Regardless of how nicely you assume a spot, there’s at all times extra to study – as Alice Morrison discovers on a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Stepping off the airplane, I used to be greeted by the sound of Chopin. A Saudi man wearing an immaculate thawb (white gown) and red-chequered keffiyeh (head overlaying) was masterfully taking part in a public piano within the arrivals lounge. As we exchanged smiles, I questioned what different surprising moments would possibly await me in Saudi Arabia.
I had needed to go to for years. However, regardless of understanding the Center East fairly nicely – I communicate Arabic and have travelled extensively within the area – I frightened about travelling to Saudi Arabia as a solo girl. I had visions of a extreme, closed society and an never-ending, featureless desert. Nonetheless, when the chance to go introduced itself, I jumped on the likelihood. And now a classical music lover was difficult my preconceptions earlier than I’d even left the airport.
Hegra: an underrated archaeological marvel
I used to be right here to discover AlUla, a large oasis set within the desert within the north of the nation, surrounded by otherworldly purple sandstone rocks and mountainous outcrops. It’s the dwelling of Hegra, the Nabateans’ second nice metropolis after Petra, in Jordan.
Like Petra, Hegra is an archaeological website scattered with immense rock-hewn tombs – albeit on a smaller scale, with round 100 tombs versus Petra’s 600 or so. The important thing distinction is that whereas Petra receives nearly one million guests a yr, Hegra solely opened to tourism in 2020 and is just about unknown to most travellers – together with, till lately, me. Nonetheless, with Intrepid’s lately launched Saudi Arabia Girls’s Expedition, that’s set to alter, as visiting Hegra with a neighborhood feminine rawee (storyteller) is a spotlight of the 12-day journey.
My information across the website was Wedad, a petite Saudi girl in her twenties. She was wearing ranger garments with a Saudi twist: an extended khaki coat with an identical scarf and a large safari hat. Whereas ladies make up round 30 per cent of the workforce within the Kingdom, in journey and tourism it’s reported to succeed in as much as 45 per cent – and roughly 30 per cent of guides are ladies.
‘I really like my job,’ Wedad informed me. ‘We’re ambassadors for our ancestors right here and are honoured to share their untold tales.’
We spent a number of joyous hours clambering over rocks, unleashing our internal adventurers, inspecting the fantastic carvings on the surface of the tombs and the sombre graves inside.
The Nabateans would possibly simply be the best civilisation you have got by no means heard of. They existed concurrently the Romans and the pharaohs, and so they had been fabulously rich as a result of they managed the incense commerce routes throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Wedad taught me a lot of fascinating details. Listed here are my prime three:
- Not like Roman emperors and Egyptian pharaohs, the Nabateans didn’t use slaves, even the king served his visitors himself.
- You had been solely allowed to drink 11 cups of wine at a royal occasion – nonetheless fairly beneficiant.
- The Nabateans had been keen on cushions stuffed and embellished with ostrich feathers – nicely who isn’t?
Come head to head with the Nabateans
Much more attention-grabbing was the position ladies performed in society. They seem to have shared the very best positions as merchants, priestesses and even queens. A queen may cross the throne to her daughter and most of the tombs at Hegra had been constructed for girls.
Archaeologists have reconstructed the face of a Nabatean girl: Hinat. On show in a small exhibition at Hegra Customer Centre, she is unusually haunting, seeming to look out at you from 2000 years in the past. Scientists have uncovered little private particulars about her; she had an abscess in her tooth and suffered from a little bit of arthritis. I discover these insights poignant and relatable, and I really feel an actual connection to this girl though we’re divided by many centuries.
The area’s valuable water and date palms are what have sustained human life right here for millennia (you solely want seven dates a day to outlive – excellent for desert life). The Nabateans may solely exist due to the oasis and it’s a fascinating place to discover.
The desert defines the essence of Saudi Arabia, and I really like being in these large, open areas. I sit within the shade of the palms, ingesting recent pomegranate juice and watching the peacocks strut – and begin to see how historic civilisations may thrive right here, even within the hovering warmth.
Exploring AlUla’s Outdated City
The wide-open areas of Hegra and the cool palms of the oasis distinction sharply with AlUla’s vigorous Outdated City. Due to the excessive temperatures throughout the day, Saudis have a tendency to return out en masse within the night, when it’s cooler. Teams of ladies promenade up and down, dressed primarily in black abayas (robes) embellished with eye-catching embroidery and head scarves – though ladies are actually free to stroll unveiled. It is a family-friendly tradition, and children rush up and down begging for ice lotions or to be held on their dads’ shoulders to observe the bands taking part in alongside the central walkway.
There’s a variety of eating choices. I went for each ends of the spectrum, from a espresso in US export, Dunkin’ (actually, that’s cooler than it sounds because it’s in a conventional mud constructing), to a rooftop feast at a elaborate resort. Then, I popped into one of many galleries to see a weaving and sculpture exhibition. Up to now, so cosmopolitan. ‘That is the brand new Saudi,’ one of many ladies working there informed me as she confirmed me round.
From Hinat and the queens of Hegra to the modern-day ladies I met alongside the way in which, what stunned me most about Saudi Arabia was ladies’s place in society. The stereotype portrayed within the Western media may be very completely different from the educated, engaged ladies I met, who had been enthusiastic about their work. That, and the openness and friendliness of the folks.
My preliminary considerations about travelling right here have lengthy gone. And I can’t wait until my subsequent go to. In January 2025, I plan to stroll from the north to the south of the nation in an expedition that may take 5 months and – I hope – throw up much more thrilling discoveries.
See Hegra for your self on our new Saudi Arabia: Girls’s Expedition. Discover out what else is new for 2025 with The Items.
