My mother has visited us a total of seven times in Saudi-Arabia. We’ve visited many mostly unknown beautiful places in Saudi Arabia together and met many amazing people. During her visits in KSA, we’ve done the following to desert trips: Raghbah tower, Edge of the World, Maraat, Shagraa, Red Sand Dunes, Lake Kharrarah, Rawdhat Khuraim and Riyadh River (Wadi Hanifa)! We also took a weekend trip to Jeddah for some diving and beach time. The highlight of her visits was our legendary Saudi road trip of over 3000km from Riyadh to al Kharj, Hota Bani Tamim, Wadi Al Dawasir, Abha, Jazan, Sabya, Farasan Islands, Najran, Empty Quarter..and back to Riyadh!
Here are some highlights of one of her visits in images..jpg)
This is from a weekend in Saudi when it had rained and we found a small lake in the middle of the desert. She walked around in the lovely red sand dunes after having explored the old mud village of Raghba where she got to climb the watch tower for beautiful views.
At her first desert “Hash walk” in the desert, mom climbed the red sand dune just like all her younger counterparts. Climbing up this thing is not easy folks! Going down is fun though and we saw many different styles such as running like mad, jumping and even cart wheels!
In Abha region we stopped to buy honey from this local salesman. Mom ended up buying a huge canister of that honey which was from Yemen and tasted like heaven! Go to this post for more on tourism in Abha and Asir region: Top 10 Things to do in and around Abha.
A souvenir shop we found on our roadtrip. Mom bought replicas of houses of the Najran region. She was delighted to find the exact same ones to add to her collection that she bought on our trip to Yemen a few years back. This is one of the best souvenir shops I’ve been to in the Kingdom.
On Farasan Islands mom was in her element. She swam whenever she got the chance. The water was warm and lovely and there was no one else around. It was pure bliss and my daughter enjoyed those lazy days on the beach and in the water as warm as a bath tub!
We spent one night sleeping on a deserted beach on Farasan Island. It was amazing.
We had so much fun at the women’s souq in Najran. Here mom is trying on Bedouin niqabs.
The magnificent Empty Quarter, Rub al-Khali was simply breath-taking and we agreed to return there one day for an overnight camping trip!
Miss you, mom!
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Hello there! I’m Laura, the founder of Blue Abaya- the first travel blog in Saudi Arabia, established in 2010. Travel has always been my passion- so far I’ve visited 75 countries and I’m always on the lookout for new adventures inside and outside of Saudi Arabia! Follow my adventures in Saudi and beyond on instagram: instagram.com/blueabaya
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looks beautiful<3
Awesome pictures as always. The size of your guest room…. unfair! :)
Deema- Thanks!
Seikku- Nice to see your comment pitkasta aikaa!Ya we have big apartments here in Saudi :)
This was so wonderful. :) My parents are so scared of Saudi Arabia, masha’Allah you are so lucky to have a mother that can appreciate the beauty in different cultures and ways of life.
Awesome post..Moms are so much more powerful than they realize. How they are feeling on a particular day can have significant effects on the entire family. A Mom can and does influence so many things in her environment. And that can affect how she feels, and in turn how the other family members feel.
After seeing your house.. I want to move to Saudi!!! That kind of room is reserved for castles here in Scotland.
Nikki-thank you :)Show them how my mom loved it maybe they will change their minds!
Hamlin-thanks for the comment and welcome to my blog! You are absolutely right with your observations. The mother is the core and soul of the family :)
Explore-LOL do they also have bars on the windows ;)
What a lovely post. My mother didn’t get the opportunity to visit me when I lived in Saudi but I’d like to think that she would have embraced it as much as your mother did…after all – us adventurous girls must take after some one, and who would that be if not our mothers? :)
You’re right it must come from somewhere :)In my case it has to be both parents!
Looks great! Especially sleeping in the desert! weren’t you afraid of the small animals (like snakes and scorpions)?
And I would soooooooo want to climb that red sand dune too! I love climbing, exercise- like long distance walks, challenging myself.
Alice-I was REALLY freaked out about all the creepy creepers and I sprayed some mosquito repellent all over my mattress (as if that helped)
We woke up full of bites from some crawlers eww!
[…] to read more about my amazing mom and her adventures in the “Magical Kingdom” go here: Mom in the Magic Kingdom. We walked around the ruins of the Ragba village and even climbed the watch tower. Which was […]
Nice clicks!!!
In some pics you didn’t wear Abaya to cover your body. Is it allowed on those places which you showed to us? If yes let me know my wife will love to hear this ;)
Yes some places in KSA are areas were it would be OK to remove abaya,for example Farasan islands, when you venture out further to the deserted areas there’s nobody else around so it’s OK.
Owais; check out this post:
Sans Abaya in Saudi
http://www.blueabaya.com/2011/10/sans-abaya-in-saudi.html
all the places you can go without abaya in Riyadh, and in Saudi in general.