ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Al Ula, Saudi Arabia

Dec 28, 2023

On the bus from Medina to Al Ula, I switched on my radar for other travelers in the hopes that I would find another with whom to share a rental car. Of the six people on board, one of them seemed a likely tourist and he was. Tony from Singapore is a veteran traveler and we decided to split a car rental which is essential to see anything in or around in Al Ula. Like elsewhere in Saudi Arabia public transport really does not exist.

The scrubby plains had dropped away and in its place were the red, brown and orange rock formations taking on fantastic shapes. They bear an uncanny resemblance to the deserts of southwestern United States. The national parks of Arizona and Utah came to mind, bar the date palms.

I had a hankering to camp in the desert and having neglected to bring my own gear, chose to stay at a campsite.  Some thirty kilometers from town, Almazham Camp was set in a date farm, surrounded by citrus trees. I felt like a pasha! Even the communal tent where we were served breakfast was set up in traditional style with floor cushions arranged around a fire grate.

The town itself is brand new with most of the buildings newly constructed, some yet to sport paint. And it is squarely aimed at tourists. The much-outed “Old Town” is actually brand new. The buildings, many of which are still under construction, are made to mimic the mud brick construction that is the norm in many parts of the world. But unlike the villages in Ladakh or Tibet or Tunisia or other parts of the world, this is an empty shell. Nobody lives here.

Instead, a long straight street runs down the middle and on either side are rows of shops, a couple of cafes and nothing else. This seems a peculiarity of Saudi Arabia. I get the feeling that a tourist is meant to stay in luxurious hotels, eat at swanky restaurants and go shopping. Period. Any interest in historical or cultural aspects is purely an afterthought and to be satisfied minimally at best.

But across the street is the real old town. The traditional mud brick buildings are the same that one sees in many other parts of the world. Broken now and deserted, it still retains an air of mystique. How fascinating would it be if it were still inhabited!