Saudi Arabia
December 25 - The Road to the Edge of the World
I had a flight to Saudi Arabia at 10:40 AM, so I headed to the airport early to continue exploring the business lounges of Kuwait Airport. However, I ended up spending more time there than planned because my flight was delayed by a couple of hours. In the end, I left the airport after 2:00 PM, and after dealing with passport control lines and picking up the rental car, I didn’t get on the road until even later.
I debated whether to rent a sedan or an SUV because there were differing opinions in reports about the road to the “Edge of the World”. Some said “definitely a 4x4”, others said no. In the end, I chose something in between — a front-wheel-drive crossover, a relatively new Hyundai Kona. To spoil the surprise, I didn’t see the need for a 4x4 at all. While a high suspension is useful, the road does have a few potholes, but I believe a regular sedan could handle it, just slowly and carefully. So, if you can’t get an SUV, don’t worry, you’ll still make it to the “Edge of the World”. It’ll be slow and dusty, but you’ll get there.
My initial plan was to take my time and drive to the Edge of the World, a set of stunning cliffs about an “hour” away from the capital, catch the sunset, and likely spend the night in the car to catch the sunrise as well. However, the flight delay and the road being worse and longer than expected messed up my evening plans. It turned out the last 20 kilometers to the “Edge of the World” were on such a terrible gravel road that it took me over an hour to get there. So, I watched the sunset from the road and arrived at the makeshift parking lot with less than half an hour of daylight left. There was no point in walking half an hour to the cliffs or turning back, so I went straight to the “sleep in the car” part. Quickly, all the cars on the parking lot left, and I settled in as comfortably as I could (which wasn’t very comfortable in the driver’s seat) and lay down to nap. Around 10 PM, I was woken up by local police patrolling the area, asking if I needed help and trying to tell me that camping wasn’t allowed there. But, once they realized I was a tourist and wasn’t planning to stay for several nights, they left me in peace.
December 26 - The Edge of the World and Diriyah
I woke up just before my alarm went off, it was 5:30 AM - still dark, but the twilight was beginning. While I started the car again to warm it up, gathered my strength, and began preparing breakfast, the headlights I had noticed in the distance all night suddenly disappeared… and yes, of course, they came straight to me. It was the police again, asking if everything was okay and if I needed help. They told me not to drive to the cliffs with my car and to leave it here, then drove off. I had breakfast, grabbed my flashlight, put on all the clothes I had, and headed towards the cliffs. I had thought that some tourist jeeps would show up for a “sunrise tour,” but there was no one around.
By then, it was light enough, and I no longer needed the flashlight. When I reached the “big fork” where the famous cliff was already visible, it became clear that this spot is more suited for sunset, and there wasn’t much to see at sunrise. I walked a bit further to another viewpoint overlooking the valley, but there were no cliffs there. I found a small geocache on a ledge, my only find in Saudi Arabia. As I wandered around, the sun slowly began to rise, lighting up the cliffs. It wasn’t quite the dramatic sunset lighting I had hoped for, but it was still quite beautiful and pleasant. I walked along a small trail on the ridge, from where I saw another police car that had come down the valley. Along with military helicopters flying overhead, it felt like there was more to this area than just rocks, and it was being actively patrolled.
After walking around for a couple of hours, I headed back. And of course, the police car was still there, but they didn’t say anything to me. Twenty minutes later, I was back at the parking lot. Time to head back. The road hadn’t improved overnight; it was still a bumpy, hour-long ride. But finally, I reached the long-awaited asphalt, and I could breathe easy! Heading towards Riyadh!
On the way, I stopped to buy a toothbrush and withdraw some cash. In a random, nameless village, I stumbled upon a bakery where they were baking fresh flatbreads in a wood-fired oven. I couldn’t resist and bought one for 4 riyals, but they didn’t have change for a fresh 100 from the ATM, so they just waved it off and told me to keep it. Shukran!
In Riyadh, I first stopped at a shopping mall looking for a Lego store, but there were no stamps, so I left empty-handed. I then headed to the mysterious Diriyah – not quite sure if it was ruins or something else. What became clear was that parking was a huge problem. A large police presence had blocked off half the roads, and there was nowhere to park. There was an “official” underground parking lot, but it was paid, so I parked on a nearby street for free. However, it was almost a kilometer walk to the entrance. The guards checked my free ticket, which I had “booked” while sitting in the car, and let me in to explore. These, it turns out, are the ruins of the ancient capital of Saudi Arabia, a UNESCO site as one of the largest preserved mud-brick house areas. I spent the rest of the day exploring the area, and they gave out free bottles of water at the museum exhibits, which was nice.
I didn’t want to sleep in the car again, so I booked a hostel for the night. For dinner, I bought some strange things wrapped in grape leaves, which I didn’t really enjoy. At some point, some other guests arrived at the hostel: a couple from Hong Kong and the hostel owner. We struck up a conversation about Saudi Arabia, travel, and especially Syria, given the recent events (and it turned out the hostel owner was from Syria!). The others went out to find dinner, and I went to bed early to get up early tomorrow – I had a long drive to the sea ahead!
December 27 - The Road to the Sea
Today’s journey was all about reaching Dammam. No matter how hard I tried to find some interesting attractions along the way, there was almost nothing of note.
