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فتيات اكبر موقع وتطبيق نسائي في الخليج والوطن العربي يغطي كافة المجالات و المواضيع النسائية مثل الازياء وصفات الطبخ و الديكور و انظمة الحمية و الدايت و المكياج و العناية بالشعر والبشرة وكل ما يتعلق بصحة المرأة.
التعليقات (3)
عزيزتي ..
مشكورة مادري وش أقولك لكن الله يجعلك من كل ضيق مخرج ومن كل هم فرج ..
تحياتي لك ..
مشكورة مادري وش أقولك لكن الله يجعلك من كل ضيق مخرج ومن كل هم فرج ..
تحياتي لك ..
اختي انا لقيت لك موضوع موجود بعالم حواء ونقلته لك وهو للاخت دلوعه زوجها
السياحة في المملكة العربية السعودية
Tourism in Saudi Arabia
The Central Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia includes the capital, Riyadh, and a number of other important towns, north and west of the capital, such as Buraidah, Unaizah and Ha'il.
This is the heartland of the country, and in Arabic is known as Najd. It is also the most traditional and, in general, the most religiously conservative region of the country.
Outside Riyadh, in the towns and villages of the Najd, westerners are not as common as they are in the east or in Jeddah and are therefore objects of interest. Also in the Najd is the town of Buraidah which is the only place in Saudi Arabia where even foreign women are required to be veiled.
Though Riyadh is the capital of the country, it has only in the past few years that it has become the real centre of the Kingdom's government. Technically Riyadh was always the capital but until the early 1980s, the ministries, embassies and virtually everything else were in Jeddah. They have now been moved to Riyadh and the embassies are all located in an area known as the Diplomatic Quarter.
As a matter of fact, until the embassies moved to Riyadh, the only airline allowed to fly into the city was Saudia. All that has now changed with many international carriers serving Riyadh as well as Jeddah and Dhahran.
Riyadh has predictably undergone a major transformation since the discovery of oil. In 1932 the city was only 8.5 square kilometres in area, but by 1994 it had expanded to over 1600 square kilometres. As a matter of fact, very little of what you see in Riyadh today is older than 50 years and a great deal is less than 20.
Riyadh (which is the plural of an Arabic word meaning garden) enjoys a winter climate that is cool and pleasant with moderate temperatures. Rain is not unusual in the winter, nor are sandstorms. Summer is dry and hot, but without the uncomfortable humidity of Jeddah or Dhahran.
It is important to note that permits for visits to all archaeological sites and forts in the country, except for those located in the Eastern province, are obtained at the Riyadh Museum. The exceptions to this rule are Dir'aiyah (pictured) -- the oasis town which is the ancestral home of the Al-Saud and which was restored in the early 1980s, some 30km from the capital's centre) and the Najran Fort. Permits are issued at no charge upon production of your passport or residence permit (iqama).
Things to see in Riyadh
Riyadh Museum --
Open Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm. Admission is free.
In the Ethnographic Hall is a large model of the Masmakh Fortress, which is central to the history of modern Saudi Arabia. This was the fort in Riyadh that Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in January 1902, thus returning the Al-Saud to a position of power in their homeland. (They had spent the previous 10 years in exile in Kuwait.)
Besides the model of the fort, the display includes carved and painted doors from Qaseem, the area north of Riyadh, and Qateef, a town which was once a major port on the Gulf. There are also clothes, musical instruments, weapons, traditional cooking utensils, woven bags and some jewelry.
The main hall is well organized with signs in both Arabic and English. The periods covered range from the Stone Age to early Islamic times. In one room, there is an interesting display of Islamic architecture.
Masmakh Fortress
The fort (pictured), built of dried mud, is open Saturday to Wednesday from 7.30am to 1.30pm. A permit is required which can be obtained from the museum.
This is the fortress which Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in 1902 and which begins the history of present-day Saudi Arabia. There is a well-restored traditional majlis on the ground floor. The courtyard contains a well, which is still functional. The courtyard is surrounded by six painted doors, which open into empty rooms. On the upper level, there are amazingly carved walls and three columns which support the wooden roof.
Murabba Palace
Built by King Abdul Aziz in 1946 as a home and seat of government, this combination palace/fortress is open from Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm.
King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies
Normally there is an exhibit on some aspect of Islamic art or culture. There is also a permanent exhibition on the treatment and preservation of old books and manuscripts.
