Leaving the spectacular oasis/canyon of Wadi Disah last week, the landscape all the way to Umm Lajj ( on the Red Sea coast ) was probably as boring and monotonous as we have seen in Saudi – lots of sand, lots of camels, and a few small towns in between. More than anything it showed the chasm of difference between the larger cities ( modern, vibrant, generally cleaner ) and the more remote rural areas ( exactly the opposite ). These more remote parts of Saudi are still very quiet and conservative.

Spent a couple of nights at the large seaside town of Umm Lajj just enjoying its different view ( the ocean at last, after many days of just desert ! ), doing a little shopping, and catching up on washing ( it always takes a day here – nowhere, so far anyway, can one find a self serve laundry and do it in just a couple of hours ). A bonus was that we managed to stumble on a nice restaurant, a real treat after several days of less than appetizing food choices.

Mecca is definitely the holiest city in the Islamic world and non-Muslims are not even allowed to enter the city, much less to visit Al Kaaba itself. Medina, next up on our itinerary, is Islam’s second holiest place and non-believers are welcome there. It’s not only the resting place of the Prophet Mohammed, but the city also has other mosques that rank very highly among those that Muslims aspire to visit. There were two in particular that we wanted to see – one that permitted unrestricted access (Masjid Quba – thought to be the first mosque built in the world ) and the other ( Masjid-e-Nabawi – the second mosque built in the world ) that certainly did not ! I was nonchalantly walking through the ( seemingly open ) gates of  the latter when suddenly a firm hand clasped my shoulder. The security guard simply asked “Muslim ?”.  No, “Masihiun”, I replied ( “Christian” in Arabic ). A solemn and very firm “Not allowed”, followed. Disappointed, as its the Masjid-e-Nabawi  (mosque) that contains  Mohamed’s  tomb, something we definitely would like to have seen. It was only possible to snap a few pictures from outside 😟.

The city is very conservative and Lois had been advised that in this place a scarf would be required, certainly to access a mosque. One was arranged, but I’d point out that people had, up until now, been at pains to point out that the garment was generally NOT required anywhere else  in the country. We’d seen some Saudi women without it and lots of foreign women not wearing one so the advice seemed accurate. Long sleeves, legs covered and generally conservative “wear” seems to be more than enough ( for both sexes ), though there is definitely more focus on the ladies’ coverings. We’ve been surprised just how popular the niqab/abaya still is in Saudi – very widely worn by Saudi women everywhere we’ve been so far. It looks awfully hot to wear right now, I can’t imagine what it’s like when the temperature gets into the 50’s ( and it  does !).

Another 420km drive brought us to Jeddah, Saudi’s Red Sea gem and second largest city. By all accounts, more interesting than Riyadh so we were looking forward to it, the drive down enriched by the sighting of a troop of wild baboons beside the highway. We’d both thought baboons were known only in Southern Africa ( how wrong we were ), the first hint of them being the “Don’t Feed The Baboons” sign a few kilometres before we actually saw them. One immediately jumped on our car – with more beelining towards us we beat a quick retreat. They can, apparently, get very vicious.

Jeddah’s old town ( Al Balad ) is one of its major attractions and was an easy walk from our hotel. Wandering its backstreets and imagining what life was like here back in the day was not difficult as much of the area retains the charm of yesteryear- old traditional buildings with beautiful latticed wooden verandahs. Very Arabic ! Seems the local tourist authority is pouring millions into this area since much of it is under reconstruction, though we had no problem finding many old original buildings, some now converted to boutique cafés and restaurants. It was in one of these cafés just off the main square that we bumped into a young Saudi lady named Sahar. She had travelled and studied abroad and in fluent English gave us some great insights into Saudi history and culture. She was typical of all the Saudi’s we’ve met – warm, chatty, helpful and genuinely interested in our experiences in the country – charming people.  
Unfortunately a badly stubbed big toe ( right in the aforementioned main square ! ) limited my mobility for a couple of days and hence any further “walking” exploration of the town. It’s long and pedestrian-friendly seaside Corniche, along with the King Fahd fountain ( the worlds tallest) are a couple of Jeddah’s other sites of note which we’d passed on the way in. Will have to do the walk next time we are here !

Next blog we head to the far south of Saudi and explore Abha and historic Rijal Almaa before heading back east towards the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Till next week…