Trip to where?? In the northwest part of Saudi Arabia is a World Heritage Site, Mad'in Saleh (lots of ways to spell this, and more ways to pronounce it - the closest I can get is "medeheen sally"). It was the Southern end of the Nabatean empire, of which Petra was the capital. Many months ago I saw an announcement for a tour, and having been to Petra while in high school, I very much wished to see this historic site.
It was a busy weekend about a month ago. I had to leave my hotel in Dhahran at 0330 to catch a flight to Madinah, then we took a bus north for 3.5 hours to the small town of Al Ula, where we also spent the night. There were about 40 of us on the tour, all expats working in KSA from all over the world - Brazil, Australia, Ireland, Portugal, and the U.S. It was a pretty good group!
We stopped first at a place called Elephant Rocks - can't image where they got such a silly name - because it was on the way into town where we had lunch. This structure is fantastic, and I'm guessing around 150 feet tall. Pretty good appetizer for the rest of the trip!
Mad'in Saleh, like Petra, is known for structures carved from stone. I mean as in pick a mountain and carve away everything that doesn't look like a temple facade! They started at the top and carved away til they reached the bottom. Stunning workmanship, too - these were plumb and square and level, and the detail was amazing. All carved out, with hammer and chisel,
before the time of Christ.
And these were not homes - these are tombs and monuments to honor a family or king. They all face into a circular area, and the residents built homes of stone in that space. I guess you could say they were family oriented. The image below is one of my favorites from the trip - can anyone guess what this is? Send me your guess in a comment and I'll announce the winners in my next post (which will cover day 2 of the weekend!)
We spent the afternoon at Mad'in Saleh, then late afternoon at a spot nearby - more on that in the next post. And don't worry, it wasn't too hot. I think it stayed in the low 100s, so it was very comfortable. I only really felt hot one time at about noon of the second day. Here is a group shot at the main monument at Mad'in Saleh.
And one more for all my adoring fans:
If you've read this far, thank you! I have a treat as a reward! I have too many beautiful images to share, and can't share enough to do justice to the amazing places I've seen, so I am going to try something new. I had forgotten that Dana and I have a subscription to a great service for making videos, but decided to make one with my favorites from this trip. I'm not sure if this will work or not, but please click on the image below and let me know what you think! If this works well, I'll go back and maybe make some more of these - after writing about the rest of this trip. Best to all, Mark
#Mada'in Saleh #Saudi Arabia #desert photos
It was a busy weekend about a month ago. I had to leave my hotel in Dhahran at 0330 to catch a flight to Madinah, then we took a bus north for 3.5 hours to the small town of Al Ula, where we also spent the night. There were about 40 of us on the tour, all expats working in KSA from all over the world - Brazil, Australia, Ireland, Portugal, and the U.S. It was a pretty good group!
We stopped first at a place called Elephant Rocks - can't image where they got such a silly name - because it was on the way into town where we had lunch. This structure is fantastic, and I'm guessing around 150 feet tall. Pretty good appetizer for the rest of the trip!
Mad'in Saleh, like Petra, is known for structures carved from stone. I mean as in pick a mountain and carve away everything that doesn't look like a temple facade! They started at the top and carved away til they reached the bottom. Stunning workmanship, too - these were plumb and square and level, and the detail was amazing. All carved out, with hammer and chisel,
before the time of Christ.
And these were not homes - these are tombs and monuments to honor a family or king. They all face into a circular area, and the residents built homes of stone in that space. I guess you could say they were family oriented. The image below is one of my favorites from the trip - can anyone guess what this is? Send me your guess in a comment and I'll announce the winners in my next post (which will cover day 2 of the weekend!)
We spent the afternoon at Mad'in Saleh, then late afternoon at a spot nearby - more on that in the next post. And don't worry, it wasn't too hot. I think it stayed in the low 100s, so it was very comfortable. I only really felt hot one time at about noon of the second day. Here is a group shot at the main monument at Mad'in Saleh.
And one more for all my adoring fans:
If you've read this far, thank you! I have a treat as a reward! I have too many beautiful images to share, and can't share enough to do justice to the amazing places I've seen, so I am going to try something new. I had forgotten that Dana and I have a subscription to a great service for making videos, but decided to make one with my favorites from this trip. I'm not sure if this will work or not, but please click on the image below and let me know what you think! If this works well, I'll go back and maybe make some more of these - after writing about the rest of this trip. Best to all, Mark
#Mada'in Saleh #Saudi Arabia #desert photos
The video link worked for me - love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm guessing the circles in the sand are from some kind of plate that was set down during a meal break... Either that or desert 'crop' circles!
cool pics, I would guess the solar system for the circles.
ReplyDeleteThe video was great. I enjoyed it. I like picture videos.
ReplyDelete