Saudi Arabia is Islam’s birthplace and spiritual home, represented by the cities of Mecca and Medina. The country is rich in attractions, from echoes of “Lawrence of Arabia” along the Hejaz Railway to the sculpted red dunes of romantic deserts with the carved temples of Madain Saleh, known as the second Petra, and the sophisticated rock art at Jubbah. The pristine, azure waters of the Red Sea ache to be explored. In the south, the jewel in the Kingdom’s crown, Asir, reveals breathtaking mountain scenery where mysterious and spectacular villages wait to be discovered.
Our last stop today was Sakākā, an oasis in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It lies on an old caravan route from the Mediterranean Sea coast to the central and southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Sakākā lies north of the desert of Al-Nafūd and northeast of the Al-Jawf oasis. Nowadays, it...
Finally, we arrived at the ruins of ancient Dumatha, nowadays Dumat al-Jundal, located in North Western Saudi Arabia in the Al Jawf Province. It is the largest and best-known oasis at the northern limit of the great al-Nafud desert. The city has a history dating back to the 10th century...
We stopped in Tabūk, an oasis city in northwestern Saudi Arabia, for several hours. The city is situated amid a grove of date palms. Unfortunately, it was Friday today, so the city was deserted, and nearly everything was closed. Still, we walked from the Turkish fort built in 1694 in the...
We drove to the city of Al-Bada’, where 2017 started excavations of the ancient city of Madyan. It is located in the Wadi’ Afal, a broad, 50-kilometer-long valley oriented north-south that connects the Levant (Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine) to the western shore of Arabia and its...
We planned to drive from Catalina Seaplane Wreckage on a scenic coastal road toward Georgios G. Shipwreck. However, just a few kilometers before the shipwreck, we hit a checkpoint created by Special Forces for Environmental Security (SFES), and that was the end of our plan. They did not...
We came across the wreck of a 1930s World War II Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina United States Navy seaplane marooned on the Red Sea coast near the cape of Ras Al-Sheikh Hameed in the northwest province of Tabuk. The plane was bought from the US Navy by Thomas W. Kendall, a 44-year-old...
Wadi Disah is nestled between the towering escarpments in the northern region of Saudi Arabia in the Tabuk Province. “The Valley of Palm Trees” lies 400 meters above sea level, surrounded by massive sandstone cliffs. The valley has two entrances; however, the southern entrance is more...
After a heavy storm, we drove to the Arch (Rainbow) Rock. It is called Rainbow Rock because it looks like an arch or a rainbow with two clouds. Near the Rainbow Rock are other rock formations, such as the Dancing Rocks, two large rock pillars that appear to be dancing together. But we did...
Jabal Ikmah is an open library of inscriptions, rock art, and petroglyphs set in a stunning desert canyon. The ticket costs 60 SAR, and the tour runs at 08:45 and 16:45 from Winter Park (duration 2,5 hours, including Dadan). Nearby, Dadan was a caravan way station for many people, and one...
Amongst the most significant discoveries in all of Al-Ula is the city of Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan kingdoms. The town built meticulously from stone and astride the valley’s oasis, dates back between the late 9th and early 8th century BC (Kingdom of Dadan) and 5th–2nd...