Saudi Arabia East

Through the desert

We cross the Saudi border at Nuwaisib. Apart from some waiting time, entering Saudi Arabia is problem-free. We don’t even have to present our visa, it is linked to our passport numbers and the officials immediately recognize that we are entitled to enter the country. The only problem is scanning my fingerprints. After several attempts and cleaning the device, it works – and we’re in.

There is nothing going on in the border town of “al Khafji” at the moment. We soon stock up on two Saudi SIM cards from STC and exchange cash. Filling up with diesel is fun again at a price of 30 euro cents per liter.
We spend the night together with Peter and Gabi on the beach, where we are literally shooed away by the border guards the next morning.

We learn that the desert can also be boring on the two days of driving up to the “Judah Thumb”. On the other hand, it is completely unproblematic to find a free place to spend the night in the desert. You simply turn off the main road into a side road or side track and drive far enough away from the main road …

Judah Thumb

The 300m high rock formation in the Arabian desert is also known as the “Devil’s Thumb”. It is located near the village of Al-Juda. There are other rock formations worth seeing in the surrounding area, some of which are fenced off. We make do with the Judas thumb and enjoy the peace and quiet here. Our first highlight in Saudi Arabia and there will be many more to come.

Drone impressions

Please turn on the sound and set the video to full screen.

Hofuf camel market

Today we visit a real camel market. But it’s not easy to get them in front of the camera because of all the camels. The camel herders come from all over the world, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and many more.

There is a lot of hustle and bustle, coming and going! The camels are not treated gently, which is why they protest loudly time and again. On the other hand, they seem to enjoy loading with a crane.

And as you can see, the camel herders are very happy to be photographed.

Now that you’ve seen the pictures, I have to tell you that all the camels shown here have the same fate: they end up in the meat pot and are slaughtered sooner or later, depending on demand. 😭

Hofuf Al Hasa Cave

In the middle of the oasis of Hofuf lies the Al Qarah mountain, a huge block of limestone. Several caves lead into the interior of the mountain, which were created by erosion. “Chemical weathering” occurs when water and oxygen come into contact with limestone.

Today we visit the Al Hasa cave, which is actually more like a fissure in the mountain through which water could get inside and wash out the cave.

Drinking water

Filling up with diesel is not a headache in Sausi Arabia – but filling up with water is! We are therefore looking for a water dealer where we can fill up our tank. Here the water is treated and filled into the tanks using a nozzle. We can’t do that, which is why we have to come up with something for filling up the water with hose. The workers are happy to help and take the opportunity to have a chat.

We are now on our way to the United Arab Emirates, as we are expecting visitors from Switzerland and therefore want to be in Dubai on time.

Previous Post
al-Kuwait
Next Post
Emirates

Related Posts

No results found.

1 Comment. Leave new

  • Beautiful, I love your drone clip. So you visited a meat market, ha ha ha ha. What an experience.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.