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Published: November 20th 2022
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Riyadh
A final cup of cappuccino at the same coffee shop my mum and I started our trip The title sounds more dramatic than reality. But hey, there is nothing wrong with a catchy title, and a little dramatic license. That's what story telling is all about. And it isn't a lie. I am alone. After dropping my mum off at Riyadh airport, it was time to do some travelling solo. Because deep down inside I have missed being on my own, travelling around without anybody by my side. There is a part of me that likes the solitude. It has been three years since it was just me, myself and I on the road, and that's a long time for somebody like me.
In all honesty, I was slightly anxious about being on my own again, I wasn't sure how it would be, couldn't remember how it felt. But it was a healthy anxiousness. Travelling should make a person a little anxious. It's always slightly frightening and daunting to go out into the unknown by yourself, that at least is my experience. But I do it anyway, because I know it will be alright, and because if I don't, I will regret it. Just because my mind doesn't like leaving its comfort zone, doesn't mean I should
Riyadh to Al-Hofuf
Plans for a new suburb outside Riyadh give in to it! How boring life would be, if I didn't push myself to go out and explore. How small my world would become.
The trepidation was, as I knew it would be, at its worst before I said goodbye and headed out into new territory (for me) alone. Once my feet were set on the road, all my worries melted away like snow in the Arabian desert. I was too busy travelling to be anxious. I was arranging places to stay for myself, procuring bus or train tickets, talking to locals, walking in the hot sun to get to castles and souks, climbing hills for magnificent views, eating on carpets in small restaurants run by Pakistanis, Yemenis or Indians, who greeted me with perplexed amusement. I was enjoying my solitude too. Resting my mind in my own thoughts, watching the sun set without having to share it with anybody.
However the truth is, I never really travel alone, I carry with me, always and everywhere, the people I care about. Jenni is with me, my mother is with me, my brother and sister and my nephews and nieces, my friends, and my dad. They are around
me all the time, like a cloud of atoms circling their nucleus. And let's face it, with all the technological tools at our disposal these days, they literally are travelling along. I can talk to Jenni, and not only talk, but actually see her, every day, whenever I feel like it. I can share the pictures I take, instantly! With her and my family. If my mum has a problem at home, she can call me, wherever I am. The days of collect-call on a crackling line, and once a month letters and postcards home, are long gone.
So, I was on the road again and my first stop was Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia biggest oasis, but from ground level you wouldn't know it. A lot of the green you see on the satellite images, is behind walls. They clearly guard their date plantations jealously! Al-Hofuf's other claim to fame is Jebel Al-Qarah, a rocky outcrop that once was an island, when the rest of the land was still a shallow sea. During the ages, rain carved deep and narrow crevices into the hill. Strolling through those tight, maze-like spaces, towering walls hemming you in on all sides, with the
sky but a thin strip high above you, is quite something. The only thing that took away from the experience was that it had been overdeveloped, I thought it would be more natural. Still, it was beautiful, and through cracks in the main trail, you could look into a world that wasn't suffused in artificial light, and where sand lay on the bottom and not a concrete path. From the top of the hill, it was finally possible to see the size of the oasis. Green surrounds it on all sides. Quite a sight in the desert. For a more atmospheric experience I went to Qaisariah souk, a renovated old-school souk with arches and small shops. This is still Saudi Arabia though, so the stores are all air-conditioned.
From Al-Hofuf I took a train to Dammam, a city on the Persian, pardon, the Arabian Gulf, as they call it here. It's nothing special, but it has a nice corniche. Wandering back to my hotel one evening, I stumbled upon a group of men in traditional clothing, with swords and flags and drums, who started to dance and sing. I wasn't sure what it was for. A wedding perhaps. Though
Riyadh to Al-Hofuf
Different sort of dunes I saw no bride and no groom. I knew that this experience was as interesting as it would get in Dammam. It was time to move on.
Dammam is as far east as I ventured on this trip, from there I headed north and west, along the Iraqi border, which sounds more exciting then it is. The reality was a long, straight bus ride, through the night, to a town called Arar, and then down south a bit to my final destination Dumat al Jandal. With me were mostly Egyptians and Pakistanis. The most thrilling part of the journey was waking up to rain. Somewhere during the night it had started pouring. I wondered if the bus drivers knew how to drive in rain. Did they know the phenomenon called aquaplaning? Whoosh I heard as the bus drove through big puddles of water. Yet it stayed its course. I guess they knew what they were doing, so I dosed off again, waking up to a chilly, fog shrouded world. Big dark patches under my eyes, disheveled hair. My fellow passengers didn't look much better.
By the time we reached Dumat al Jandal, the mist had evaporated and the
Riyadh to Al-Hofuf
Sunset as I arrive in Al-Hofuf temperature had risen. It was still cool, but not chilly anymore. I said goodbye to my fellow passengers, who had another five hour ride ahead of them. My body, however, was determined to ride with them for those five hours. As I lay in bed in my room, the rhythmic motion of the bus lingered on. I fell asleep still swaying to the ride, taking me all the way to its end destination of Tabuk.
Dumat al Jandal is an oasis. Obviously! Any town out in the desert that wants to survive, is situated at some sort of water source. It was also on the pilgrims route to Mekkah from Baghdad, and for this reason it is more than just another settlement around an oasis. Finally it was on the trade routes and strategically located. All this meant that it was endowed with a sizeable fortress (impressively located on a rocky perch), a beautiful mosque and a bustling town, filled with covered souks, wells, and rest-houses for the weary, all enclosed by walls, which in turn were surrounded by date palm plantations.
The old town has been abandoned, the walls are crumbling, as is the fort, but it
Al-Hofuf
Date plantations behind walls is being restored. For now I had the place to myself, as I have had all the sights in this country. As I sat on the walls of the fort, looking down at the old broken houses and the leaning minaret of the ancient mosque a feeling of privilege washed over me. Here I was, sitting at the edge of the world, a cool breeze in my face, not a soul in sight, enjoying this amazing scene displayed below me. For a short moment it was just me and the universe, silent, alone with my thoughts, we touched each other briefly...
'Salaam!' somebody cries from far below, and the world snaps back into focus.
It's a local, waving at me. I wave back. Time to explore the crumbling maze of the old town. Not long after I am invited in for coffee and dates by the security guard. It's not the same man who called to me from below. The security guard informs me the castle is closed, he's very sorry about this.
'Strange,' I reply, 'I was just up there, the gates were open and nobody stopped me.'
He laughs at that. He had seen
Al-Hofuf
Khuzam Palace me up there, but hadn't stopped me. 'As long as nobody else sees you! Because otherwise the others will ask, why is he allowed in, and we not?'
Lucky me! Arabian hospitality at work again. Or white privilege. Either way, I'll take it.
So, alone in the Arabian desert? Sometimes, but never for long!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Anxiety...
Even after many years of travel, I still experience anxiety before a trip. But as with you, once I am on my way I leave it behind.