An expat’s weekend getaway to Najran

By MARY ANN SHUBAILY

Najran?” my friends asked me. “Yes. Why is that so funny?” I wanted to know.

I felt they were all laughing about my friend and I going on about our trip to this ancient sleepy town in Saudi Arabia, but I didn’t care. They could laugh all they wanted. I was looking forward to a wonderful weekend adventure with other expats from here in the Kingdom.

My husband has never been interested in traveling within the Kingdom, so I was especially thrilled that the Historical Society welcomed us ‘single’ ladies to join them on their adventure.

We stayed in one of the local hotels and traveled by bus with a police escort.  It seemed unnecessary as I never felt that we were in any danger at any time on the trip. In fact, the locals seemed to treat us with more respect because of the fact that we were all foreigners. They seemed very interested in our reactions to the different sights as we explored their town. 

Najran is located about a half hour north of Yemen by car, 10 hours by camel — as our tour guide jokingly told us — or about 30 hours on foot.

On the first morning, our tour guide took us to an old uninhabited villa.  The owner and his young daughter were there to show us around the house and explain the use of many of the rooms.  Apparently, the elder adults are given quarters higher up in the house as they age.  As one tends to get more immobile with old age, I found this quite interesting and opposite of what we would expect. But then I saw the view. Najran is breathtakingly beautiful and rich in greenery. Their unique custom suddenly made sense.

A wonderful surprise treat by our tour guide came in the form of traditional drummers.  I had only seen them play a few times in person in the 30 years that I have lived in Saudi Arabia, but never as close as I did that day.  It was very exciting to take part in the thrilling cultural experience. The music was accompanied by the beautiful imagery of a traditionally dressed Saudi, brewing Arabic coffee over a hot charcoal fire. 

From there, we went to the Emirate Palace Ruins. The Emirate Palace was a much larger palace than I had expected.  Compared to the palaces in Europe, this one was massive. The huge outside gate, which is reminiscent of something out of the “Wizard of Oz”, had a very small door, which would have allowed people to walk through while keeping the interior secure. Once inside the palace, we saw many of the different rooms, including one for slaughtering sheep and other animals.

The following day, we went to the Najran Dam. Along the way to the dam, we traveled through two fairly long tunnels and over many hills. It was a great change from the flat plains of Jeddah. The dam had no water in it at the time, but it was nonetheless a stunning architectural sight.

After leaving the dam, we stopped at one of the many date palm oasis, which was full of tall trees reaching high into the sky. There were bats sleeping in the trees and before we departed, they woke up and began flying about. This added a bit of entertainment to those of us trying to film them.

We then visited the Museum of Najran. I was truly amazed that it contained so many artifacts as well as information on the stone carvings and old pottery jars. We toured behind the museum and saw some of these carvings first hand. We also walked through an area called Okdood, which is an ancient burial ground where many people in the area were laid to rest many years ago. 

We also got a chance to stroll around King Fahd Park. It was a relaxing break and we were able to enjoy the views of the trees. But just a warning-don’t sit in the grass without a mat. My friend found herself covered in grass burs. It took a few of us at least 20 minutes to get them off her abaya.

Just when we thought that the trip to the park was over, we had one more pleasant surprise... an ice cream truck! Along with the local families, who were also picnicking and enjoying the weather, we sat and devoured our treats. They were so friendly and waved us farewell as we left.

After a short break back at the hotel, a few of us visited the local Najran Market, which was within walking distance. It was filled with lots of handmade traditional baskets, daggers, and miniature typical Najran homes to take back as souvenirs with us.

It was really an amazing weekend trip. The local people in town were very charming and polite.  I never dreamed that traveling around the Kingdom could be so much fun and so interesting. Traveling with newly arrived expats made the trip so much more enjoyable as my friend and I explained to the group the typical life of an expat married to a Saudi.  We explained to the group how the Kingdom had changed over the past 30 to 40 years.

I truly believe that tourism in the Kingdom should be developed in order to foster a better understanding of this region of the world, its culture and its religion.

Comments

RAYHANAH

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Its nice to hear news like this specially for a woman like me who enjoys travelling. I just hope tours like this could be made accessible to the public not only to the members of the Historical Society. Kudos for informing the public of the many beautiful places here in Saudi.

RAYHANAH

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Its nice to hear news like this specially for a woman like me who enjoys travelling. It would be nice if tours like this can be made accessible to the public not only to members of the historical society. Kudos!

ANDY ANDREOU

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EXCELLENT, I visited Najran and lived there for a short time in 1962. I lived a total of forty years in Saudi Arabia, travelled all over the beutiful country,and today I follow events through your newspaper daily.I keep buying a newspaper in Arabic, simply to keep in touch with the language and events in a country that I consider my second country. Best wishes for the future.
Ou' salam aleikoum oua rahmat Illah, our barakatou

NICK HARVE

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go to Bahrain and enjoy yourself. Why go to Najran and have stones thrown at you?

DR SANGEETA DAS AL SAUD

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My congratulations to Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah. I am pleased to see you following in your father's ideology.
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