Saudi Arabia – barren desert? Not quite.

It’s true, there are vast swathes of uninhabited desert in Saudi Arabia. But it also has lush green mountains, beautiful coral reefs and other sites of utter beauty. Locations that, because Saudi has been fairly closed to tourism over the years, are very lightly trodden. Below are just some of the hidden gems that adorn ‘The House of Saud.’

Jeddah

West Coast Saudi Arabia has a fairly laid back feel to it. After living in the eastern quarter of the Kingdom for 18 months, a friend of mine and I made a 5 day trip to the city. A number of people that we worked with told us that Jeddah is very similar to the city that we worked in. They were right in a lot of ways: some of the architecture is similar, driving is challenging and they share cultural foods, practices and beliefs. BUT Jeddah, in my humble opinion, is a lot more ‘chill’ than Al-Hofuf (a city that we’ll look at in a later post). It also hosts some unique architecture and is sat on the edge of some awesome marine life.  

Before leaving for Jeddah I spoke with my students about what to do and expect. My first conversation went  something like this...

"What is Jeddah like?"

"Your grandmother or ours?", they replied. Thus, I'd learnt my first fact about Jeddah, it means grandmother in Arabic.

The students laughed and then explained that,  according to  Saudi/Islamic interpretation of their holy book, Jeddah is where Eve - as in Adam and Eve - is buried. My friend and I added this site to our 'Jeddah Bucket List'.

Hotels are relatively expeinsive in Saudi so we decided to couch surf. We’d both done it before but this was the first time that either of us had done it in Saudi Arabia. 

We landed in Jeddah after a short flight and hired a car at the airport. Our drive from the airport to the city, where we arranged to meet our host, took us about 30 minutes and gave us chance to see some of the outskirts of the ancient city.

Long baggy shorts, walnut rimmed specs, a well maintained goatee, a tank top and flips flops. This guy was oozing coolness. The moment that we met our week-long-host we felt at ease. He kindly showed us around the immediate area and then took us to his student apartment. 

As he had lectures the following morning he showed us to his spare room, gave us his phone number and also told us about the most popular touristy things to do whilst in Jeddah.  Top of his ‘must do’ list were:

•  The Sooq (market/bazaar)
•   The Red Sea – Most of the professional divers that I’ve met have said that the Red Sea is the best place to dive in the world. It is more common to scuber it from the Egyptian side but a dive master that I met in Thailand felt that Saudi would have better marine life as it is less commercialized.  
• Old town

Jeddah at a glance (please excuse the low quality images, all of these were taken on my mobile phone):

Jeddah is adorned with ancient
 streets such as this.

This is where many Muslims start their pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina

Arabic Graffiti 

We were told that this is
the site where Eve is buried.
An elderly Saudi gentleman
explained that sites of historic importance
and interest shouldn't be 'made beautiful'
as this would lead, in their cultural belief, to
idol worship - something that is deemed
to be highly sac-religious in Islam. 

Our host took us to a museum in Jeddah.
It housed lots of old artifacts from
ancient Jeddah and some items that I can
even remember - VCRs! 

Al-Balad (Old Jeddah) 

In the heart of Al-Balad (Old Jeddah)

Jeddah is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer: great architecture, beautiful nearby mountains, world class marine life and friendly locals. 



Blogs on Hofuf (Al-Ahsa) and on other cultural and historical sites within Saudi Arabia, such as Mada'in Salah, Hail and Abha have been written. However, I'm awaiting for some more photos (from friends). If anyone reading this has any questions or wants to contribute photos then please do get in touch via the comments box below.

Greeting in Arabic

'Marhaba' and 'As saalaamu alaykum' are two phrases that are heard frequently in Arabic speaking countries but which is the correct one to use and when?

 

As saalamu alaykum in traditional Arabic

 

It is commonly known that 'as saalaamu alaykum' means 'may peace be upon you' and some people do associate this phrase, because of the literal translation, as being a religious one. However, a wise imam once explained to a group of people taking a tour in Saudi Arabia  that "people should be able to wish peace on any person, regardless of their religion (or non-religion)". To respond to someone saying  'as saalaamu alaykum' , simply say "wa alaykum salaam" which means "may peace be upon you too".

 

Saying these phrases is a great way to start and build a relationship with Arabic speakers.

 

There has been one occasion, in 5 months of living in Saudi Arabia, that the words have been frowned upon. That was by an American guy who had studied Arabic at college for a number of years and informed a group of us that both of these phrases should only be used by Muslims. Not wanting to offend anyone, we stopped saying them and apologised to our Muslim co-workers, as we had been saying  'as saalaamu alaykum' a lot around the office. Our colleagues felt that the greetings can be used by non-Muslims and that they are the most friendly way to say hello. We later had a tour by an imam who confirmed this with the quote mentioned above.

 

Marbaba in modern Arabic

 

 

Marhaba, on the other hand, is a derivative of an Islamic word that means 'welcome' and is just as acceptable to use as a way to say hello. Marhaba is a great way to greet friends into your home.