A Poem about our Tour of Saudi Arabia

This poem was written by one of our participants on our tour of Saudi Arabia, which just returned home last week. Thank you! 

 

A trip of a lifetime for all of us..........

Encompassed the sites of Saudi by bus!

 

Maneuvering the abaya was a challenge to be seen...

Especially in squat toilets and if you know what I mean!

 

The scarves were a blessing on a bad hair day

But more important kept the mutawa's at bay

 

From Riyadh to Najran we arrived by plane

All of our friends thought we were totally insane

 

Yalla Yalla was one mantra early each morn

"Delightful Dawi proudly shared where he was born"

 

With warm hospitality and led us to very awesome sites

 stunning and thrilling in a myriad of different lights

 

With a naughty boy laugh and a gleem in his eyes he taught us where ancient civilizations lies

 

We photographed many magnificent carvings in the rocks but "Oh my Allah" the sand in our socks

 

Being so close to the Yemen border was sad

For it could have been another country to add

 

The souks were enticing for all that we sought

spices and fragrances were mostly bought ( and a much needed warm coat)

 

The site of Qraya an archeological dig of all of the trip highlights that was quite big

 

The markets for camels and goats were fun

We envisioned the caravans enduring the sun

 

We were escorted by police that monitor our time

Of course I had to include that in this dumb rhyme

 

It really is a mans world here

Womens liberation is unheard of - I fear

 

Kabsa is a delish Saudi meal

yet eating with our hands we couldn't get the feel

 

Such a vast history of remnants of past

How special for us that it has lasted

 

So lucky we are to have experienced it

In our hearts the memories will always sit

 

Thank you "our remarkable Rita" for giving us this wonderful opportunity that opened our eyes to Saudi - a beautiful land

Our last day of the tour in Saudi Arabia

Wednesday February 22

Today is the last day in the Kingdom and Jeddah was it.  We started out early again today and went to the museum of Abdul Raouf, a private museum, but it was closed.  We kept calling the people to let us in but no one was around even though we had purchased tickets and we had made an appointment.  I felt bad for the group so Dawi, the guide, and I kept thinking of different things we could do.  We took them to the Sudanese market which was about 35 minutes outside of town.  This is an area where they have a camel market and milk the camels.  The group, I was surprised, really enjoyed it. They got to see the camels being milked and then they all tasted some of the fresh milk.  It was their first time and it was good, sweet and not so heavy.  Then they played, if you can calling playing, with the camels - they were petting them and one woman since she had milk on her hands the camels would come up and nuzzle her and lick her hand with their lips, not the tongue.  While I was taking a picture another camel came up and started to nuzzle at my ear, WOW it felt good.  LOL!  These guys were really friendly.  The camel herders watching them were having fun watching us interact with their camels. Lots of pictures being taken.  

After about a 30 minute visit we decided to take the group for a boat ride on the Red Sea.  Called and reserved a boat and went to the dock- a nice young Yemeni was there to take us around the coast for about an hour to see the homes and the skyline of Jeddah.  The water was beautiful and so clear you could see the coral and the small fish below. They were a number of men on jet skis out and when they saw us taking pictures they decided to put on a show.  What a show some of these guys got the jet skis standing. upright as they were zooming around us.  The group was surprised to see women on some of the smaller boats without their hijabs enjoying the water and sunshine.

We then went to the Sea Garden restaurant.  Way too much food – one member of the group said she had gotten on the scale yesterday and had gained 5 pounds, even though we have been doing a lot of walking and climbing.

Everyone’s flights were about 2am so off to the hotel to freshen up before we have our last visit to another private museum, also for the Raouf Khalil family. Beautiful place that has been built into a showcase of the Saudi way of life.  The place was not open all the way so we toured some of the rooms and then saw a film about Jeddah and how the museum was developed.  Around the museum were antique shops, which is my passion.  We walked around and people bought some things and I had to resist buying everything that I saw!

Back on the bus I asked the group to give me their thoughts on Saudi before coming here, and now.

Before coming they thought:

Restrictive

Not friendly

Mysterious

Scary

Fear of offending people

A Mans world

Distant

And after:

Fabulous sites

Generous

Warm

Kind

Caring

Sweet

Modern society

Crossroads of different nationalities

Shows more wealth than Levant

Not all desert - lots of different terrain

Jeddah - February 21

Tuesday February 21 

This morning we are taking a flight to Jeddah, it is the second largest city in the Kingdom.  The city is located on the shores of the Red Sea and it is nicknamed the Bride of the Red Sea.  The name Jeddah means grandmother in Arabic.  Jeddah is a major port city and the main gateway for Mecca.