There was the marked Judas’s Thumb, about three-quarters of the way between Riyadh and Dammam. After turning off the main road, I realized that I still had to drive about 7 kilometers, and the asphalt ended almost immediately. I drove a bit further, saw camels munching on something up close, and then the road started getting rougher and the sand began to appear. The rock was already visible in the distance, only about 4 kilometers left… Even though some reviews said people had made it there in regular cars, I decided to turn around this time. I didn’t want to risk getting stuck in the sand, especially since I still had several hundred kilometers to go. I saw the rock, though, even if from far away, and those camels were simply magnificent. So, I turned around and headed towards Hofuf – the largest oasis in the world.
Before reaching Hofuf, Google Maps stubbornly insisted there was a toll road, but that wasn’t the case at all – everything was free. One of the marked spots was a little market, but since it was Friday, everything was closed, so I decided to settle for a gas station. However, Google led me to the ruins of a gas station near the city center, and I decided to have a snack with the leftover cans from the first day (the ones I had planned to have for dinner at the “Edge of the World,” but that didn’t work out). While I was eating, I noticed a steady flow of people walking in the same direction, most of them carrying prayer mats. Of course – it was time for the midday prayer, and it was Friday! So, I went for a walk, and by the time the prayer started, I had almost reached a bigger street and a mosque. The scene was mesmerizing, with crowds of people standing outside because there wasn’t enough room in the mosque, laying out their mats, and praying. It felt a bit surreal, reminding me of something similar we saw in Dubai a year and a half ago in a mall, when the call to prayer suddenly rang out, and right in the middle of the huge open area, a hundred people started laying out their mats. Maybe it was Friday back then too?
I went for a walk and then continued to the gas station. At the proper gas station, they even accepted cards, so I didn’t have to use cash.
Another marked spot was a mountain. I drove there, and as soon as I got closer, I immediately saw the monumental Mount Al-Qarah, towering above the buildings. Cool! I parked and went to explore. They charged an unreasonably high 57 riyals (15 euros) for entry to the Land of Civilizations, but once inside, I immediately appreciated the beauty – neatly paved paths and pleasant sculptures. There was a subtle detour in the trail that led directly to this very rock… and you could enter! It was really cool inside, with nice lighting, the rocks, and you could climb a bit into the wilder section, where there were no cobblestones or lamps, but there was some litter and “cave paintings” from locals. Later, I read that you can also enter the wilder parts of this strange mountain from the other side for free, but I still enjoyed what I saw.
After walking around enough, I continued eastward. There was supposed to be a “castle” there, but the entire area by the sea was fenced off, and you could only see the roof of the “castle”. So, I didn’t even get out of the car, but immediately turned around and headed straight towards Dammam. By 4:30 PM, I was at the hotel, a fancy Hilton with breakfast and dinner included. Right across the street was a shopping mall, where I checked out another Lego store, but once again, without any success, unfortunately. But, from this mall, you could enjoy a beautiful sunset (and notice the genius staircase that you can descend if you’re walking rather than driving).
With two hours left until dinner and not wanting to spend the last evening in the hotel, I decided to drive and take a walk along the evening promenade, the “Corniche”. Overall, nothing extraordinary, but it was nice to wander around, especially, I imagine, in the summer after a hot day.
On Reddit, someone particularly recommended the Alaker sweet shop, and it was conveniently on my way. I tried two types of kunafeh, and it really was divine! Especially the cheesy one, not too sweet, with melty cheese – hot, and you could lick your fingers! And it was relatively inexpensive, just 7 riyals for a small piece (a little under 2 euros). I also grabbed some baklava for 35 riyals to try on the road.
And then it was time to return to the hotel and try dinner. Oh, how luxurious it was! Just the beef stroganoff with mashed potatoes alone was worth it! And the lasagna! Superb, absolutely superb – such a pity you can’t “stock up” on it. After such a dinner, I could forgive the hotel’s little flaws, like the random water temperature in the shower 🙂
December 28 - The Road to the Airport
In the morning, I had breakfast (not as luxurious as dinner, but still very, very decent), packed up, and headed to the airport. On the way, I somehow found a gas station, though I missed the correct exit off the highway and ended up driving an extra few kilometers. At the airport, they surprisingly didn’t take away my water at security again. There was even no check before the gate this time.
While waiting for the flight, I went into another lounge. There are two in the domestic departures area and just one in the international departures area. Surprisingly, it was spacious, quiet, and had a variety of food available for breakfast.
Since I had already eaten, and I still had some sweets from yesterday, I didn’t try much. Instead, I enjoyed some delicious dates and took a yogurt with me on the plane. Highly recommend!
Summary of Saudi Arabia
This was my first “real” visit to the country (a brief night out in Jeddah a few years ago doesn’t count), and I managed to see a couple of major cities and check out a few landmarks. Unfortunately, much like in Kuwait, there aren’t many tourist attractions here, but you can feel that the country is moving towards tourism. The fact that tourist visas didn’t exist at all until 2019, and now it’s very easy to get a visa online, speaks volumes. Next time, I’d like to travel along the western part of the country, where the concentration of attractions is higher, and it should be a bit less desolate. But for Dammam and Riyadh, I’m not sure it’s worth going there on purpose. I honestly don’t think you’ll miss much if you visit somewhere else.
To be continued…