ARABIAN DELIGHTS

Saudi Arabia is one of the most misunderstood countries on Earth (see my previous posting).  Not only is very little known outside the country, but even within, many foreigners living there have major misconceptions.  One of these is that there are virtually no tourist attractions, whether natural, historical or man-made, in the kingdom. 

Such expats - some of whom have been there for years or even decades - complain about there being nothing to do, alluding at length to the endless flat desert outside of their compounds, broken only by an occasional oil-well or Bedouin encampment.  It is almost like pre-Columbine Europe’s perception of the ocean: empty and endless, and if you crossed it far enough you would eventually fall off the edge.  

The perception of Saudi Arabia as a place of interminable flatness, with nothing of interest to see or do, is about as valid as the flat-earth view, and one of the great tragedies of expat life in KSA is that so many people spend years in the kingdom complaining about how bored they are, without the slightest awareness its many attractions. 

There are a couple of reasons for this misconception.  Firstly, most expats, particularly western expats, tend to be concentrated in the eastern part of the country where the desert is indeed flat and featureless for many hundreds of kilometres, and it is a fact that most of the really interesting places tend to be in the western part of the country. 

Then, there is the ‘boredom culture’, a sort of inherited assumption that because it is Saudi Arabia (still seen by many as a ‘hardship posting’), there just cannot be anything interesting to see or do!  There is even a lack of awareness among many Saudis themselves of the wealth of attractions in their own country.  I recall, for example, taking a couple of friends of ours from Riyadh to Madain Saleh.  Mohammad, who is Saudi, was amazed at the historical, archaeological and natural wonders to be seen there, and exclaimed, “Wow, are we still in Saudi Arabia?  I never realized this beauty was here in my own country”.  

The list of attractions that will appear over the next few postings, is neither detailed nor exhaustive, but should give you a few places to think about visiting for starters.  All the places mentioned can easily be Googled, with a number of websites between them providing all the information you could want.