King Saud University Museum
Open from Saturday to Wednesday in the mornings. To visit it, an appointment must first be made through the university's public relations office . Usually, a day is required to arrange a visit for a small group.
Displayed in the museum are objects from the university's archaeological excavations at Al-Fao and Rabdhah. The former is on the edge of the Empty Quarter (the vast sandy desert in the Kingdom's southeastern corner) and was a pre-Islamic city between 300BC and AD300. The latter is about 100km east of Madinah and was a station on the pilgrimage road linking Makkah and Madinah to Persia and Iraq.
Outside Riyadh is the historic area of Diriya, the capital of the first Saudi state dating from the 18th century. This area has also been restored and opened to tourists.
An annual cultural festival is held at Janadriya, called the Janadriyah Festival. It is organized by the National Guard and takes place at a special site some 45km outside Riyadh. It includes traditional dancing, camel races, lectures and poetry readings as well as traditional arts and crafts shows. It normally lasts about two weeks and takes place in the winter when the weather is cooler, usually in February.
Bordering the Arabian Gulf and containing the towns of Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Dammam, Qateef, Hafuf and Jubail, the Eastern Province is where oil was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s.
Before the discovery of oil, Dammam and Al-Khobar were tiny fishing and pearling villages. There was no Dhahran at all.
Dammam is the administrative centre of the province and one end of the Dammam-Riyadh railway. Trains leave daily for Riyadh at 7.30am and 4pm. The journey takes between four and five hours and the train passes through Abqaiq and Hafuf, the main town in the Al-Ahasa oasis.
Al-Khobar is more western in orientation than Dammam. The first recorded settlement was in 1923 and, because of its location next to the early ARAMCO camp, it grew rapidly. In the earliest days of oil shipment from the Kingdom, oil moved from a pier at Al-Khobar to Bahrain, where it was processed. Today, Al-Khobar is at one end of the King Fahad Causeway, a 25km feat of modern engineering that links the Kingdom to the island of Bahrain.
Dhahran is the town that ARAMCO built. The city consists of the ARAMCO compound, the airport (soon to be moved to a spectacular new site some 60km north), the US Consulate and the King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Some 13km north of Dammam is the town of Qateef; it was first settled about 3500BC and for centuries was the main town and port in this area of the Gulf. In fact, some early ****pean maps label the present-day Arabian Gulf as the "Sea of Elqateef". Qatif and the nearby island of Tarut are historically some of the most interesting sites in the Kingdom.
About 90km north of Dammam is the town of Jubail (pictured). Until the mid-1970s it was a small fishing village but it then became one of the Kingdom's two newly created industrial cities. The other one is Yanbu on the Red Sea Coast. The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of smaller companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval Base.
Near Jubail are the ruins of what was unearthed in the mid-1980s by a group of people attempting to dig their vehicle out of the sand. The ruins are known as the Jubail Church and are acknowledged by the Saudi bureaucracy who will not issue permits to visit it because "the site is being excavated." In any case, the ruins originally contained four stone crosses, which later went missing though the marks where the crosses were are still visible. The ruins are thought to date from the 4th century, which make them older than any known church in ****pe. Not much else is known but speculation is that it was in some way connected to one of the five Nestorian bishoprics which are known to have existed in this area of the Gulf in the 4th century.
The town of Hafuf is the centre of the Al-Ahasa oasis which is one of the largest in the world. Until about a century ago, most of the dates in ****pe came from here and the area remains one of the world's largest producers of dates.
Hafuf itself contains an old fort and one of the most interesting souks in the Kingdom. Because of the enormity of the oasis and the number of picturesque villages scattered through it, a leisurely drive through the greenery is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon.
Other things to see in the Eastern Province
Both Dammam and Al-Khobar have an impressive Corniche along the Gulf.
The development at Half Moon Bay on the Gulf is a beautiful tourist and recreational attraction.
The towns of Qateef and the islands of Tarut and Darin near Dammam may be the point of a morning excursion. Both have been inhabited for thousands of years and both have old forts.
The oasis of Al-Ahasa with its springs and streams is one of the greenest and most delightful places in the Kingdom. It is well worth a day trip by car during which one drives slowly through the villages and the area.
The Thursday morning market in Hafuf, the main town of Al-Ahasa, is particularly interesting both for its traditional crafts and for the general feeling of an old marketplace.
