A Mid-Summer Journey, Al Ula – Day 1

A pleasant surprise

(Al Ula – Day 1) Once upon a time…… I was bored because my exams just ended and I had nothing to do except eat, exercise sleep and repeat, but I was unaware of the exciting adventure to come. My dad had planned a road trip with its true purpose being; leaving Saudi Arabia to cross Jordan’s border and reenter KSA to renew our visit visa which has a condition that its holder must leave the country once every 3 months and so we packed our stuff to got ready for an adventure.

Leaving for the Journey

I personally was more thrilled than anyone for this Mid-summer Journey because I had received my first ever camera just a week ago and I wanted to take some gorgeous pictures with it. We left at 9 am in the morning of Friday the 24^th of June and first decided to get some breakfast from Al-Baik, a popular fast-food chain in Saudi Arabia, and then left for our first destination, The Northern City of Tabuk. After 3 and a half hours on the road, we stopped at a petrol station with a mosque and prayed Jumu’ah (Friday prayer).

After praying we left for the road again while snacking on some biscuits and croissants. We crossed the city of Medina and headed for a detour from the city of Al Ula and then to Tabuk. Constantly driving for hours between the rocky yet gorgeous mountains of the desert we reached Al Ula right before sunset to witness its historical mountain range and structures built into them.

The City of Al Ula

Al Ula (previously known as the Nabataean city of Hegra in al ula region ) is said to be the city in which Prophet Saleh (AS) was sent to teach the message of Islam to its citizens (the people of Thamud) who were known as great craftsmen for crafting houses and structures by carving mountainous terrain in an era in which it felt impossible to do so! Heck it even feels impossible nowadays with all the technological advancements we humans have achieved. It is said that when the people of Thamud denied the message of Islam, a catastrophe was bestowed upon them and they were wiped out in one night.

Quite a scary and terrifying story, I know. But the pinkish-red sunset rays gleamed on the glorious mountain structures, banishing the gloomy mood and elevating the sight into something out of this world, something……. Ethereal! We passed by the old half-destroyed town of the people of Thamud where their corpses were supposedly left to rot and be engulfed by the harsh desert.

The Elephant Rocks

Then stopped at a wonder of a landmark at the northern border of the city known as the famous “Elephant Rocks” at the northern borders of Al Ula, structures of rock that resemble an elephant standing and stayed there to rest for few minutes to stare at these monumental structures in Awe.

Dusk time arrived and we had to leave for our main destination of the day, the city of Tabuk which was still 4 hours away. Driving after dusk was a scary sight for there were no street lights on a deteriorating road that was leading us from between high mountain ranges with no sign of life anywhere near us for almost half the journey.

The Ethereal Milky Way

It was as dark as the center of a black hole but thanks to this reason I was able to witness a glorious sight of the milky way from the car window and me being a science nerd, I was just overwhelmed with joy and excitement that I had forgotten all about the road trip.Well, after a long haul we finally reached Tabuk at 1 am in the midnight, got some shawarma to fill our empty and growling stomachs and then checked into our hotel room to have some rest to then tour around the city of Tabuk in the afternoon.