity. 

Wandering in the souk near the Murraba fort.

Luxurious brocade makes up a dressy overcoat.

The Murraba fortress at night.

 We had a quick visit to the souk, featuring shops of clothing plain and fancy, including richly brocaded robes men’s robes, stalls of books, sandals, and some nice antique brass coffee pots. After darkness fell, we stopped downtown at the Kingdom Tower with it’s ultra-modern sky bridge on the 99th floor, to see the lights of Riyadh.  The elevator zooms skyward at almost 100 mph. 

The Kingdom Tower

The elegant entry to the Kingdom Tower

The 99th floor Skybridge

And the fabulous view.

The surrounding skyscrapers were lit in green to celebrate the holiday.  One had a cloud of lighted drones circling it like the rings of Saturn.  We ended the day with a delicious meal of tender lamb and chicken Kabsa, several kinds of breads and savory dips in a restaurant built and decorated with painted walls in the traditional style.

The Nadji Village 

A lovely dinner of Kabsa and other delectable.

The local ladies shrouded in black veils, headscarfs and flowing abayas, and the men in their elegant snowy thobes and red and white shamaghs, appeared wonderfully exotic to my eyes.

Day 2

We visited the nearby UNESCO World Heritage village of Diriyah, outside Riyadh, which was the capital of the Najd region until it fell to the Ottoman Turks. It had fallen into mudbrick ruins, melted by rain, and must be maintained yearly with a fresh coating of mud.  The government has redeveloped it with zeal. To my mind it has been overdeveloped, with enclosed walkways and out of context exhibits, and it was impossible for me to get a historical sense of the place. It represents remaining tangible traces of their founding Najdi culture. 

The ruins at Diriyah

A golden ceremonial sword like the one on the flag

I love the resemblance between the docent and
a portrait from 1819 of a Saudi Imam.

The Saudi docent was handsome, charming, and quite ignorant of history. A visit to the National Museum and the Museum of Modern Art completed our time in Riyadh.  We left the city, stopping at a natural reserve to see a herd of tiny Arabian gazelles, and continued into the desert.  

There we piled into 4WD vehicles and went rough-riding through the desert to the escarpment called the End of the World as the late afternoon light painted the cliffs in rosy gold. What a spectacular place!

Day 3

We returned to visit the Murraba Palace now,  with a courtyard, with formal majlis, the King’s council chamber, and filled with photos of the King’s contemporaries, including one of FDR and Churchill fawning for oil for the allied war effort. 

In the Murraba Palace

Seated in the majlis, the council chamber 

A Bedouin contemporary of AbdulAziz

The father of AbdulAziz

The founder of modern Saudi Arabia,
King AbdulAziz al Saud

Leaving Riyadh behind us, we drove for hours through a vast desert landscape dotted with mesas and sparse acacia bushes. 

A typical view during hours and hours of driving.

We arrived at the abandoned village of Ushaiger, restored for tourism by the government. Ochre mudbrick buildings match the landscape, with the white-trimmed triangular windows, crenelated parapet walls and studded carved wooden doors characteristic of the Najd region. 

A tiny house contained a huge collection of interesting items and curios from early modern folk life, such as an antique car jack and old radios.  The cheerful owner was rightly proud of his collection and invited us to join his Saudi guests on the diwan for the customary welcome of Saudi coffee and dates. 

We spend the night in Buraidah.

Day 4

We rose early to be at the camel market by 6am, and found traders wheeling and dealing.  The docile animals stood in tight groups or were hobbled by binding the knees into the kneeling position so they could not rise.

The bellowing of the animals, the dust-filled air, and the weathered bedouins and their citified counterparts in close negotiation were remarkable. 

Occasionally a camel would make a break for it and amble away through the parking lot when nobody was looking. Camels were being unloaded from trucks, and hoisted into trucks using a crane.  Some would blow up an organ in their throat (the dulla) which looked like a giant pink bubble gum bubble coming out of their mouths. It’s a sign of sexual arousal (which can only be appreciated by she-camels), or, in the case of the one being hoisted by the crane, getting the squeeze.

The camel crane

We moved on to Arabia’s largest date market. Rows of booths displayed wholesale lots of dates of all sorts; there are almost 180 varieties grown here, including the giant Medjool dates. 

Adjacent to the date market was a shiny new car dealership hosting a classic car show.  On display were several pristine collector cars, including a Bentley owned by Kind AbdulAziz.  So unexpected!  

My dad owned one of these, his first car

We ended our travel day at an elegant new restaurant built high on a hill overlooking the city of Hail, to watch the sun set. It was a pretty sunset in a pretty setting.  It was well patronized by sophisticated Saudis elegantly dressed and enjoying fine dining. Many people were curious about us; locals enjoyed taking selfies with us and it was fun. A stylish mosque stood nearby for the convenience of the guests. 

The pretty mosque

On the restaurant terrace

The stylish restaurant on the mountain high above Hail.

We went down into the Barzan shopping district of Hail and enjoyed browsing and chatting in the small, interesting shops. 

Yes, they’re smiling

Gold jewelry and perfume are very popular here, and there were some dazzling displays. We all were heavily scented with perfume after this!

Day 5

Departing Hail, black basalt mountains rose above vast ochre flats and the shifting red sand dunes.

We headed to Jubba, famous for the ancient rock art found in the surrounding mountains. We wandered through rock formations to find art from several different eras,  from a time when the peninsula was savannah rather than desert, and animals like lions, oryx, ibex, ostriches band giraffes lived here. These, along with camels, horses, and battle scenes were depicted, some at least 4000 years old. Graffiti in several ancient scripts were etched into the rock, describing such things offerings and prayers of ancient peoples. 

