Nabataean rock-cut tombs at Madain Saleh, near Al Ula, are Saudi Arabia’s equivalent of Petra in Jordan, but receive only a trickle of visitors. Amar Grover for The National
When I announced a visit to Saudi Arabia, my friends’ reactions ranged from surprise to consternation. Why, they wondered, and what was there? Others were less receptive. The consensus was that visiting would be an academic exercise at best and, for western women wrapped in the obligatory abayas, a chore. The Saudi enigma seemed couched in severe and not particularly positive terms even, or perhaps particularly, by those who had never visited. Yet for people who are curious about a place that seems at once familiar (we can all conjure a mental picture, and most can place it on a map) and yet enigmatic (just what is there?) – or simply seek a destination few people have visited – Saudi Arabia is just the ticket. *HERE* <http://1426.blogspot.com/2010/01/other-saudi-arabia.html>
