Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East, situated between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Ninety five percent of this country is considered a desert or We began to feel the enormity of the country as we left Jeddah via the Haramain high speed train heading to the Holy City of Medina.
Once we were out of the Jeddah city limits there were miles and miles of barren land. Saudi Arabia has no rivers of lakes. All water is from under the ground or by desalination. Shades of tan, brown, gray and rust dotted the landscape. When one first enters the desert, it looks rather bland and blends into all one color. The longer time you spend in this muted landscape it slowly alive. In the landscape you begin to notice a wide range of colors and take notice of small bushes, rocks and intermittent buildings along the way.
As the train gains a speed of 300 km, we begin to think about Mecca and Medina the two Holy Cities of Saudi Arabia. We wont visit Mecca on this trip. It isnt against the law to go to Mecca but there are restrictions
on what a can see. We want to get the most out of our time here, so we head north to Medina the second Holiest City of Saudi Arabia. Our intent is to experience as much of the culture and religion as we can.
We mentioned that when we arrived in Saudi it was necessary to download the Tawakkalna app. If you visit you will need your phone available with this app to show your immunity status before entering hotels, restaurants and museums.
Medina is a city of 1.5 million residents but it didnt seem that large to us. Our first stop was the Dar Al Medina Museum which is a rustic museum focused on the Muslim religion. They had created multiple models depicting different moments in history and religious stories which the guide shared. As we moved around the museum, the guide described each model. This is where we began to gain an understand of the Prophet Mohammad, their sacred scripture of the Quran and the devotion of the Muslim people. Later in reading we learned the five pillars of Islam include the belief in God and his Prophet along with the obligations of prayer, charity,
pilgrimage and fasting. Certainly, you can imagine this is a simplification but gives you a quick overview.
Wild Frontiers has done a great job providing us unique dining experiences. Today we stopped at AL Ossia bird sanctuary. As we entered the sanctuary, they had an outdoor seating area and darling baby goats were roaming free, so we took a few photos of their adorable faces. At the sanctuary, they have created a lovely aviary where a few birds are in cages but most fly free. We were given small packets of seed to put in the palm of our hands to feed the birds. We all got photos of ourselves feeding the birds. This shows they are beginning to get a handle on tourism. Our lunch was prepared and served at a banquet table on the upper floor of the bird sanctuary where we could continue to look down on the birds. We were surrounded by nature. They brought platters of rice, chicken, stewed vegetables, and rice with goat. Ut oh yep, we think we just ate those cute baby goats we saw on our way in. Yikes! Oh well. When in Saudi.
Mosque which was the first mosque in Medina. If youve been in a mosque you know a lot of the beauty is on the outside. Inside they have tall ceilings and carpets on the floor but they are wide open spaces for prayer and rather plain. There is beauty in the simplicity. Although we saw a couple in Morocco that were stunning and more ornate on the inside. The women in the group were instructed to enter on the right side of the building and the men went in the left. Our guides Saad and Daniele instructed everyone to meet in the courtyard once we gained entrance. On the womens side the gate to the courtyard was locked. We wandered taking photos of the architecture and then decided to enter the prayer room. We showed our app at the door and left our shoes and cameras outside.