As far as non-Muslims are concerned, Jeddah is the most important city of Saudi Arabia's western region, known as the Hijaz.
Jeddah is by far the most cosmopolitan city in the Kingdom, hardly surprising when you realize it has been the main port for Makkah since early Islamic times. Indeed, until well into the twentieth century thousands of pilgrims arrived at Jeddah seaport annually as the first step on their trip to Makkah and Madinah.
The Hijaz came under nominal Turkish control in the 16th century, though local rulers kept a great deal of power and influence. The first foreign consuls arrived in Jeddah in the first half of the nineteenth century. King Abdul Aziz and his troops took control of the city in 1925 and afterwards, foreign representatives to his court lived in Jeddah rather than Riyadh. The embassies remained in Jeddah until the mid-1980s when they were all transferred to the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh. Nonetheless, there are still a large number of foreign consulates in Jeddah as the city retains its importance as the commercial capital of the Kingdom and it is, of course, the main port of entry for the millions of pilgrims who visit the Holy Cities each year.
Most of Jeddah's historic sites are along the old city walls, which were demolished, in the late 1940s. The old city (pictured) is now a protected urban area in which buildings cannot be torn down unless they are absolutely beyond repair and, if they are torn down, they must be replaced with something of similar size and architectural style. Within the old city, many of the traditional houses are built of coral, taken from reefs in the Red Sea.
Within the old city, there is the Sharbatly House and the Naseef House. These are two old houses, the traditional homes of two of Jeddah's merchant families and both have been restored to their original state.
The Municipality Museum is opposite the National Commercial Bank headquarters in the old city. It is the only remaining building of several which comprised the British Legation in Jeddah during World War I. The museum is open in the mornings from Saturday to Thursday; admission is free but a permit from the Jeddah Municipality is required (telephone: +966 2 669-5556 or 660-7671). Once the permit has been granted, it is still necessary to make an appointment with the curator of the museum.
There is a Christian cemetery in Jeddah in a street in the old city named the "Street of the Cemetery of the Foreigners". It is no longer in use and the last burial had taken place in the early 1950's, but is kept up in turn by several of the foreign consulates in the city. It is walled and there is a large gate, but can be peered into from some of the buildings surrounding it.
Al-Balad district of Jeddah is a historic area. Houses have been reconstructed as they were 100 years ago and it is an interesting area to walk through and observe. These houses, which have been restored and are open to tourists, belong to various old Jeddah families.
About 70km east of Jeddah is the Holy City of Makkah where the Prophet was born in the 6th century AD. He began to preach in Makkah and it was to Makkah that he returned shortly before his death in AD632. Makkah and its environs are strictly off-limits to non-Muslims and there are checkpoints on the roads leading into the city.
Makkah is Islam's holiest city and it is to Makkah that all devout Muslims dream of coming at least once (the hajj) in their lifetime. The centre of the city is the Grand Mosque and the sacred Well of Zamzam beside it. The Kaa'ba to which all Muslims turn when they pray is in the central courtyard of the Grand Mosque and, according to Islamic tradition, it was built by the first prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael.
In the mountains above Makkah and Jeddah is the town of Taif. Its elevation gives it a climate far cooler and pleasanter than either Jeddah or Makkah and without the uncomfortable humidity of the former. Many families from both Jeddah and Riyadh maintain houses in Taif as an escape from the uncomfortable summers in those two cities.
Taif became a part of modern Saudi Arabia in 1924 when the soldiers of King Abdul Aziz took the city. Most recently, Taif was the seat of Kuwait's government-in-exile during the Iraqi occupation of that country in 1990-91. It is also well-known as a producer of high quality attar-of-roses from its roses, which have a particularly sweet fragrance.
There is a museum in the city in the Shubra Palace, open only on Thursday from 9am to 7pm.
Madinah is the holiest city in Islam after Makkah and was in fact the first to accept the Prophet's message. The Prophet fled to the city, then called Yathrib, from Makkah in AD622. (The Islamic calendar dates from His flight to Madinah.) The most important place in the city is the Prophet's Mosque, which contains His burial place. Everything of historical or religious significance is within the precincts forbidden to non-Muslims, although the outskirts of the city and the airport are open to all.
