Qasaba and towers, delving into Arabic semantics at Al Baha, Saudi Arabia

Familiar with these terms from homework on this green region of Saudi Arabia, I set out pursuing my curiosity. The area with a 1000 small towers called "Qasaba" in Arabic, left me clambering to click away at these, not- so- tall towers dotting the mountainscape, pursuing them hoping to find one on any main road so I could go closer and enter. 

In over 2 hours' rounds, I found one approachable. Clearly, they are shaped like a tower, four slanting walls, narrowing at the top; a lookout window of sorts, and a drainage system for the roof. A walk around showed no entry door into it at all! My mind raced, inquisitiveness piqued, imagining myself having a discussion about it a local Arabic elder in my broken Arabic sentences. Was fun.

Besides, while I did see several on mountain tops, many were at road level too. So that beats the watchtower concept.

I did read that it could have been a granary...then why the window, and how did they get stuff inside? Looking to friends and interested folks to add in any which way they can; ideally, inputs from Arabic elders would be great.

Thanks.

When Nouns go missing in English

English spelling mistakes world over are most often hilarious, as we’ve all seen in forwards from friends on mail and FB, and while travelling in developing countries in non-English speaking areas. But missing out nouns in naming organization, shops, and institutes tops it all!

A Noun is imperative in naming someone, somewhere or something, and it becomes unique to that person, place or thing. Imagine if the Sahara Desert, Kalahari Desert, Arabian desert had been named with descriptors (Adjectives) instead of names, as, say, for example, ‘Deep’ desert, ‘wide’ desert, ‘vast’ desert- how would our children remember which is which, without a name like ‘Sahara’, ‘Kalahari’. Any desert can be deep, wide, vast!

Just hilarious thoughts- laugh for good health!

SMC- Specialized Medical Center

Ahem! Well, if I were to go to any medical center for checkup and treatment, they’d better be ‘specialized’! Adjectives replace Nouns.

Education International Schools

I thought all ‘schools’ are meant to provide ‘education’, huh?! What is the name of your organization? Common nouns replace Proper nouns.

So much for serious stuff, relax with the frequent fun-

Binrushed- poor guy, everybody, please let him chill! I understand it is the name in Arabic of a great person, but it doesn’t transliterate into English! Incidentally, Ibn Rushd is one of the most noteworthy Muslims; highly educated and wrote several books and summarized a lot of Greek literature for Muslim Caliphs.

TOI Restaurant- Move over ‘Times of India’ (TOI), we are the ‘Taste of India’ (TOI) in Arabia!

New Store opening- You know a new store is opening when you see limp, coloured plastics bubbling up, ballooned figure standing around and/or a roving light is sending circles into the air!

Faux Pas- Did you know sweets have IQ?! I didn't. Apostrophe upside down. And wrongly used- remember only one sweet has IQ, not the others!



Huh! As in, I can 'feel free' and help myself to any of the stuff in your store? Hey thanks!

Clearly, just funny rejoinders from a fun heart to make a few peoples' heads lighter.

No malice or any deliberate intention to hurt or defame anyone. Please take it as a joke, change if you want to make things better, but do definitely laugh!

A relaxed day and a happy kid later

The Riyadh Zoo was a real treat the other day when we relaxed there and came back feeling happy and satisfied that we had one really ecstatic and contended kid on hand. Of course, as an adult, I was happy I had included a few animal names to the kid's vocab.

The Riyad Zoo's conception and maintenance are indeed commendable. A large area with adequate parking, places to sit, an impressionable range of animals and birds to view. Some cages could be bigger and better is also a feeling that crept up through the day, but the effort and maintenance, except for the ignorance and throwing of plastics in the zoo by the less-informed visitors, is really good.

The zoo is best visited in winter months as viewing the entire area can take up to 2-3 hours to just identify and see the whole compound and is a simple way to introduce animals and birds to children.

Planning the visit becomes easy with the website, except for any unexpected, local functions/ occasions. http://www.zoo.com.sa/riyadhzoo/map/

A very impressive collection! A good, cool afternoon well spent: ideally 12 noon- Magrib. And we walk away contented with a thrilled child!

