Irrespective of how effectively you suppose you understand a spot, there’s all the time extra to study – as Alice Morrison discovers on a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Stepping off the aircraft, I used to be greeted by the sound of Chopin. A Saudi man wearing an immaculate thawb (white gown) and red-chequered keffiyeh (head protecting) was masterfully enjoying 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 effectively – I converse Arabic and have travelled extensively within the area – I frightened about travelling to Saudi Arabia as a solo lady. 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 probability. And now a classical music lover was difficult my preconceptions earlier than I’d even left the airport.
Hegra: an underrated archaeological surprise
I used to be right here to discover AlUla, an enormous 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 virtually one million guests a 12 months, Hegra solely opened to tourism in 2020 and is just about unknown to most travellers – together with, till not too long ago, me. Nonetheless, with Intrepid’s not too long ago launched Saudi Arabia Ladies’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 lady in her twenties. She was wearing ranger garments with a Saudi twist: a protracted khaki coat with an identical headband and an enormous 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 like my job,’ Wedad instructed 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 wonderful carvings on the surface of the tombs and the sombre graves inside.
The Nabateans would possibly simply be the best civilisation you’ve got by no means heard of. They existed similtaneously the Romans and the pharaohs, they usually 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 info. Listed below are my high three:
- In contrast to Roman emperors and Egyptian pharaohs, the Nabateans didn’t use slaves, even the king served his friends himself.
- You had been solely allowed to drink 11 cups of wine at a royal celebration – nonetheless fairly beneficiant.
- The Nabateans had been keen on cushions stuffed and embellished with ostrich feathers – effectively 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 move the throne to her daughter and most of the tombs at Hegra had been constructed for ladies.
Archaeologists have reconstructed the face of a Nabatean lady: Hinat. On show in a small exhibition at Hegra Customer Centre, she is surprisingly 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 lady regardless that we’re divided by many centuries.
The area’s treasured water and date palms are what have sustained human life right here for millennia (you solely want seven dates a day to outlive – good 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 like being in these broad, open areas. I sit within the shade of the palms, consuming contemporary 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 energetic Outdated City. Due to the excessive temperatures in the course of the day, Saudis have a tendency to return out en masse within the night, when it’s cooler. Teams of girls promenade up and down, dressed primarily in black abayas (robes) embellished with eye-catching embroidery and head scarves – though ladies at the moment are free to stroll unveiled. This can be 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 enjoying alongside the central walkway.
There may be 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 standard mud constructing), to a rooftop feast at a elaborate lodge. Then, I popped into one of many galleries to see a weaving and sculpture exhibition. To this point, so cosmopolitan. ‘That is the brand new Saudi,’ one of many ladies working there instructed me as she confirmed me round.
From Hinat and the queens of Hegra to the modern-day ladies I met alongside the best way, 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 obsessed with 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 can take 5 months and – I hope – throw up much more thrilling discoveries.
See Hegra for your self on our new Saudi Arabia: Ladies’s Expedition. Discover out what else is new for 2025 with The Items.
