Hurrah – finally in Saudi Arabia

All roads lead to Riyadh … and few roads lead past it.
It is a good 600 km from the border with the Emirates via Hofuf to Riyadh (German spelling). As we want to do some grocery shopping first, we take the route via Hofuf. This also has the advantage that we don’t have to drive through the whole city in Riyadh.

This time we want to spend a good two and a half months in the country. Our destination is the sights in the north-west of the country, up to the Gulf of Aqaba.

The tension has grown. Joyful anticipation spreads. We are back in our element and are delighted to finally have time for Saudi Arabia – one of our dream destinations!

Ryadh

In many countries there are different spellings for terms and names. For example Ryadh, or Riad or Al-Ryadh … that’s what makes researching on the Internet so exciting and adventurous, because you never know how the name will be spelled!

What a contrast: Yesterday we spent the night in a vast desert landscape and only heard the whispering of the wind. Today we park at a shopping center. But we are fascinated by both. Being in nature is wonderful, but being in the middle of it is also fascinating.

As dusk falls and darkness sets in, the parking lot gets full, very full! Traffic on the through road is also increasing.
And we eat out again – just like the locals!

The MAN Truck & Bus dealership is located just a few hundred meters from the shopping center. Here we let our drivetrain lubricate. The head of department is very accommodating towards us. And in the end, he gives us the work as a gift, which means that we can once again enjoy free maintenance. What a generous gesture!

Buraida – next stop

The journey to Buraida is mostly on wide, 6-lane roads. There is plenty of traffic on the roads 😂. We drive through different types of landscape, but the real Saudi Arabian feeling is not yet there, as the landscapes are still too often used intensively by domestic tourism. This only changes as the distance from Riyadh increases.

Paradise and the Wadi Ar Rumah

What does paradise, or the Garden of Eden, have to do with the Wadi Ar-Rumah?

The Wadi ar Rumah is the longest wadi in the entire Arabian Peninsula.
It begins in the rugged mountains around Medina and flows through Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to join the other three rivers in Iraq. It once flowed through today’s dune belt of the Nafud at-Thuwairat and continued in today’s Wadi Al-Batin.

Now a river went out from Eden to water the garden; but from there it divided and became four main rivers. (seen from Paradise looking upstream)
The first is called Pison (Wadi Ar Rumah); this is the one that flows around the whole land of Hawila (Saudi Arabia), where the gold is; and the gold of this land is good; there is also the Bedolach resin and the precious stone onyx.
The second river is called Gihon (today Karun from Iran); this is the one that flows around the entire land of Kush.
The third river is called the Tigris, which flows east of Assur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Thus, the former paradise that God created for Adam and Eve would have been located in southern IRAQ, in the region around Basra.

Even if the Wadi Ar Ruma does not carry any water during our visit, there are still frequent torrential floods here, which shows that the potential for a longer river does indeed exist.

The riverbed of the Wadi al Rumah is very wide and shallow, which can also be seen from the length of the bridge.

Al Hatima Crater

The imposing crater is located near the village of “Tabah”. It can be reached by vehicle on a clearly visible, 6 km long track.
The diameter of the crater is about 1.2 km. With these dimensions, the crater depth of a good 100 meters seems relatively small. But see for yourself.

The video

In this short drone video we show the “Al Hatima Crater” together with pictures of the “Salma Mountains”. Please turn on the sound and view on the largest possible screen.

The black crater

On the way to the Salma Mountains we drive past the Black Crater. If you look at the map, you can see that the landscape between Medina and Ha’il is dotted with craters. Impressive. Of course we have to take some pictures here too, there’s no other way!

Salma Berge

We take another break for a day at a beautiful wadi. The rainy season has already had an effect here. Small trees and shrubs are green and there is also little grass.

Jubbah rock art

At the foot of the mountain “Umm Sinman” lies the UESCO World Heritage Site “Jubbah Rock Art”. There are many rock carvings to marvel at here. Also characters and fonts. It is estimated to be up to 10,000 years old. What I can’t even imagine.
Be that as it may, we stroll through the complex and take note of the rock carvings with moderate interest. The great storm of enthusiasm fails to materialize.

Ha’il

A milestone is reached in Ha’il.
We search for water again and brazenly ask the fire department. As you can see, the firemen are very helpful and our tank can be filled.

From Ha’il we travel another 400 km in a westerly direction and slowly approach the even more important sights. But more about that in the next article.