The flight is interesting since a lot of the men on the flight are going to the Hajj dressed in their white sarong-like wraps that are the garments worn by the pilgrims.  The way the reservations were made no one knows who is who so once they get on the plane the men do not want to sit next to a woman and especially if she is western.  So we had people in the aisles as the poor airline employees were changing peoples’ seats to try and accommodate everyone and still get off on time.  They didn’t, and the plane was delayed about 15 minutes because of this.  Finally, we landed in Jeddah at 10:30am.  The temperature was very different from Hail - it was 26 C in the morning and got up to 33C as the day went on.  It is very hot and humid and also so much traffic.  Upon arrival we took the group for a drive thru to the city and then to our hotel - the Intercontinental - to rest up until the heat went down a bit and the shops will open.  Everything closed in the afternoon for prayers and the heat, and reopens at 4pm.  

At check in the clerk, who is at the reception desk, had just come back from San Francisco and was so excited to register Americans into the hotel.  He is a Palestinian from Gaza and so very "gay" in his voice and mannerism.  We talked about this on the bus later on in the afternoon to explain the difference between the US and the Middle East and how it is handled and how it is perceived.

The hotel is great and so comfortable. All I want to do is sit in the shower all day long to keep cool, but that was not possible.  We went out later in the afternoon to the old city of Jeddah.  You see the old architecture, but you also see the mixture of people living here are mostly the foreign workers; Pakistanis, Indians, Bangleshi, Somalis, Afghani, etc.  This is different than what people think of Saudi Arabia and all the riches and fantasy palaces - these are the slums, the old buildings are dilapidated and need so much work on them.  The government gives these homes to the workers to stay in and help keep them up, but it doesn’t seem to be working that way.

We walked thru the old city to get to the Balad market, which shows you how this was the trade route to all points - you can see it with all the different people and also the different items that are being sold and traded lots of incense being burned and the different smells as you walk thru are fabulous.  We drove by the corniche, but the streets are being worked on so we were not able to see all the sculptures that the corniche is know for, maybe tomorrow we will go on the other side and see if it is possible.

The group kept making comments as we were driving around about all the American chain restaurants here: TGI Fridays, Appleby’s, McDonalds, Chili’s, and on and on.  One of the clients asked the guide if he goes to these restaurants, he said no, Saudi food is better and his wife thinks this is not good for you to eat.

Tomorrow is our last day before everyone departs on their way home or on to another tour.

Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia

Saturday February 18 

We had an early departure from the Arce Hotel in Ula.  It’s a very simple hotel where the rooms are separate from the main building and they overlook a beautiful green garden in the center of the property and the hills of Ula.  We left the hotel to go to Um Daraj (Mother of the Stairs) in the mountainside of Al Khuraibah.  People climbed the stairs to look at the rock drawings done during the period of 500BC. From there we went to the old town of Ula that the government is trying to restore. 

Ula is known as the Nabateen route or the stone route that lead to Jordan.  The Nabateans are the same people that built Petra, and they are famous for knowing where the water is and because of that they had trade routes throughout this region. The scenery in this area is breathtaking and changing from one part to the other. 

This is the area of Madain Saleh, the ancient homes and graves of the Nabateans.  We took 4 wheel drives into the area.  We also visited the Hejaz Railway Stations numbers 17, 18 and 20.

 

Late in the day, the drivers had coffee and tea and went deep into Madain Saleh to watch the sunset.  It was so relaxing and quiet - that is one thing that all of us kept noting - the lack of sounds of cars, trucks, TV etc.  You forget of the world outside.

An eventful day in Saudi Arabia

Friday Feb 17

Today has been a long day.  It started with a phone call at 2am from Congressman Inslee’s office, calling to invite me to see President Obama when he came into Seattle.  I had to tell them that I was in Saudi Arabia and not able to make it, which I was sad to have to miss the event.  I then went back to sleep but had to get up at 4:00am for an early morning departure with the group to Jeddah.  We left the hotel at 5:30am and on the way to the airport I received a call from a friend telling me that Anthony Shadid (correspondent for the New York Times) had just passed away - that was really very sad and troubling.  I had met Anthony a couple of times and also was at his brother’s wedding less then a year ago. I got another call from someone in the states with the news, too.  Being overseas when something like this happens is very hard. I was not able to get a newspaper or get to a TV until this evening when we finally got to Ula and our hotel. Tried to reach Anthony’s brother Damon, but was not able to.

