Saudi Arabia

Our first day in Saudi Arabia was adventurous, intriguing, and expensive. Our private taxi, a pristine and luxurious white 7 seater, collected us from our apartment in Aqaba (Jordan), as there are no buses from Aqaba to Saudi Arabia. The border crossing took over an hour, and consisted of finger scans, photos, £100 each visa, detailed private security checks, bag checks, and entire car x-ray (with Jem along with other women excluded in a separate waiting area). After the border crossing we reached the local town’s bus station, to find out the bus service to Tabuk had been cancelled 1 month earlier; taxi was again our only option. Our kind taxi driver managed to find us another ‘taxi’ to take us the 2.5 hours drive to Tabuk. Unfortunately this was not a taxi at all but instead a random local with a tired old car suffering from terrible cleanliness, and no rear seat belts. He was a nice man (he bought us drinks and snacks as a gift), but erratic driver, preferring to attempt to talk to us in broken English about nonsensical things whilst speeding along at 120 km/hr. Despite this we arrived safely at the Tabuk intercity bus station, only to find out that all buses to our next destination of Madinah were also cancelled, for at least 1 month! We resorted to hiring a car for our full 2 weeks in Saudi - 3000 km of driving here we come! Throughout the day we also attempted to figure out what Jem should wear, and received differing opinions - full black abaya and headscarf, headscarf and conservative clothes, no head scarf at all?! She opted for the middle ground for the most part. We checked into a hotel in Tabuk and explored the local area, and discovered a fantastic bakery with delicious pastries which a local man kindly paid for before we could (to welcome us to Saudi!). 

Before arriving in Saudi we were surprised to find out that wild camping and hiking are a common hobby for locals, so we decided to buy some camping gear so we could explore the country in a more adventurous way. We spent the next morning driving around various camping stores, and were particularly pleased with the purchase of a comfy double sleeping bag (Saudi camping gear is very luxurious!). We headed off to an area outside Tabuk called Wadi Disah, but due to us leaving late it ended up getting dark before we arrived. We therefore found an alternative camping spot on the way, and were quite unlucky that not only was it getting dark, it was also quite rainy and windy! Despite this we enjoyed our first nights camping, and it was great waking up in the desert landscape. We then headed on to Wadi Disah, an amazing Oasis in the desert with lush green forest and rock formations towering above. We went on a hike in the area, and soon realised that we were the only ones hiking - everyone else was driving around the park in 4 wheel drives (definitely the Saudi way!). We weren't allowed to camp in the national park, but found a beautiful camping spot just outside with views over a valley. While driving there we got our car stuck in the sand, but were helped to free it by a local who happened to be passing! 

We drove onwards to Al Ula, which is famous for Hegra, a historic site quite similar to Petra in Jordan. The Saudi government are keen to increase tourism, and it was clear when we arrived that a huge amount of money was being pumped into the area to make it into a key tourist site. When we first arrived we went to the ‘Old Town’, which is actually not old at all, but a site that they were just finishing building using old construction methods and local styles. It was slightly surreal as parts were still being built and it felt a bit fake, but it was very tastefully done. We explored for a while, and then headed off to find a campsite for the next 2 nights. We found a beautiful spot in the desert surrounded by tall rock formations. The next morning we went to visit the historic site of Hegra. It was part of the Nabataean trading route, and was inhabited from 100 BC. Similar to Petra, the main visible remains are the impressive mausoleums carved into the rock faces - they have 111 mausoleums that have been discovered across the site, so far. The site was very well organised, and although you unfortunately needed to visit as part of a guided tour, it was actually very informative (and incredibly clean! No rubbish anywhere, unlike everywhere else in Jordan and Saudi!). It was lovely seeing the old rock carvings and learning more about the Nabatean way of life. In the afternoon we went for a walk through an ‘Oasis trail’ (again newly constructed!) and then for a coffee at a very luxurious site overlooking a rock formation called Elephant Rock. At our campsite that evening we were approached by a local Saudi, who spotted us camping and offered us tea. When we accepted (thinking he had a thermos in his truck) he instead drove back to his house, made us freshly brewed coffee and tea, along with a huge packet of dates and cakes (which he then insisted we kept the remainder of - so much amazing Saudi hospitality!). We enjoyed attempting to use our very basic Arabic to hold a surprisingly long conversation, and felt very welcomed. 