Located several hundred kilometres north of Madinah is the ancient -- and now uninhabited -- city of Madain Salih (pictured). It is the best known and the most spectacular archaeological site in Saudi Arabia. During its prime, it was an important stop on the caravan routes from the incense-producing areas of southern Arabia to Syria, Egypt, Byzantium and other points. The immense stone tombs, which have made it famous, were carved between 100BC and 100AD and the city itself was the second city in the Nabataean Empire, after Petra in modern-day Jordan.
The ruins at Madain Salih are in fact better preserved than those at Petra in Jordan, because of the hardness of the local stone. The Nabataeans became rich through their control of the incense route and their charging caravans tolls of up to 25%. They entered a decline in the first century AD when the Romans realized that the incense could be loaded onto ships and taken to Egypt. Less expensive items continued to move along the route and it was never totally abandoned. In Islamic times, the pilgrim route from Damascus to Makkah passed through Madain Salih.
For those who want to visit Madain Salih, a great deal of bureaucratic bother and hassle can be avoided by booking a tour through the Madinah Sheraton. Both the hotel and the airport are on the outskirts of the city and so are open to non-Muslims.
The hotel's tour is a weekend one -- covering arrival at the hotel on Wednesday evening with a slide presentation. The trip to Madain Salih with a guide begins on the Thursday at 6.30am, and returns to the hotel in the evening. Friday is a free day and the price of around SR700 or SR750 includes the trip to the site, two nights at the hotel, all meals from dinner on Wednesday evening to lunch on Friday and airport transfers.
Normally the hotel needs three weeks to arrange the tour, which is for groups of 10 or more and which only operate when there are enough people.
To anyone standing on its shore and gazing out across its dazzling waters, the Red Sea may seem to be a misnomer. Anything less red cannot be imagined; its blueness is palpable, indisputable and infinite. Yet this is the name which seems to predominate over those it has borne in the past; the Sea of Hejaz, the Arabian Gulf, the Coral Sea or, less romantically, Tanker Alley.
Poets among us who extol the scarlet beauty of the setting sun as it dips below the watery horizon, will feel no further need to justify the aptness of its name, but scientists take more convincing. They will doubtless tell you of the red coral on the famous reef, or the planktonic algae, which leave a dull red tidal scum at the edge of the water. So -- is it to be coral, scum or sunsets? Take your pick.
Oil tankers, cargo vessels, passenger liners and fishing boats all ply their trade across the surface of this great waterway, but for many, the true fascination of the Red Sea is hidden just below its surface. Here lies the diver's paradise; one of the world's most impressive reefs, containing more than 200 species of multi-coloured coral.
For enthusiasts in Jeddah, dive shops abound. Equipment may be bought or hired, and most shops offer courses with qualified diving instructors. These courses range from elementary tuition for beginners to recreational dives for the more experienced. Several of Jeddah's large hotels offer weekend diving packages and some have their own private, man-made beaches with dive shops and easy access to the reef.
Snorkeling is a popular way to view the edge of the reef, especially for those with limited confidence in their swimming ability. However, most divers will tell you that there is nothing to beat the thrill of experiencing the depth of the reef and the teeming marine life to be found there. Sharks, manta rays, turtles and eels will take pieces of bread from your hand, and brilliantly coloured schools of fish teem all around, in bewildering variety. Such is the lure of the reef that many novice divers become totally 'hooked' and cannot imagine why they have never joined in the fun before.
The arts of boat-building and navigation have a proud, centuries-long tradition in the Red Sea region. Sadly, however, ancient boat-building skills are lapsing into obscurity, with the advent of outboard motors and fibreglass hulls. The beauty of the houri, the sambuk and the dhow, carved without the use of plans by the craftsman's unerring eye -- all are rapidly vanishing and may even now belong to the past.
Fishing, however, is an art that still preserves time-honoured methods, mostly due to the difficulties imposed by the dangers of the reef. The hook-and-line method of fishing has been in use for more than four thousand years and is still going strong. Conservation of certain species of fish and the dangers of over-fishing are both important issues for the Saudi Arabian government -- as a result, the total catch is respectable, though not excessive. The Kingdom's fishermen land a total of 8,000 metric tons of fish per annum, which, although eight times as much as the Sudan, is less than half Egypt's total catch.
In addition to its marine life, the water of the Red Sea is also a vital commodity. The city of Jeddah is totally dependent on it for household and industrial supplies, and enormous desalination plants are in operation. These supply drinking water, which has been purified to a high standard, as well as non-potable domestic water. Seawater is also used in large quantities by oil refineries and cement works situated along the coastline.