Savour, Enjoy!

A cool driving experience- Wadi Hanifah

Wadi Hanifa is largely accepted to be a lovely picnic spot. It was a sheer delight in discovering that it's a lovely driving trail too!

The pride of Riyadh and a project that has earned international recognition. Clearly, when driving along any elevated fast track roads of Riyadh if you see any long stretches of greenery, it's one or the other part of the Wadi Hanifa Project.

Snaking the Wadi Hanifa trail along its entire length

Driving along the Wadi trail was a real eye-opener; it's a full-length trail from the northwestern parts of Riyadh to its southern end, and except for a few sections where you need to use the modern high-speed roads, it's a delightful snaking along the water channel. This driving trail along the wadi runs a level lower than the main lifeline roads of Riyadh such as the King Fahad Road and the Ring Road.

Diriyah
The northwestern end, a lovely picnic spot and the historical area of Old Riyadh, Diriyah has a number of large date plantations which have been encouraged on by the project and the authorities. The Elb dam, open picnic area, public utility facilities and the old forts of the Kings of Saudi Arabia, and some old tenements are the star spots of Diriyah.

Irgah, Suwaidi, Sultana and Masane areas of Riyadh

Driving southwards from Diriyah, for a small section the modern roads need to be used after which, following the green Wadi Hanifa boards you can wind down back onto the road along the wadi into the Irgah area. A smaller dam directing the flow of water to the lower areas, wide picnic spots and the most amazing views of the parallel system of modern high-speed roads and bridges running above the wadi are the main attractions.

As you enjoy the cleaner, cooler air on this drive along the wadi, the green boards direct you onto subsequent areas of Riyadh- Suwaidi and then onto Sultana. Emerging out from the wadi trail onto the Sultana main road was a bolt from the modern world. The main road dotted with fast food joints and the massive Al Qasr Mall and widespread housing development, while a curiosity satisfier, leaves you wanting to quickly turn around and into the green bliss of the wadi channel!

Moving further southwards the wadi crosses the vast areas of Sultana and Masane, you can observe from popular landmarks above on the modern roads that the wadi has indeed gone past the Nasiriyah and Batha areas. The wadi developments, further greening, providing facilities seem to be ongoing in these southern areas.

At the end of a whole 3 hours of driving, discovering the routes and soaking in the wintry sun, the start of the Masane area allows joining into the Ring road close to exit 21 and return onto the concrete city. Along the entire length of the drive, the wadi roads allow for joining onto the main roads at regular intervals-close to The Carlton when you leave the Irgah area, close to Badiya area when you exit further down from Irgah, and onto the Ring road before Masane. Dotted with date plantations all along the way, surely there must be a lot more connections along the way.

The picnic spots in the southern end and the one in the northern Diriyah end are the popular places any taxi guy will direct you to as you ask for "Wadi Hanifa". Now, you know better!

A lovely drive along the entire length of Riyadh, and an alternative to the high-speed driving. Taking it slow, inhaling the fresher air, enjoying a milder, cooler clime by driving along the wadi roads, just beneath the modern highways of Riyadh, a pleasant satisfaction and tons of curiosity satisfied! 

A forest in the desert - Rawdat Khuraim

It was a pleasant discovery - a kind of forest in the desert! Well, some decent greens and flowers to brighten up the image of the otherwise dry and dull brown deserts of Saudi.

Rawdat Khuraim, about 110 km away from Riyadh towards Ruma, is a lovely break from the monotonous desert views. It's a refreshing picnic location, if only we can get our picnickers to pick up their trash behind them it would be better. But isn't that something "oh yes, we know" statement!

A carpet of refreshing white flowers

Lovely shady areas to plonk and picnic

You get to catch some camel farms and the occasional herd of camels in varied colours.


The basics:

- On Khurais Rd 50km, where you will see an exit for Ruma; take the left towards Ruma and the location is another 50 km from the exit.

- You need to carry some food to eat as nothing much is available there and there is driving to and from involved.