After all this we had a long drive after arriving at Jeddah airport we had taken a 45 minute flight.  From there we got breakfast at the airport for the group and then headed to our bus for the long drive.  We were going to take a flight to Ula, but it was cancelled and the next flight was 5 hours later so why sit at an airport?  Most of the group slept on the ride through the desert area.  We got to Yanbu, an industrial city of oil refineries on the Red Sea and had some lunch and walked on the corniche to stretch our legs a bit.  Then back on the bus – the rest of the drive was really nice and beautiful with different scenery - almost looks like a moonscape or maybe the Grand Canyon of Saudi Arabia. We stopped at the historic Hejaz Station Number 17 and will be seeing the others tomorrow.  We passed by a number of Ottoman homes that are still standing and some are in excellent condition. 

Arrived at the hotel at sundown. Tomorrow will be a fabulous day visiting Madin Saleh.

Saudi Report for February 16

Thursday Feb 16

This is a day that was surprising to the group in that they saw so many mountains and hills and we went to one of the tallest peaks in Saudi Arabia, then down to the village of Arijat Al Mara.  There they met a group of young Saudi students that were taking pictures - photography was their hobby.  They started taking pictures of the group, and asking where we were from. A conversation followed of how the west stereotypes the Saudi people - this coming from a young 16 year old.  Their English was perfect.  An old man named Ali, the historian of the city, was there, and he told a story of how he had purchased a camera 50 years ago and wanted to open a photo center in the town, but he couldn’t get all the paperwork together.  He wanted to see if anyone in our group was interested in the cameras.  A member of the group said he should give it to one of the students that were there to see if they might use it or sell it for him.  One student said he would look at it and try to sell it for him on line - Ali said make sure you tell me if you sell it! It was a cute conversation and we were able to connect people in the same area to each other.  He started telling the students about photography and the sun and getting a good picture.

The museum in this place was great they had a room for every thing you could imagine.  One room was called SOCIAL POLITENESS TOOLS - these were tools of torture!

In the afternoon we went to a private museum of Bin Himsan Cultural Village - this is a Saudi man that had studied in the US and came back home, saw the changes and he decided to start collecting and showcasing the cultural artifacts of the region.  It is beautiful, he has done a lot and each year I come he has expanded the collections.  He recently added a photo exhibit of old pictures he has been collecting from the late 1800 to now.  He has a theater where he will bring in performers and also a nice area in the courtyard where you can visit and have some tea and relax and take it all in - similar to the courtyards of regular homes. He has done what I want to do, but he has the money.............

Got back to the hotel for an early night as we have an early flight out tomorrow.

Wednesday: Najran - Abha

Wednesday Feb 15

After breakfast this morning we left the city of Najran and headed towards Abha which is 200 kilometers away.  The road started out flat and very desert like and then it changed within an hour to mountain terrain.  We decided to go to the Wadi Farsa which is down in the valley of the Habala mountains.  We spent some time in the old village market run by women. They were surprised to see us and when I spoke Arabic they took me into the tent to ask questions about why we were here and who the other people were.  They would lift their veils - gorgeous women - and turn their faces so the men could not see them.  They would ask me questions to ask the group - what they thought of Saudi Arabia and why they came.  They were not pushing for anyone to buy anything they just loved the idea that we were there.  This is not an area that tourist come to so it was really different for them. They asked why the women covered (wore abayas and scarves over our heads) and I told them out of respect for their customs.  When I said I was from Jordan one woman kissed me and said we were sisters.

In one part of the small market there were people that sell these beautiful flowers and make head pieces with them.  When the group got out their cameras one old lady came out and said no picture! She was so upset, but I explained that we were not going to take picture of the women, but of the men and the flowers. 

One man came out of his stall wearing a bunch of different flowers on his head and kohl around his eyes.  We got his picture and then I asked if he wanted to marry one of the women - he said yes but he already had two wives and 30 kids! The women in the group said he needed to make her number one and she would marry him.  The people around started to laugh and make suggestions, etc… - a great time.  The police that had been with us during the whole trip as guards also joined in with the jokes.

We left and headed out from the valley to go to Al Habala and decided to stop for lunch at a local restaurant that had these small family rooms where we got bbq chicken, lamb and lots of rice on a big tray. It was put on the floor and the group got down to business and did well with the food.  It was excellent.  We left to go to the mountains and take the cablecar across the mountains to the village where the village is on the cliff side, and the people use ropes to get up and down and around on the narrow rock ledges.  I had purchased some sweets and we ate them with coffee (made with cardamom) and mint tea - so nice with the cooler mountain breeze!

 

The guides started sharing pictures of their families and we did the same.  Then they started to sing and dance a bit as the group egged them on. We left for Abha before the souk closed and then to the hotel.  As were checking in the fog started to come in and we were not able to see anything in front of us.