After many years living in Ukraine, Russia, USA, England, Switzerland, and UAE, I moved to Saudi Arabia 3 months ago. For get a better understanding of this new, magical country, I want to know her history, culture, and meet local people. This is why I decided to take a trip - 12 days.
Our group of 7 people and a representative from Jeddah tour agency, Hatem Jameel, all met up in the capital of Saudi Arabia - Riyadh.
After finishing our tour, I can definitely give 10 good reasons why it is interesting to visit Saudi Arabia.
For information: Saudi Arabia is the world's 2nd largest exporter of dates (it has 20 million date palm trees and 300 types of dates).
2. Food, drink - Important!!!!! You never feel hungry. Food more than needed, all very tasty with many different varieties of starters -hummus, tabbouleh, saboosak and of course kapsa (chicken with rice and spicy) – the most popular dish.Drink – no alcohol allowed but I propose you enjoy fresh juice (kiwi, mango, orange....). If you wish exotic - my favorite mix is - mango, kiwi and a little bit of hot red pepper (at breakfast for a quick wake
3. Riyadh - translated from old Arabic word meaning – “place of garden”. Earliest time people talked about this city was in the 18th century. The big boom
in the oil prices gave plenty of money to make this place a very modern city with the tallest buildings in the Kingdom.
Kingdom center has 47 levels and is in the list of 50 tallest buildings in the world.
a popular location for relaxation. In the south part is the Asir National Park – the best in the Kingdom. We had the opportunity to visit an unusual, terraced village, Al Habala (2000m), which is located in a valley. Today, nobody lives there, but in the past local people used ropes to move from one elevation to another.
Madain Saleh - was a second important Nabatean Kingdom after Petra, Jordan. It is most famous archeological site of the Kingdom with 131 tombs carved into the rocks. Madain Saleh (Hijr) - was the first site in Saudi Arabia to be included in the list of heritage sites (UNESCO).
7. Al Jouf - located in north part of Saudi. The archeological place, Domat al Jandal, looks a lot like the deserts of Arizona or New Mexico, USA. There are ruins at Rajajil (4000BC) with standing stones which reminds me of Stonehenge (England). Nobody knows why they are here and what they mean.
8. Jeddah - Over 2500 year ago this was a small village and later became the "gateway to Mecca". Jeddah means from old arabic "grandmother".
Al Balad is the heritage center of Jeddah, where the most unique buildings are located: Naseef House, Mashrabiya, and of course the "eastern market". Only in this place do you feel like you are living in the past.
10. Rub al Khali - the biggest "sand sea" in the world occupying 1/5 of Arabia and one of the hottest and driest places on the Earth. To make a trip into the desert, it requires good driving experience. But it is safer to go with a tour agency, because special permission is needed to go there.
In conclusion I want to say a big thank you to Hatem Jameel for showing us his very interesting country and to wish good luck to all who decide to take a trip around an unforgettable and magical Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Iryna Jones
Jeddah March 2010