Underlying the centuries old pale ones are ancient carvings oxidized black by the millenia.

Silvia and me rock hopping

We drove on for six more hours. The desert was vast and flat, the rocks becoming strikingly wind-sculpted as we approached AlUla, in the Hijaz region.  There was a lively night market in Al Jedidiah near where we stayed in AlUla, but I stayed at the hotel; I was coming down with a cold.

Day 6

In the morning we toured Hegira, the famous UNESCO World Heritage site where Nabatean tombs are carved into living rock.

I was feeling pretty lousy from my cold, but I put on my mask and pushed through, determined not to miss this of all days.  A Saudi archaeologist showed us through the tombs, and we entered one, where burial crypts are carved into the stone wall like bunk beds. The morning sun created a lovely glow on the reddish-gold sandstone.

Inside the Nabatean tomb

The council chamber

A Bedouin tent at Hegira

Here we encountered other tourists for the first time, including some Germans who told us to “get out of their photo”! They commented loudly that this place is too touristy, they were such world travelers.  So arrogant!  Later, our Egyptian driver Ali offered me a couple of Comtrex cold tablets, which I gratefully accepted and which saved the day for me. Note to self: Travel with Comtrex.

That afternoon we visited the Lion Tombs of Didan, which predate the Nabatean workings at Hegira.  Although there is a well-built stairway leading up to the tombs, we could only view it through binoculars from the viewing platform. A pity we couldn’t  get closer. At the end there was a shady pavilion where they provided hammers, chisels, safety glasses and a piece of native sandstone to carve on, in order to experience how difficult the ancient builders’ work was. 

With a telescope I could see the carved lions for which this place is named.

The enthusiastic docent at the Lion Tombs

I managed to make a wobbly X. Birgit to my right neatly carved “AlUla”
in the same space of time.  

Later in the afternoon, we went to the old mud-brick town of AlUla, where I climbed up to the Ottoman castle, then had a little wander by myself before rejoining the group.

Through the labyrinth of the old town

A view from the Ottoman fort

The old town of AlUla

For the sunset we came to AlUla’s famous Elephant Rock, a gigantic wind-sculpted monolithic rock fantasy rising out of the desert.  They've built tasteful sunken fire pits with comfortable diwan seating, boardwalks and food concessions, and there was a musician playing the oud.  Ali joined me and Silvia to listen; he’s a former professional musician whose band toured with Buena Vista Social Club. A beautiful end to the day.

musician playing the oud.

Day 7

Another long day of driving,  stopping miles from nowhere in the wide open spaces of the Hejaz to see the lonely Ottoman train depot and overturned rail cars where T.E.Lawrence “of Arabia” and his Bedouin raiders famously blew up the train to disrupt ammunition shipments to Ottoman troops in Jeddah during WWI. Haroon told us a bullet had been found, of the same caliber of the sidearm that Lawrence was known to have carried. Incredible.

Lawrence and his raiders did a pretty good job of blowing things up.

As we drove on, a sandstorm blew up, filling the air with fine dust and swirling sand over the road.  We stopped at a filling station so that Ali and Haroon could pray at the noon prayer, it being Friday, the muslim holy day.  There were two pickup trucks hauling hobbled camels parked there, which kept us entertained.  

Experiencing this small sandstorm, it becomes apparent
 that the traditional attire of the Arabs is very practical.

A dust devil swirls across the desert

Every filling station we came across has a mosque, and therefore a womens’ washroom.  There are squat toilets and usually a western style stool; they are cleaned by men and thus, seldom (due to modesty, of course).

We arrived at Medina in midafternoon, and went into town. Haroon and Ali dropped us off in front of the Grand Mosque, and wisely gave us the rest of the day free. They advised us to take the Hop on Hop Off bus tour, which we did.  It traveled the outer ring road of Medina and we saw such things as the King’s Koran print shop, the hill upon which Mohammed (pbuh) and his men fought an epic battle, the martyrs’ tombs, and best of all, a kaleidoscope of pilgrims from all over the world, in their native finery. The breathtaking Grand Mosque is the glorious centerpiece. 

These amazing shade umbrellas fold down each night .

The surrounding luxury hotel buildings are designed with coordinated, elegant, modern Islamic design, with polished stone finishes.  Silvie, Meredith and I went wandering just outside the mosque, and were stopped by a skinny little officer (on his first day on the job, I think), who questioned us in Arabic, summoned his supervisor, then (politely)kicked us out, past the outermost barrier of pylons, which was way further than we were actually permitted to be.

On the bus

An old mosque where the Prophet himself is said to have prayed

A series of Islamic-modern luxury hotels

A new friend on the bus.  From Edinburgh!

Our buddy the security guard

After regrouping for a snack, Sandesh made a strategy and Silvie and I followed him like dutiful wives as we went past the pylon barrier and along the outer edge of the mosque. No rules broken, and we saw a lot! We circled it at least four times before leaving. He urged Silvie, who was dressed in a long black dress, to go inside the mosque, but she wisely refused. 

We enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice, got Meredith into a taxi, and continued to enjoy watching the colorful swirl of people until late.  It was truly awe-inspiring to be in the second-most holy place in Islam.

Pilgrims in Medina

Here ends Part One!  

With thanks to Silvie, Sabine, Sandesh and Haroon for sharing their photos.