The Road to Ha'il Saudi Arabia

Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Ha'il
March 4th 2022

Published: March 20th 2022

After all those years of travel, there we were......on a highway to Ha'il. It was inevitable of course. Not because we lived a lifestyle that would lead us to the fiery depths of Hades, but rather because we were continuing our journey in Saudi and the path was straight to a city in the middle of nowhere really. In a country as large as Saudi Arabia the drives are long from town to town. This part... Read Full Entry

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Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

D MJ Binkley

Photographers, divers, writers, foodies, chefs and music enthusiasts. Travelers' Century Club Members: 12/2023. MJ 107 and Dave 104. We appreciate your feedback and if you like our stories we would appreciate it if you follow our blog. We live on North Hutchinson Island, Florida. If you are in Florida please send us a private message as we would love to meet you. Two retired nurses who are passionate about traveling the world. Our love of travel, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures will hopefully take us to wonderful plac... full info

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20th March 2022

Alistair & Gill Campbell
non-member comment

Dates!
Really enjoyed your blog. Just planted one of the dates we brought back, hoping to establish Somerset as the UK date capital!! Not sure we're up for 10 varieties though!

20th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Dates!
I'm glad you are enjoying it and thank you for commenting. Dates, dates and more dates. I hope you have success with your planting.

21st March 2022

Carolyn
non-member comment

Amazing
You write very well. Makes me feel like I am there. Love the adventure.

21st March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Amazing!
Carolyn, thank you for reading along. Saudi Arabia was a great experience. Many of our beliefs about that country were changed.

23rd March 2022

DaveandIssy
Dave and Issy Sheehan

“A While”
So “a while” is from the late 1930s to 2018. Hmmm. I’m a bit surprised that women were allowed to get behind the wheel in Saudi in the 1930s; do you know what happened to stop it? Again your trip sounds sensational! It’s probably a silly question but I assume if you want to go to Saudi you’ve got to go on a tour, ie you wouldn’t be able to show yourself around?

23rd March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

A While
Good point. I believe depending on who the King or Crown Prince were at the time and how conservative they were makes the difference. The newest Crown Prince seems progressive.... especially for Saudi standards. No, you do not have to go on our tour but we thought it would be best for us. We have friends who went on their own two weeks after us and had a great time. They saw many of the things we saw. They rented a car for the desert areas and used uber and the train.

23rd March 2022

Waddads Travel
Lori & Susan

Pictographs
Your photos of the pictographs reminded me of similar ones we saw in Wadi Rum. Looks like you all had fun in the sand! And what an amazing variety of dates - they look so good. I didn't know there were dips for dates.

24th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Pictographs
These were very similar to what we saw in Wadi Rum. Yes, lots of fun in the sand. So many dates and so little time.

12th April 2022

Readingfcboi
Alan Atkinson

Lovely photo
Lovely photo of you both

12th April 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Lovely photo
Thanks Alan!

17th April 2022

alex waring
Alexander Waring

Highway to Ha'il
Sounds like a scary road, lol, but very glad to read that Ha'il seemed heavenly, with all its history, friendly people and dates galore! I imagine there are no statues of people in Saudi for the same reason as there are no human images in mosques - the Muslim belief that human images should avoid being created. I believe it may be because they could mistakenly be idolised or worshipped, which is considered a great sin in Islam.

17th April 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Highway to Ha'il
Saudi will never run out of dates. Your point is well taken. They are single focused on worship so no images or statues. Thanks for following along.

1st June 2022

RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew

Dates!
I love dates and I love the Arabic tradition of welcoming guests with dates. I hope their culture of kind hospitality isn't tested when the tourists start arriving in droves; and wouldn't it be lovely if they never succumb to selling tourist crap at their markets?

1st June 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Dates!
I don't hold out much hope that they won't figure out the commercial side of tourism quickly. They are smart people. I hope you will go soon and see it in the raw. The dates and hospitality were excellent!

16th June 2022

Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro

I also love the dates
When I travelled in Oman and in Yemen I was also greeted with a large plate of dates when I arrived somewhere. I like that tradition and the dates are usually very tasty. /Ake

17th June 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

I also love the dates
It is a lovely tradition and yes we found them to be good. Sometimes they offered dipping sauces. We brought dates home with us.

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The Road to Ha'il Saudi Arabia

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