- There are no public toilets at an easy distance, so either empty out completely before leaving home or hold on most part of the day, whatever works for you!

Thamud Arab tribe , Prophet Saleh and Madain Saleh (Al Hijr)

The earliest Arab tribes that find mention are Noah, Ad and Thamud and other subsequent tribes. Allah chose Prophet Saleh, who was one among the Thamud tribe and resided at Al Hijr (Madain Saleh area) to propagate Islam amongst his people. Since he was one amongst them, they didn't believe him and asked him to prove that he was Allah's messenger. Prophet Saleh received a vow from his people that they would believe in him after he proves himself to them and then prayed to Allah on this. To dispel disbelief in him, he created a she-camel from the rocks there and then told his people not to harm it as it was specially sent by Allah. So most of the people from his tribe became believers but the non believers held over them and finally killed the camel.

As prophesied by Prophet Saleh, within three days of killing the camel, a massive earthquake and large rocks falling down destroyed the entire area, meanwhile the Prophet Saleh and his believers had moved on.

This incident finds mention in several places of the Holy Quran, and thus, the place was locally believed to be cursed and has been avoided for a long time. However, now it is increasingly becoming an interesting tourist location and the Kingdom is looking at opening it up further.  

Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia

Madain Saleh is a unique historical site in the north-west of Saudi Arabia, in the Al Hijr Province, current-day province of Madinah which dates back at least to around third century BC.

The place is mentioned in several verses of the Holy Quran and has an amazing history of several successive civilizations that have left indelible marks in the region.

Huh? Madain Saleh?

Madain Saleh (Al Hijr) is the southern end of the early Nabatean Civilization, that inhabited the region from Syria, Jordan in the north, Yemen in the south, and up to the Sinai Peninsula in the West. Their landmarks include the more famous Petra, of Jordan, which was their major city.

The Nabateans were very able traders and Al Hijr (Madain Saleh) area fell naturally in the caravan routes of camel and incense trade. It is also a less-known World Heritage Site.

There are magnificent stone tombs carved on massive rock facades with different kinds of tomb provisions- the family, royalty, nobles; often inscribed with names of those buried and those of the inscribers.

The Ad Diwan is one of the sights in the huge area, which is unique and not to be missed. Just like the 'Khazaneh' or Treasury at Petra, Ad Diwan is a distinct feature of the complex. It was the religious place of the location and several religious signs support it. And a 'siq' or an entrance also leads through the Ad Diwan, just as in Petra.

Another intriguing feature within the complex, though built much later during the late Ottoman days is the Hejaz Railway. The importance of Al Hijr as a crucial trade link declined with the Roman conquest of the region, and trade routes altered to further north of the peninsula from present-day Turkey in the East up to Sinai in the West. And thus Al Hijr just remained as an important link in the pilgrimage route to Madinah. The Ottomans thus built the railway network to help pilgrims travel to the holy lands.

The essentials

It takes almost a full day to see the Madain Saleh complex completely, and appreciation of the carvings and tomb cutout and symbols require a little bit of homework before the trip, to make up for the very few guides and their limitations. Entry into the complex is free but requires a permit that is issued at Riyadh Museum and also at the museum at Al Ula (also spelt as Oula, Aula, for GPS purposes) town, about 25 km from Madain Saleh site, and which will be your base for the visit. Local travel agents at Riyadh and Jeddah can also arrange it for you. As of now, there is only one hotel- Al Ula Arac Resort available, and hence early booking is recommended. The nearest airports are at Al Ula to which Saudia Airlines and Nas Airways fly, though on fewer days of the week. The other more frequent option is to fly to Madinah airport and hire a car (car rentals are available at the arrival lounges 24 x 7) and drive down to Al Ula town (about 360 km through mountainous regions, so around 4-5 hours) and from there on to Madain Saleh (another 20-25 km). There are two routes from Madinah to Al Ula- the first one parallel to the west coast of about 353 km, and the other via Khyber, which most travel agent buses prefer, but is a little longer 376 km.

Tickets to Madinah and the Madinah airport itself can be very difficult to deal with during the peak pilgrimage season and thus best avoided.