Any Travels

For centuries Arabia has appealed to travelers all over the world, inspired by travel reports and of course the tales of 1001 nights and the romanticism. Today's Saudi Arabia is still a land of mystery largely due to its fundamentalist Islam state form and its rigid admission policy. Saudi Arabia is incredibly difficult to visit, there's no tourist visa in this country. Best way to get in is by invitation of a Saudi person or company, or, if you're a Muslim, on a pilgrimage to one of the holy cities. Of course, don't even bother if you are Jewish. Jews are forbidden in Saudi Arabia. Don't bring your bible either, they will shred it at customs for you. This is an absolute monarchy ruled under Sharia. Hands are amputated for theft. Adultery is punishable by public execution.

About half of Saudi Arabia consists of uninhabitable desert. Here there are no permanent rivers and lakes and the average temperature in July is about 40° C. These unfriendly circumstances have deeply influenced the Arab way of life. Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East. The Saudi Arabian state was first established in the central region of the Arabian Peninsula in the early 18th Century, but king Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud founded the present day state only in 1932.

Saudi Arabia is a fairly rich country, due to its vast oilfields, but this wealth is not evenly divided. The royal family effectively owns the country. There is minimal political freedom and little tolerance for opposition groups.

The country's capital is Riyadh, situated in the very interior of the country, 300 km from the Persian Gulf. It's a modern oil booming city with lots of high rising buildings. Most interesting cities are the holy cities of Mecca and Medina . Mecca is the most holy city in Islam. The city is revered from being the first place created on earth, as well as the place where Ibrahim together with his son Isma'il, built the Ka'ba, a rectangular building made of bricks. Around the Ka'ba is the great mosque, al-Haram. Medina, once called Yathrib, was chosen as the new headquarter when the Muslim community had to flee from Mecca in 622. This city of the Prophet is also the place were Muhammad died in 632.

Both cities are strictly off limits to non-muslims. The non-muslim architect of a Mecca Hotel had to supervise construction through a telescope. Nearby Jeddah the major Red Sea port of the country can be visited and gives a unique insight in the culture and history of the West of Saudi Arabia.

The whole of the Middle East is tilted, so the southwest of Saudi Arabia has mountains as high as 3000 meters while the east has lowlands. The mountain area is the greenest and freshest climate especially compared to the deserts in the east. Extensive irrigation projects now gradualy transform these deserts into farmland, yielding dates and grains.

Places of Interest:

Mecca
Mecca is the holiest of cities to Islam: it was the place of birth of the Prophet Muhammed, it is where you find the Grand Mosque with the Kaaba and the well of Zamzam. All muslims dream of performing the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. The city came into existance when Hagar the mother of Ishmail was casted in the uncultivated valley by Abraham.

Mecca is not a tourist destination; almost all visitors come for religious reasons - to perform the the hajj or umrah pilgrimage. So for more info we would like to point visitors to Al Hajj webiste.

Mecca is off limits to non-muslims. There are check-points on the roads leading into the city. If a non-muslem is caught in the city. It theory this crime is punishable by death.

Medina
Medina is located in the Hejaz in the West of Saudi Arabia, some 200 km north of Mecca and close to the harbour town of Yanbo. Medina is the second holiest city of Islam, after Mecca but before Jerusalem. The name literaly means just city, but actually stands for the City of the Prophet. When Muhammad left Mecca, the Hijra, he was invited by the citizens of Medina to become their leader. From here Islam started its succesful spread over the world.

Medina is not a city for tourists. It's a holy place and most of the foreign visitors come here on a pilgrimage, either the Hajj or the Umra. Strictly speaking a stop in Medina is not necessary but many of the pilgrims like to pay a visit to the tomb of the prophet while they are in Saudi Arabia. The city is strictly forbidden to non-muslims. Therefore it doesn't make sense to treat Medina like a tourist detination. We will go into the main 'attractions' but these are primarily pilgrims attractions.

The main place pilgrims head for is the tomb of the prophet. It is located in what is known as The Mosque of the Prophet. The green domed complex of the mosque is huge and incredibly ornate. The Qiblatayn Mosque where Muhammad decreed that prayer should be directed toward Mecca, rather than Jerusalem is another attracion as is the Mosque of the tomb of Fatima.

Baqi is the cemetery in Medina. It houses the family, grandchildren and over twenty thousand companions of the Prophet Muhammad as well as many great Scholars and residents of Medina. It is said to be the largest cemetery in the world.

Riyadh
Although Riyadh has officially been the capital of Saudi Arabia since 1932, it played second fiddle to Jeddah until the 1970s. Built with oil boom money, Riyadh is now a technoasis of glass, steel and concrete, home to huge hotels, even larger hospitals and one of the biggest airports in the world.

The centre of Riyadh is called Al-Bathaa and is the oldest part of the city, home to the bus station and other things a traveller needs. If the city gets dull, head to the camel market for a fun out of town adventure. It's a fascinating place to wander around (despite the smell).

Jeddah
Hyperbolically known as the Paris of Arabia, Jeddah is one of the few cities in the region to have built around, rather than over, its history. Although it's definitely a modern metropolis, Jeddah is also the most interesting and friendly of Saudi Arabia's big cities.

Located in a 200-year-old restored house built from Red Sea coral, the Municipality Museum has interesting photos of the development of Jeddah, along with traditional style rooms. The Jeddah Museum, the regional museum of archaeology and ethnography, covers the same turf as the Riyadh Museum.