The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia never issued tourist visas- they didn’t exist- until 2019, but now is welcoming non-pilgrim visitors with flashy events and a generous dose of sportswashing. I had hoped to see a fascinating Islamic culture, strengthened by decades of isolation.
The door to Saudi was firmly shut to tourists until 2019, but now, an online visa can be got in literally 4 minutes.
Home to Islam's holiest sites, the biggest, oldest and most sacred mosques in the world.
The country's tribal, mountainous south defies the typical image of the Arabian landscape.
Massive deserts cover much of the country, and contain signifcant heritage sites such as Madain Saleh.
I had expected a fascinating mix of old cities, buzzing bazaars, Islamic and pre-Islamic heritage.
Most of the time, unfortunately, we were served up a sanitised, soulless, empty old city, like the lifeless void which is Diriyah, near Riyadh.
Our journey began in Jeddah, which has been a trading centre since before Jesus was playing U-12s for Nazareth FC.
The souk in Al Balad old town was the most interesting in Saudi, but even that was an also-ran compared to some of in neigbhouring countries.
Like most of Saudi, even the souk didn't come alive until after sunset.
I'd seen and read about the mountain villages in the south near Yemen. Some of the countryside was quiet beautiful, but a lot of it was closed- seasonally, for renovations (yes, a whole national park...) or just because.
The Thee Ain Heritage Village, about 6 hours south of Jeddah sounded interesting. From a distance it looked it, too, but up close, there was no life, no people, no sense that this was anything but a tourist attraction.
The stone village of Rijal Alma, near Abha, was more interesting, a functioning town. Here we encountered Saudi hospitality.
Despite the museum still being fitted out and not open, we were welcomed in, shown videos and free to look around. The old historic town centre was still slumbering, but the tumble-down buildings around it made it feel real.
Another interesting stop near Abha was Al Yanfah mud village. Multistory buildings line the slope of the hill, making tunnels past doors and under living rooms.
Our last "mountain" stop was Taif, a once-important trading town, with a so-so (actually, boring) souk.
Scattered around town are many mansions, like Mohammed Suroor Sabban Iron Palace. Some are shuttered, others under restoration, andothers yet just left to ruin. There must have been lots of money floating around in the day.
One of the city's still flourishing industries is rose farming, supplying most of the world's perfumeries with damask rose petals and oil.
Google had sent us down (yet another) wrong way, when these farmers called out to us, insisting that we come and see their farm.
We also popped into a oil factory, where this rightly proud gentleman showed us his operation. There was also some nice walking in the hills nearby. Taif was one of the better places.
Non-muslims are still barred from Mecca, but in the last year or so, have been allowed in to Islam's second holiest city, Madinah, although I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be inside the Prophet's Mosque (Masjid al Nawabi).
It is the second largest and second holiest site in Islam, and the original was built by Muhamad himself. While architecturally not outstanding, the scale is immense, and the number of people the pour in and out at prayer time is something to behold.
The brilliant white of Masjid al Qiblatayn, which also dates to the prophet's time, is literally dazzling. It is quite special to experience these holy sites, which are for millions of Muslims, the ultimate pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia was hard work. Driving through the desert, for hours on end, unlike say Namibia, Australia or even Oman, there was never any sense of isolation.
By the time we arrived in Al Ula, pictured, we were tired of the constant driving, and trying to fit meals in between prayer time (when shops shut). Crashing the car on Day Two probably didn't help.
Al Ula is home to an ancient oasis, and the Nabataean ruins of Madain Saleh.
The old city above the oasis felt like it had been built last Tuesday. I honestly wonder if these (Indian) farm workers are producing food, or just there for tourist purposes. I actually saw tomatoes which had been ploughed into the ground.
Tourism here is very tightly controlled. Elephant Rock is one place you can just turn up and look, but even here you can't stray from a short, fixed path.
The Nabataeans were a nomadic people who also built the more famous city of Petra, in Jordan. Madain Saleh unfortunately, barely compares.
The sites are smaller, less numerous, and can only be visited by twice-daily pre-booked tours. Herded on and off buses, and missing time at sites because Miss Instagram takes too many selfies at the start, kinda sucked.
The last thing to see in Ul Ula was the Hejaz Railway sites, which T. E. Lawrence sabotaged in his campaign against the Ottomans. The Medinah station (pictured) was closed.....
...and the Al Ula sites had been subsumed by a luxury hotel! This "artwork" is remains of the original railway. The station buildings now rent for thousands of dollars a night, and without the kindness of a sympathetic hotel receptionist, we'd have never been allowed near.
Tabuk was another over-hyped city with nothing worth seeing- more closed railway buildings. This is a boring picture, I know, but it is true reflection of how interesting Tabuk Fort is. To be fair, about 50m of the bazaar was a little lively.
Dumat Al Jandal was a randomly chosen stop, because we had to break the drive, and it turned out to be one of the better places.
Marid Castle had not yet had the character "restored" out of it, and the nearby town was okay for a stop.
The castle dates to 1st century, and brick pyramid minaret of the Omar Ibn Al Khattab Mosque adjoining the castle is the oldest in Arabia. It was quite an interesting site.
3 hours south of Dumat, on the road to Riyadh, the petroglyphs at Jubbah are worth stopping to see.
Two sights drew us to Burayadah, 4 hours north of Riyadh. First, the "world's biggest date market" according to multiple sources. Turned out to be a dusty, vacant hall which hosted an annual trade fair. And the world's biggest camel market.....
Having seen the camel market in Somaliland, I expected, foolishly, a buzzing, frantic centre of trading activity, but this was as wild as it got.
Most of the market area was vacant, a few people sleeping or having coffee. This trader was happy to be photographed with his camel, but, in keeping with his beliefs, not his face.
Nothing against the Saudi people, who were - when we met them- generally hospitable and friendly, but it just was not as interesting as any of its neighbours. Go if you want to see Saudi, but if you want to see a Gulf Arab country, try Oman instead.