After 4 days of wild camping and adventure, it was time for some civilisation and luxury for a couple of days. We drove to Madinah, Saudi's second most important religious city. Non-muslims are not allowed into Mecca, the most famous site, but are now able to travel to Madinah (although not to visit the main mosque). We booked quite a fancy hotel and were excited to have a shower and sleep in a proper bed. We relaxed that afternoon, and went out for dinner at a friendly Malaysian restaurant. We found that there are a range of excellent restaurants with Pakistani, Indian, Malaysian and other food, due to the large immigrant population in Saudi (around 40% of the population). The next day we explored Madinah. We headed into the city centre at midday on Friday, at prayer time, and walked through the area outside the mosque just as the prayer call was happening. It was amazing to see Muslims from a range of cultural backgrounds all praying in synchronisation; the whole city stopped and thousands of people were praying in the streets all around the mosque. We walked around the centre of the city for a while and enjoyed soaking in the culture. We then took part in another popular Saudi activity - shopping in a fancy mall! It was interesting visiting such an important religious city, which so many people from across the world come to visit on pilgrimages each year. 

We slowly made our way from Madinah to Jeddah, stopping to camp at a couple of places along the way. On the first day we drove to a seaside town called Yanbu, which turned out to be deserted during the winter season! After finally finding some Indian food for lunch in the surreal empty town, we drove further south along the coastline - driving past Yanbu was our first time leaving the former extent of the Roman Empire during the entirety of the trip! We camped overnight at a spot overlooking the sea and watched the sunset over the water. Soon afterwards a coastguard came along and informed us we weren't meant to camp there. He was very polite, and after a long google translate conversation he agreed we could stay the night and gave us his number in case we had any problems. The next day we drove onto a more well known camping area called Moon Valley. We went for a drive and then a short hike over the rocky landscape, which was really pretty. However, the heat soon got the best of us and we went in search of a cafe to relax in for a couple of hours. We headed back that evening, and had a lovely time camping, star gazing and building a fire. 

The next day we drove to Jeddah, a large city on the coastline. We went to an art gallery displaying the artwork of Arab artists, and enjoyed an exhibition viewing art through technological means. We then went shopping, and explored the old town part of the city. After watching the sunset from a promenade overlooking the sea, we went out for a delicious Lebanese meze dinner (thanks to Megan and Nigel for the honeymoon gift!). That night we stayed with a host through couchsurfing, a lovely Egyption guy called Ahmed. He welcomed us with a mango juice and a friendly chat about our respective travels, and we enjoyed getting his recommendations for Saudi, where he has been living for 12 years. The following morning we went to a fancy hotel with a pool (living the Saudi life in extremes - from camping to luxury!), and had a nice afternoon relaxing and swimming. We had planned to meet Ahmed and some of his friends that evening, but on our way there we sadly got into a minor car crash! Saudi drivers are some of the craziest we've seen, and a guy in a huge 4WD drove into the side of our rental car, denting 2 doors but leaving us unhurt. Luckily he was a very friendly guy, who pulled over and called roadside assistance. While waiting 2 hours for the traffic police, we learnt he is a TikTok influencer with 1.6 million followers, famous for his roller skating moves. We got things sorted with the traffic police, and headed back to our hotel feeling a bit shaken and tired.

We embarked on the longest drive of our journey so far: 1000 km and 10 hours from Jeddah to Riyadh! Luckily we decided to break it in half, and find somewhere to camp along the way. We had to skirt around Mecca near the start, and although we weren’t planning to go there we got stopped by police who wanted to confirm if we were muslim (you can’t enter Mecca if you aren’t), and had to follow signs to go on roads designated for non muslims. We then drove through some beautiful green mountains around Taif, and saw a gang of baboons by the road. After that, most of the route was along one long, straight road - google maps often told us to ‘continue straight for 300 km’. After finding a spot to camp a few hundred metres off the highway on the first night, we continued our journey the next day for a further 5 hours. That night we camped in an area outside Riyadh which we heard was famous for camping and dune bashing. It was quite busy and full of 4x4’s speeding along the dunes, so we found a secluded spot on sand dunes further away. The next day we headed into Riyadh, and found that the driving was even more crazy than Jeddah! We had booked tickets to a horse racing event that evening, but it was 50km away in the north of the city and we decided we couldn’t face driving through the crazy traffic in the dark whilst already tired, so went for dinner and relaxed in our hotel instead. After dropping off the hire car the next day, we spent the morning getting ready for our next journey - an overnight bus journey of a further 1000 km to Abu Dhabi in UAE!