There used to be certain countries that do not welcome tourists. One is reminded of the former Soviet Union, North Korea and Communist China. Soviet Union is now history and we now hear people are trickling in slowly to see the sights of Moscow and Leningrad. China has opened up and is trying hard to catch up for the lost time. North Korea remain closed, although there are selected few lucky enough to get inside the country, but large scale tourism is still unknown.
Saudi Arabia is somewhere between the two extremes - there are countless umrah agents who at the drop of your hat would whisk you to the holy lands for the purposes of fulfilling the rites of the pilgrimages. You would be herded in a group and taken under escort to the two holy places, Medina and Makkah and nowhere else as the conditions of your visa strictly confine you to these cities. On the other hand the Arabian peninsula is a huge place with ancient histories and there are other areas one wishes to see and experience but unfortunately unlike other Middle Eastern countries which would grant a visitor a visa on arrival for a small fee, a visa need to be applied for before flying in and they are very selective in granting one, like no unchaperoned female is allowed and non Muslim are prohibited unless on business or working purpose.
I was therefore understandably excited when the umrah package I had booked for, included visits to two places that had never been seen by pilgrims from our country, that is, Al - Ula which is an ancient settlement is north of Medina and Taif a hill country east of Makkah, also full of historical background. It must be borne in mind that history in Saudi Arabia is treated differently compared to other countries. There is a plethora of archaeological sites dotting the country, but tragically the current authorities are trying their best to erase all the records as according to their belief, the only matters that counts in this life are the words of God and the Prophet. What before the prophet came was Jahiliah ( time of ignorance ) which is not worth preserving and what after was Bidaah ( unlawful innovations ) and should not be allowed to remain. With this simplistic view, when the Saud came to power after WW 1, all the man made structures that had existed and had been object of veneration such as tombs, mosques, dwellings and cemeteries were ordered to be leveled. Most of all they were hostile to tombs and graveyards. With a single swoop the famous Baqi' cemetery in Medina, where the wives of the prophet and his Sahabats were buried and Maala in Makkah the resting place of Khadija were transformed into empty lots with all the markings on the graves obliterated. The Saud have only been in power for less than 100 years, but already many aspects of Arabian history, thousands of years old, are now gone forever. In the name of the desire to return to the religion of Islam to its purest form, the old architecture of the desert is irrevocably displaced to make way for a stark and bleak landscape. Even today we are hear the Prophet's tomb in Medina is not to be spared in their grand plan of purifying the land from contamination of irreligious edifice which in their minds are but obstacles in the steep and thorny way to heaven.
When we started early in the morning from Madinah, a number of pilgrims from our group declined to board the bus. Surprisingly there were people who were not curious of discovering what the journey could offer, instead they were concerned that their stay in the holy city would not harvest enough credits for their use in the after life. Communal prayers and supplications in the Prophet's Mosque were promised with bonuses and extra points. "Rugi" they said while shaking their heads at us meaning not profitable, as though heavens were for those with astute business sense.
When we arrived at Al Ula, astride an ancient trade route from Southern Arabia to Syria, we were met by Muhammad, an Arab tourist guide who informed us in his quaint heavily accented English that the "bibel of Betra had berished brior to the bresent bobulation who came later". Substitute the "b" with the "p" and you will break the code to understand the sentence. Well on the comical side he reminded me of John Malkovich as Pascal Sauvage in Johnny English with his French accent. Surrounding the town we saw remnants of ancient dwellings and in the nearby oasis were date plantation which had been cultivated and had existed continuously for thousands of years.
We were bussed to the to an interesting geological site. Here we took photos of the red sandstone mountain carved by winds resulting in fantastic shapes, one resembled the head of an elephant and the place was called as such.
Next was the tombstones of Nabatean. The place was once inhabited by the people of the same name and they had left behind structures carved into the soft rocks which remain standing until today. It is a famous archaeological remains and had been given recognition as one of UNESCO's heritage site. It is also a place where God sent down destruction on the people of Thamud, as mentioned in the holy Koran for their cruelty to a female camel. The story is that after disobeying a prophet by ham stringing a camel, the whole community was punished by the earth shaking and crumbling leaving every one dead. Call it an over reaction by God, even how much the SPCA would have approved of it. Now we know that earthquakes are not caused by divine displeasures over man's actions but are just one of the many natural events that shape our earth and had preceded man and will remain in activity, long after man is gone.
We also had our ustaz on board with us who guided us with supplications on starting of a journey, on reaching a new place and also a commentary on the place from an Islamic history point of view. It was said the Prophet once stopped here on the way to battle in the north. He did not like the place very much and urged his followers to clear away as soon as possible, like there was evil harbinger enveloping the area. It was to be avoided although there was no clear reason to do so and since the Prophet had expressed his dislike we too were asked to do the same. But the evening air was refreshing, the sand felt cool in between my toes, the night sky was sparkling and the meals provided at the hotel was fantastic, that I could not hold any grudge against this poor town. I conclude that the story must had been apocryphal.
I was therefore understandably excited when the umrah package I had booked for, included visits to two places that had never been seen by pilgrims from our country, that is, Al - Ula which is an ancient settlement is north of Medina and Taif a hill country east of Makkah, also full of historical background. It must be borne in mind that history in Saudi Arabia is treated differently compared to other countries. There is a plethora of archaeological sites dotting the country, but tragically the current authorities are trying their best to erase all the records as according to their belief, the only matters that counts in this life are the words of God and the Prophet. What before the prophet came was Jahiliah ( time of ignorance ) which is not worth preserving and what after was Bidaah ( unlawful innovations ) and should not be allowed to remain. With this simplistic view, when the Saud came to power after WW 1, all the man made structures that had existed and had been object of veneration such as tombs, mosques, dwellings and cemeteries were ordered to be leveled. Most of all they were hostile to tombs and graveyards. With a single swoop the famous Baqi' cemetery in Medina, where the wives of the prophet and his Sahabats were buried and Maala in Makkah the resting place of Khadija were transformed into empty lots with all the markings on the graves obliterated. The Saud have only been in power for less than 100 years, but already many aspects of Arabian history, thousands of years old, are now gone forever. In the name of the desire to return to the religion of Islam to its purest form, the old architecture of the desert is irrevocably displaced to make way for a stark and bleak landscape. Even today we are hear the Prophet's tomb in Medina is not to be spared in their grand plan of purifying the land from contamination of irreligious edifice which in their minds are but obstacles in the steep and thorny way to heaven.