The danger of pollution is always present in the Red Sea, particularly from oil spillage, and a Royal Decree forbids the discharge of any pollutant substances, including oil, within 100 miles of the Saudi Arabian coastline.
For swimmers, divers, traders, industrialists, fishermen and tourists, the Red Sea has its own kind of perfection. And even the idle gazer, pondering the impenetrable blue/red anomaly, can be said to have been given something to think about .
والله يوفقك
السياحة في المملكة العربية السعودية
Tourism in Saudi Arabia
The Central Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia includes the capital, Riyadh, and a number of other important towns, north and west of the capital, such as Buraidah, Unaizah and Ha'il.
This is the heartland of the country, and in Arabic is known as Najd. It is also the most traditional and, in general, the most religiously conservative region of the country.
Outside Riyadh, in the towns and villages of the Najd, westerners are not as common as they are in the east or in Jeddah and are therefore objects of interest. Also in the Najd is the town of Buraidah which is the only place in Saudi Arabia where even foreign women are required to be veiled.
Though Riyadh is the capital of the country, it has only in the past few years that it has become the real centre of the Kingdom's government. Technically Riyadh was always the capital but until the early 1980s, the ministries, embassies and virtually everything else were in Jeddah. They have now been moved to Riyadh and the embassies are all located in an area known as the Diplomatic Quarter.
As a matter of fact, until the embassies moved to Riyadh, the only airline allowed to fly into the city was Saudia. All that has now changed with many international carriers serving Riyadh as well as Jeddah and Dhahran.
Riyadh has predictably undergone a major transformation since the discovery of oil. In 1932 the city was only 8.5 square kilometres in area, but by 1994 it had expanded to over 1600 square kilometres. As a matter of fact, very little of what you see in Riyadh today is older than 50 years and a great deal is less than 20.
Riyadh (which is the plural of an Arabic word meaning garden) enjoys a winter climate that is cool and pleasant with moderate temperatures. Rain is not unusual in the winter, nor are sandstorms. Summer is dry and hot, but without the uncomfortable humidity of Jeddah or Dhahran.
It is important to note that permits for visits to all archaeological sites and forts in the country, except for those located in the Eastern province, are obtained at the Riyadh Museum. The exceptions to this rule are Dir'aiyah (pictured) -- the oasis town which is the ancestral home of the Al-Saud and which was restored in the early 1980s, some 30km from the capital's centre) and the Najran Fort. Permits are issued at no charge upon production of your passport or residence permit (iqama).
Things to see in Riyadh
Riyadh Museum --
Open Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm. Admission is free.
In the Ethnographic Hall is a large model of the Masmakh Fortress, which is central to the history of modern Saudi Arabia. This was the fort in Riyadh that Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in January 1902, thus returning the Al-Saud to a position of power in their homeland. (They had spent the previous 10 years in exile in Kuwait.)
Besides the model of the fort, the display includes carved and painted doors from Qaseem, the area north of Riyadh, and Qateef, a town which was once a major port on the Gulf. There are also clothes, musical instruments, weapons, traditional cooking utensils, woven bags and some jewelry.
The main hall is well organized with signs in both Arabic and English. The periods covered range from the Stone Age to early Islamic times. In one room, there is an interesting display of Islamic architecture.
Masmakh Fortress
The fort (pictured), built of dried mud, is open Saturday to Wednesday from 7.30am to 1.30pm. A permit is required which can be obtained from the museum.
This is the fortress which Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in 1902 and which begins the history of present-day Saudi Arabia. There is a well-restored traditional majlis on the ground floor. The courtyard contains a well, which is still functional. The courtyard is surrounded by six painted doors, which open into empty rooms. On the upper level, there are amazingly carved walls and three columns which support the wooden roof.
Murabba Palace
Built by King Abdul Aziz in 1946 as a home and seat of government, this combination palace/fortress is open from Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm.
King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies
Normally there is an exhibit on some aspect of Islamic art or culture. There is also a permanent exhibition on the treatment and preservation of old books and manuscripts.
King Saud University Museum
Open from Saturday to Wednesday in the mornings. To visit it, an appointment must first be made through the university's public relations office . Usually, a day is required to arrange a visit for a small group.
Displayed in the museum are objects from the university's archaeological excavations at Al-Fao and Rabdhah. The former is on the edge of the Empty Quarter (the vast sandy desert in the Kingdom's southeastern corner) and was a pre-Islamic city between 300BC and AD300. The latter is about 100km east of Madinah and was a station on the pilgrimage road linking Makkah and Madinah to Persia and Iraq.
