Visiting Hegra & playing host

Visiting Hegra

Today we had an excursion to Hegra booked as it is not possible visit the site independely.  We departed our accommodation at 0845 after a breakfast of rusk and cheese, getting to Winter Park in time for the 0930 bus departure to Hegra.

At Hegra, we started with hospitality of snacks and water before the actual tour started at 1000 by a big bus.  Some people had opted to do premium versions of the tour by restored Land Rovers.

The area is home to Saudi’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Most of the sites are tombs of the Nabateans from 1^st to 2^nd BC.  That’s the same civilisation that built Petra that’s located in what is now Jordan.

The tour covered four sites:

1. Jebel Ahmar. There are 18 tombs located on the sides of a reddish rock, the colour of which gives the site its name.
2. Tomb of Lihyan, son of Kuza (aka Qasr Al Farid, meaning Lonely Castle). The tomb’s nickname derives from its standalone location and this site has become Hegra’s icon.
3. Jabal Banat (aka Qasr Al Bint). There are 29 tombs here on all sides of the sandstone rock, making it the largest cluster.  Its name comes from the fact that many tombs are owned by or commissioned for women.
4. Jabal Ithlib. This site has a large boxy chamber carved into the outcrop, originally used for banquets and audiences.  There is a siq or narrow passageway, on the wall of which are some shrines.

Less than a year ago, men couldn’t wear short in the Kingdom but today they have half-naked men, with exposed nipples, dressed as Nabatean warriors to add some life to our experience.  There were also a few women dressed in costumes of the era, sans headscarf.

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Being rewarded for kind deeds

During the tour, E had chatted with an elderly French couple who didn’t speak much English that had been gifted this trip for some charitable work.  E was kind enough to explain a lot of the things about Hegra in French to them.

So, when the tour finished around 1200, instead of taking the bus back to Winter Park, they took us for lunch at their resort called Our Habitas.  The meals here were pretty pricey but my tuna salad with dates was awesome.  I had never seen E eat so much before, let alone all that meat in the form of a big steak. One night here costs about the same as two weeks in our simple accommodation.

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Playing host

We learnt that they only had a two-night stay and hadn’t organised much sightseeing.  E commandeered their big suburban and driver at 1430 and we played host by taking them to various points of interest.

E tried to show them Dadan and Ikmah but both places require bookings.  At least Dadan was viewable from the roadside.  We called into the old Hejaz Railway Station at Al Ula briefly.

Next, we took them up to the Harrat Viewpoint where we had been yesterday. The air was clearer today and we got there about 15 mins earlier as well, making the view a lot better.

We finished the day with a visit to Elephant Rock.  This had been the only thing the couple had arranged (apart from Hegra) but they didn’t appear to be terribly interested perhaps due to not being suitably impressed by the site!

We were dropped off at Winter Park to collect our car and said our goodbyes.  I felt good that we had added substantially to their experience in Al Ula, thanks to E’s kind efforts.

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Al Ula old town

As I hadn’t seen Al Ula’s old town, E offered to take me through it.  Parking is nearly impossible and there were two Park-and-Ride areas on either end of the old town.

We parked at the southern carpark around 1830 and took the bus in.  We explored on foot, absorbing the atmosphere of the place for about 90 mins before returning to the car for the drive back.

After the filling lunch, neither of us were really hungry but didn’t want to risk skipping dinner in case we got hungry in bed.  The perfect solution was to return to last night’s place for another one of their awesome falafel and moussaka sandwiches.

Al Ula old town at night.

The fatwa on Hegra

In the 1970s a fatwa was placed on visiting Hegra. It was a place that had been subjected to God’s wrath (for their idolatory) through earthquake and lightning blasts. The Prophet had taught Muslims to avoid places subjected to God’s wrath. “Don’t pass through the dwelling place of those who wronged them­selves without crying.” More information is available here.

The fatwa has since been lifted opening the way for excavation and tourism. Saudi has a new pride in its pre-Islamic history. Rather than being just the birthplace of Islam, it is acknowledging its place as the crossroads of ancient trade and civilisation.