Friday afternoons in the Kingdom are similar to the lazy Sunday afternoons in the States. Everyone knows that work and school begin again the following day so the afternoon prior to the beginning of the week is a good day to have fun. The weather in Riyadh is quite cool now but at the same time that makes it an ideal opportunity to go and explore the desert. We started our sojourn about an hour after the Friday prayers had finished and we were not alone on the roads. It seems like most residents decided to go out for a stroll.
We began by heading North towards the Thamamah area which leads one directly into the desert. After driving due North for about 25 minutes we veered off the main road to get away from the majority of the traffic. Friday afternoon will allow one the opportunity to see the best and worst of Riyadh drivers!
We chose a route that was quite interesting. It took us past where King Abdullah has his farms and we saw the imposing gate and the wall which was also bordered by tall healthy date trees. All one could really tell in going past this farm is that it was huge! Due to the wall, one could not see much beyond it at all. At the same time, the desert was free and open on the opposite side and many families had chosen to set up afternoon picnics or in some cases, a desert camp.
The desert camps are a site to see. They can be comprised of beduion style tents and/or a trailer which somewhat resembles a mobile home. We saw some fine camps with trailers which had the Saudi crest proudly displayed on both sides. Some camps were modest with either one tent or one trailer while others were quite large comprised of 5-6 large tents and just as many trailers. A number of these camps also had satellite dishes hooked up to either the tent or the trailer. These camps differ from an estrahah in that they are open to view with no walls around them. My husband also pointed out to me how families will make ad hoc markers so friends and families know how to find their camp. The markers can be comprised of painted tires or painted rocks which help distinguish the different camps from one another – especially at night. It is not unusual for many families to spend weekends out in the open desert at their camp when the weather changes from the searing heat of summer to the cool of the winter.
Our route also took us past Al Adriyah which is a magnificent palace/town/castle/estate owned by the youngest son of Prince Fahad. While not open to the public, it is another popular area where families like to set up picnics and enjoy the afternoon. Just past Al Adriyah was an area with large rolling sand dunes. We stopped our car and watched young men, boys and families driving and racing their SUV’s over and up and down the sand dunes. It was entertaining to see when a vehicle could not make it up the steep sand dunes and would go rolling down the sand dune in reverse in what appeared to be a breathtaking speed. And when a vehicle had difficulty making it up the sand dune, sometimes the vehicle would roll sideways and you’d expect to just roll right on over but it never did. Again, I learned from my knowledgeable spouse that this is a favored pastime.
From Al Adriyah we continued to explore through the desert. We drove through the village of Ban Ban. There was not much to see but it was nice for me to see a village out of nowhere in the desert and with such an unusual name. Eventually we ended up near the King Abdulaziz Humanitarian City which is known for its good works and charitable health care.
http://www.humanitariancity.org.sa
All in all we drove through the desert for about a three hour period just taking our time and enjoying the day as did many of the residents of Riyadh. And in closing, of course we passed many camels of all shapes and covers during our drive. In addition to the camels, I also saw close and personal the Nej’d Sheep (Haroof Nejdi) of Riyadh. These are unusual black and white sheep with long fur. At first glance they look like goats but when you look more closely you can see they are not a goat but not a typical sheep either. Again, according to my wise husband, these sheep are indigenous to Nej’d, hence the name Nej’d Sheep (Haroof Nejdi).
Filed under: culture, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel, Uncategorized
Assalaamu alaykum Carol!
Sounds like a lovely way to spend your Friday afternoon. I was wondering, do you prefer to stay overnight in the desert in an estrahan or camping – is it cold at night? I do enjoy camping for maybe one or two nights (if no shower/toilet facilities) but in the desert I would be afraid for scorpions or those mega-sized desert spiders…have you had any encounters?
sorry, my bad..it’s estrahah not estrahan
Salam Alaikum Aliyah,
To date, we have stayed overnight while in an estrahah but I do hope we get to experience a weekend in the open desert as well. However one does have to take precautions for safety if choosing to be in the wide open desert.
It sounds really good; so was it just a round trip then? do people leave their tents/trailers during the week? A trailer can be easily moved, I suppose, but a large tent? What sort of precautions would you take? Lots of big dogs?
I’d love to camp out in the desert, but I’m fobic for spiders, so what’s this about mega-sized spiders?
The sheep sound really interesting, do you have a larger picture? There is one island in England where there are sheep that haven’t changed since the bronze-age. These sheep are also almost half goats, they are supposed to be the most ancient sheep-breed still in existence. You might have a good contender for this title with the Nej’d sheep!
Hi Aafke,
Most individuals who set up a large camp will leave it up for weeks or months. They will usually have one or more individuals who have been hired as guards to stay and protect the camp. It would be unlikely for their to be big dogs around as there remains overall a phobia about animals and especially dogs. (that’s improving but very very slowly).
Thankfully I have never seen any of these ‘mega-sized’ spiders so many ask about…only mega-sized cockroaches at some of the farms.
I wish I had a larger photo of the nejdi haroof. They are indeed quite interesting. And it is funny you mention the resemblence to goats for when we first passed them, I commented to my husband “look at that large herd of goats” and he corrected me and told me about the nejdi haroof.
And yes, our trip was a round trip where we started out one way and came back a differing way. It was a nice relaxing way to spend a lazy Friday afternoon.
I have no problems with cockroaches.
And I was joking about the dogs. Although I have seen a documentary about the breeding of Salukis in different arab countries. And the differences between tribes, for example, black dogs are generally not well liked, but one tribe specialised in breeding black salukis.
The salukis are an incredible dog; I’d love to have one!
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