Outside Riyadh is the historic area of Diriya, the capital of the first Saudi state dating from the 18th century. This area has also been restored and opened to tourists.
An annual cultural festival is held at Janadriya, called the Janadriyah Festival. It is organized by the National Guard and takes place at a special site some 45km outside Riyadh. It includes traditional dancing, camel races, lectures and poetry readings as well as traditional arts and crafts shows. It normally lasts about two weeks and takes place in the winter when the weather is cooler, usually in February.
Bordering the Arabian Gulf and containing the towns of Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Dammam, Qateef, Hafuf and Jubail, the Eastern Province is where oil was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s.
Before the discovery of oil, Dammam and Al-Khobar were tiny fishing and pearling villages. There was no Dhahran at all.
Dammam is the administrative centre of the province and one end of the Dammam-Riyadh railway. Trains leave daily for Riyadh at 7.30am and 4pm. The journey takes between four and five hours and the train passes through Abqaiq and Hafuf, the main town in the Al-Ahasa oasis.
Al-Khobar is more western in orientation than Dammam. The first recorded settlement was in 1923 and, because of its location next to the early ARAMCO camp, it grew rapidly. In the earliest days of oil shipment from the Kingdom, oil moved from a pier at Al-Khobar to Bahrain, where it was processed. Today, Al-Khobar is at one end of the King Fahad Causeway, a 25km feat of modern engineering that links the Kingdom to the island of Bahrain.
Dhahran is the town that ARAMCO built. The city consists of the ARAMCO compound, the airport (soon to be moved to a spectacular new site some 60km north), the US Consulate and the King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Some 13km north of Dammam is the town of Qateef; it was first settled about 3500BC and for centuries was the main town and port in this area of the Gulf. In fact, some early ****pean maps label the present-day Arabian Gulf as the "Sea of Elqateef". Qatif and the nearby island of Tarut are historically some of the most interesting sites in the Kingdom.
About 90km north of Dammam is the town of Jubail (pictured). Until the mid-1970s it was a small fishing village but it then became one of the Kingdom's two newly created industrial cities. The other one is Yanbu on the Red Sea Coast. The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of smaller companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval Base.
Near Jubail are the ruins of what was unearthed in the mid-1980s by a group of people attempting to dig their vehicle out of the sand. The ruins are known as the Jubail Church and are acknowledged by the Saudi bureaucracy who will not issue permits to visit it because "the site is being excavated." In any case, the ruins originally contained four stone crosses, which later went missing though the marks where the crosses were are still visible. The ruins are thought to date from the 4th century, which make them older than any known church in ****pe. Not much else is known but speculation is that it was in some way connected to one of the five Nestorian bishoprics which are known to have existed in this area of the Gulf in the 4th century.
The town of Hafuf is the centre of the Al-Ahasa oasis which is one of the largest in the world. Until about a century ago, most of the dates in ****pe came from here and the area remains one of the world's largest producers of dates.
Hafuf itself contains an old fort and one of the most interesting souks in the Kingdom. Because of the enormity of the oasis and the number of picturesque villages scattered through it, a leisurely drive through the greenery is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon.
Other things to see in the Eastern Province
Both Dammam and Al-Khobar have an impressive Corniche along the Gulf.
The development at Half Moon Bay on the Gulf is a beautiful tourist and recreational attraction.
The towns of Qateef and the islands of Tarut and Darin near Dammam may be the point of a morning excursion. Both have been inhabited for thousands of years and both have old forts.
The oasis of Al-Ahasa with its springs and streams is one of the greenest and most delightful places in the Kingdom. It is well worth a day trip by car during which one drives slowly through the villages and the area.
The Thursday morning market in Hafuf, the main town of Al-Ahasa, is particularly interesting both for its traditional crafts and for the general feeling of an old marketplace.
As far as non-Muslims are concerned, Jeddah is the most important city of Saudi Arabia's western region, known as the Hijaz.
Jeddah is by far the most cosmopolitan city in the Kingdom, hardly surprising when you realize it has been the main port for Makkah since early Islamic times. Indeed, until well into the twentieth century thousands of pilgrims arrived at Jeddah seaport annually as the first step on their trip to Makkah and Madinah.