When we started early in the morning from Madinah, a number of pilgrims from our group declined to board the bus. Surprisingly there were people who were not curious of discovering what the journey could offer, instead they were concerned that their stay in the holy city would not harvest enough credits for their use in the after life. Communal prayers and supplications in the Prophet's Mosque were promised with bonuses and extra points. "Rugi" they said while shaking their heads at us meaning not profitable, as though heavens were for those with astute business sense.
When we arrived at Al Ula, astride an ancient trade route from Southern Arabia to Syria, we were met by Muhammad, an Arab tourist guide who informed us in his quaint heavily accented English that the "bibel of Betra had berished brior to the bresent bobulation who came later". Substitute the "b" with the "p" and you will break the code to understand the sentence. Well on the comical side he reminded me of John Malkovich as Pascal Sauvage in Johnny English with his French accent. Surrounding the town we saw remnants of ancient dwellings and in the nearby oasis were date plantation which had been cultivated and had existed continuously for thousands of years.
We were bussed to the to an interesting geological site. Here we took photos of the red sandstone mountain carved by winds resulting in fantastic shapes, one resembled the head of an elephant and the place was called as such.
Next was the tombstones of Nabatean. The place was once inhabited by the people of the same name and they had left behind structures carved into the soft rocks which remain standing until today. It is a famous archaeological remains and had been given recognition as one of UNESCO's heritage site. It is also a place where God sent down destruction on the people of Thamud, as mentioned in the holy Koran for their cruelty to a female camel. The story is that after disobeying a prophet by ham stringing a camel, the whole community was punished by the earth shaking and crumbling leaving every one dead. Call it an over reaction by God, even how much the SPCA would have approved of it. Now we know that earthquakes are not caused by divine displeasures over man's actions but are just one of the many natural events that shape our earth and had preceded man and will remain in activity, long after man is gone.
We also had our ustaz on board with us who guided us with supplications on starting of a journey, on reaching a new place and also a commentary on the place from an Islamic history point of view. It was said the Prophet once stopped here on the way to battle in the north. He did not like the place very much and urged his followers to clear away as soon as possible, like there was evil harbinger enveloping the area. It was to be avoided although there was no clear reason to do so and since the Prophet had expressed his dislike we too were asked to do the same. But the evening air was refreshing, the sand felt cool in between my toes, the night sky was sparkling and the meals provided at the hotel was fantastic, that I could not hold any grudge against this poor town. I conclude that the story must had been apocryphal.
Medina to Al Ula, about 400 km
View Medina in a larger map
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| On the way to Al Ula, volcanic rocks dominates.. |
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| ...which soon changes to red coloured softer sandstone |
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| Fantastic shape like an elephant head and trunk carved by wind |
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| The ancient date groves in the valley of the red mountain |
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| An ancient settlement which still survives and under rehabilitation. |
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| A swimming pool which is empty of water, the plan would have been made outside Arabia. Desert people are not natural swimmers due to the lack of a large body of water to swim , hence the apathy in the pool maintenance. |
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| The tomb of the Thamud people |
Taif
The first time I came across Taif was when reading the elementary Sirrah of the Prophet. It was a place the Prophet went to during his first part of the Dakwah ( before the Hegira to Medina ) to spread the words of Islam. He was not welcomed, in fact was chased and hounded by the inhabitants and during the flight to escape, he rested near an orchard and a slave boy by the name of Addas offered him fresh grapes to eat. Obviously there must had been vine yards in the vicinity to produce the fruits, although there are no more traces of them left today to be seen. It was proof that the place was fertile and well watered unlike the stony desert of Makkah and as such vineyards were able to thrive. Today there is not much orchards left although the climate is still agreeable as we found out when we encountered misty and cool weather when we first arrived after traveling for more than 100 km from the Holy City. Taif is in the highland and we had to climb through the brand new mountain highway to reach the place.
There was not much to see in Taif. Asides from the religious historical back ground there remained nothing worthwhile, except may be the museum where we were taken to for a short tour and a memorable Arabic style lunch. There were no old buildings to capture on cameras, no archaeological sites to explore, only newly built mosques to pray in and even that the toilets were unbearably stinking. A short stay was sufficient, if it was just to tell that we had been to any where outside Mekkah and after a three hour journey we were back in the hot lowlands. It had been an unsatisfactory trip as Taif was a strategic fort and a summer retreat of the Ottoman Turks when the empire was once in control of the holy sites of Mekah and Medinah before they were over thrown by the Sauds. I had expected to see some of their relics as I had seen in Istanbul, their capital, but there was none to see in Taif as they had all been demolished and eagerly forgotten.
Makkah to Taif, about 100 km
View Makkah - Taif in a larger map
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| Old Beetle in the museum |
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| Baboon frolicking in the sparse vegetation |
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| Stark landscape which is almost surreal |
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| One of the non religious attraction of Makah is the food, huge freshly baked rotis dipped in mutton curry with hairs and hooves of goats visibly swimming in the gravy |
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| Triplets, very cute and sadly abused for begging |