The Hijaz came under nominal Turkish control in the 16th century, though local rulers kept a great deal of power and influence. The first foreign consuls arrived in Jeddah in the first half of the nineteenth century. King Abdul Aziz and his troops took control of the city in 1925 and afterwards, foreign representatives to his court lived in Jeddah rather than Riyadh. The embassies remained in Jeddah until the mid-1980s when they were all transferred to the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh. Nonetheless, there are still a large number of foreign consulates in Jeddah as the city retains its importance as the commercial capital of the Kingdom and it is, of course, the main port of entry for the millions of pilgrims who visit the Holy Cities each year.
Most of Jeddah's historic sites are along the old city walls, which were demolished, in the late 1940s. The old city (pictured) is now a protected urban area in which buildings cannot be torn down unless they are absolutely beyond repair and, if they are torn down, they must be replaced with something of similar size and architectural style. Within the old city, many of the traditional houses are built of coral, taken from reefs in the Red Sea.
Within the old city, there is the Sharbatly House and the Naseef House. These are two old houses, the traditional homes of two of Jeddah's merchant families and both have been restored to their original state.
The Municipality Museum is opposite the National Commercial Bank headquarters in the old city. It is the only remaining building of several which comprised the British Legation in Jeddah during World War I. The museum is open in the mornings from Saturday to Thursday; admission is free but a permit from the Jeddah Municipality is required (telephone: +966 2 669-5556 or 660-7671). Once the permit has been granted, it is still necessary to make an appointment with the curator of the museum.
There is a Christian cemetery in Jeddah in a street in the old city named the "Street of the Cemetery of the Foreigners". It is no longer in use and the last burial had taken place in the early 1950's, but is kept up in turn by several of the foreign consulates in the city. It is walled and there is a large gate, but can be peered into from some of the buildings surrounding it.
Al-Balad district of Jeddah is a historic area. Houses have been reconstructed as they were 100 years ago and it is an interesting area to walk through and observe. These houses, which have been restored and are open to tourists, belong to various old Jeddah families.
About 70km east of Jeddah is the Holy City of Makkah where the Prophet was born in the 6th century AD. He began to preach in Makkah and it was to Makkah that he returned shortly before his death in AD632. Makkah and its environs are strictly off-limits to non-Muslims and there are checkpoints on the roads leading into the city.
Makkah is Islam's holiest city and it is to Makkah that all devout Muslims dream of coming at least once (the hajj) in their lifetime. The centre of the city is the Grand Mosque and the sacred Well of Zamzam beside it. The Kaa'ba to which all Muslims turn when they pray is in the central courtyard of the Grand Mosque and, according to Islamic tradition, it was built by the first prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael.
In the mountains above Makkah and Jeddah is the town of Taif. Its elevation gives it a climate far cooler and pleasanter than either Jeddah or Makkah and without the uncomfortable humidity of the former. Many families from both Jeddah and Riyadh maintain houses in Taif as an escape from the uncomfortable summers in those two cities.
Taif became a part of modern Saudi Arabia in 1924 when the soldiers of King Abdul Aziz took the city. Most recently, Taif was the seat of Kuwait's government-in-exile during the Iraqi occupation of that country in 1990-91. It is also well-known as a producer of high quality attar-of-roses from its roses, which have a particularly sweet fragrance.
There is a museum in the city in the Shubra Palace, open only on Thursday from 9am to 7pm.
Madinah is the holiest city in Islam after Makkah and was in fact the first to accept the Prophet's message. The Prophet fled to the city, then called Yathrib, from Makkah in AD622. (The Islamic calendar dates from His flight to Madinah.) The most important place in the city is the Prophet's Mosque, which contains His burial place. Everything of historical or religious significance is within the precincts forbidden to non-Muslims, although the outskirts of the city and the airport are open to all.
Located several hundred kilometres north of Madinah is the ancient -- and now uninhabited -- city of Madain Salih (pictured). It is the best known and the most spectacular archaeological site in Saudi Arabia. During its prime, it was an important stop on the caravan routes from the incense-producing areas of southern Arabia to Syria, Egypt, Byzantium and other points. The immense stone tombs, which have made it famous, were carved between 100BC and 100AD and the city itself was the second city in the Nabataean Empire, after Petra in modern-day Jordan.
The ruins at Madain Salih are in fact better preserved than those at Petra in Jordan, because of the hardness of the local stone. The Nabataeans became rich through their control of the incense route and their charging caravans tolls of up to 25%. They entered a decline in the first century AD when the Romans realized that the incense could be loaded onto ships and taken to Egypt. Less expensive items continued to move along the route and it was never totally abandoned. In Islamic times, the pilgrim route from Damascus to Makkah passed through Madain Salih.
For those who want to visit Madain Salih, a great deal of bureaucratic bother and hassle can be avoided by booking a tour through the Madinah Sheraton. Both the hotel and the airport are on the outskirts of the city and so are open to non-Muslims.
The hotel's tour is a weekend one -- covering arrival at the hotel on Wednesday evening with a slide presentation. The trip to Madain Salih with a guide begins on the Thursday at 6.30am, and returns to the hotel in the evening. Friday is a free day and the price of around SR700 or SR750 includes the trip to the site, two nights at the hotel, all meals from dinner on Wednesday evening to lunch on Friday and airport transfers.
Normally the hotel needs three weeks to arrange the tour, which is for groups of 10 or more and which only operate when there are enough people.
To anyone standing on its shore and gazing out across its dazzling waters, the Red Sea may seem to be a misnomer. Anything less red cannot be imagined; its blueness is palpable, indisputable and infinite. Yet this is the name which seems to predominate over those it has borne in the past; the Sea of Hejaz, the Arabian Gulf, the Coral Sea or, less romantically, Tanker Alley.
Poets among us who extol the scarlet beauty of the setting sun as it dips below the watery horizon, will feel no further need to justify the aptness of its name, but scientists take more convincing. They will doubtless tell you of the red coral on the famous reef, or the planktonic algae, which leave a dull red tidal scum at the edge of the water. So -- is it to be coral, scum or sunsets? Take your pick.
Oil tankers, cargo vessels, passenger liners and fishing boats all ply their trade across the surface of this great waterway, but for many, the true fascination of the Red Sea is hidden just below its surface. Here lies the diver's paradise; one of the world's most impressive reefs, containing more than 200 species of multi-coloured coral.
For enthusiasts in Jeddah, dive shops abound. Equipment may be bought or hired, and most shops offer courses with qualified diving instructors. These courses range from elementary tuition for beginners to recreational dives for the more experienced. Several of Jeddah's large hotels offer weekend diving packages and some have their own private, man-made beaches with dive shops and easy access to the reef.
Snorkeling is a popular way to view the edge of the reef, especially for those with limited confidence in their swimming ability. However, most divers will tell you that there is nothing to beat the thrill of experiencing the depth of the reef and the teeming marine life to be found there. Sharks, manta rays, turtles and eels will take pieces of bread from your hand, and brilliantly coloured schools of fish teem all around, in bewildering variety. Such is the lure of the reef that many novice divers become totally 'hooked' and cannot imagine why they have never joined in the fun before.
The arts of boat-building and navigation have a proud, centuries-long tradition in the Red Sea region. Sadly, however, ancient boat-building skills are lapsing into obscurity, with the advent of outboard motors and fibreglass hulls. The beauty of the houri, the sambuk and the dhow, carved without the use of plans by the craftsman's unerring eye -- all are rapidly vanishing and may even now belong to the past.
Fishing, however, is an art that still preserves time-honoured methods, mostly due to the difficulties imposed by the dangers of the reef. The hook-and-line method of fishing has been in use for more than four thousand years and is still going strong. Conservation of certain species of fish and the dangers of over-fishing are both important issues for the Saudi Arabian government -- as a result, the total catch is respectable, though not excessive. The Kingdom's fishermen land a total of 8,000 metric tons of fish per annum, which, although eight times as much as the Sudan, is less than half Egypt's total catch.
In addition to its marine life, the water of the Red Sea is also a vital commodity. The city of Jeddah is totally dependent on it for household and industrial supplies, and enormous desalination plants are in operation. These supply drinking water, which has been purified to a high standard, as well as non-potable domestic water. Seawater is also used in large quantities by oil refineries and cement works situated along the coastline.
The danger of pollution is always present in the Red Sea, particularly from oil spillage, and a Royal Decree forbids the discharge of any pollutant substances, including oil, within 100 miles of the Saudi Arabian coastline.
For swimmers, divers, traders, industrialists, fishermen and tourists, the Red Sea has its own kind of perfection. And even the idle gazer, pondering the impenetrable blue/red anomaly, can be said to have been given something to think about .
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