The Sweet Southwest of Saudi

In March for my spring break I decided to see the southwest part of Saudi Arabia.  This year the government decided that the type of visa I was on could not be renewed outside the country so I was restricted to traveling within the country.  So I went to the very far corner to a town called Jizan which is the jumping off town to the remote Farasan Islands.

I went with my friend Jessica and we lined up to get tickets for the free ferry out to the islands.  I guess the men decided the women's line was shorter so it took a bit longer than we thought to get tickets. 

 Despite what most people think, the men usually treat the women here with respect.  I've seen men move completely out of the way or even off the sidewalk when they see me coming into a small store and some men will look at the ground or look away while talking to a women which is a sign of respect that he isn't trying to stare at her.  But sometimes it goes too far such as when a man walks down the street with his wife, his friends will not greet him in case the man accuses him of only stopping to chat in order to check out his wife.  And of course women still have a long way to go to be equal.  I'm not sure what this window sticker meant, but it reminded me of the status of women here.

When we got to the island we found a guide at the port that spoke some English to drive us around and show us the island.  It was time for lunch so our guide took us to the fish market to get some local food.

I guess I didn't realize exactly what 'local food' meant and we found ourselves negotiating with an old fisherman for a bit of his daily catch.

I was a bit worried about sanitation and was quickly losing my appetite but we made our choice and took it over to a guy that could cook it up for us. The end result was actually quite tasty.

 The next day we went out to the beach but it wasn't the kind of beach that was blocked off and restricted to just foreigners like most of the good beaches in Saudi Arabia.  So we had to keep our abayas on and we even swam in what people call the 'burk-ini.' 

Jessica and I saw lots of coral and even a sea turtle but we quickly got out when we started to see some big jellyfish.  Don't worry, I wasn't as close to touching it as it looks in the picture.

That evening we wandered around the small town and tried some street food.  We also found the historical part of the town where there was a complex of houses with some amazing carvings all over the buildings.

There are some incredible historical sites in Saudi Arabia that haven't really been discovered or restored and this was one of them.  This was the interior of one of the buildings.

That evening we also found a little tourism office and asked about renting a boat to go out snorkeling.  The guy called his friend to come translate and we met Osama, the local boys' English teacher who was interested in getting into the tourism business.  He helped organize a boat and some snorkeling gear and we set out the next day.

Our first stop was an old Ottoman fortress on an outlying island that was a strategic point in the Red Sea.  Outside the fort were piles of broken sea shells that the locals use to decorate their houses and pathways.

Then we went to another island and went snorkeling.  I couldn't get many pictures of this part but at one point a pod of dolphins were swimming a long side the boat and one place we stopped we were in the water while they were passing by.  I was a bit nervous because dolphins have been known to come over to 'play' with humans but they can be quite aggressive and cause bruising with their noses.  They didn't get that close to us, though.

The Farasan Islands are still very new to tourism and most people who do come here mostly just want to spear the fish instead of look at and appreciate them.  Someday people will discover the islands and tourism will boom.  But meanwhile, the people are still very friendly and surprised to see foreigners.  We made friends with some of the kids down at the docks.

With help from Osama, an old fisherman told us stories of spear fishing and pearl diving without the help of an oxygen tank.  He gave us some of the huge shells he has found through his many years of diving.

When we got back to the mainland we got bus tickets for our next destination of Abha.  Abha is a city up in the mountains and I had no idea Saudi Arabia had mountains as big as this.

After we checked into a hotel we went to the top of 'Green Mountain' which had great views of the city.  It was rainy and cloudy which I didn't mind after months and months of hot dry weather in Riyadh.  Soon the clouds lifted and we got a good view of the city.

It was so nice to see plants and greenery as we wandered through the city.

 We found a driver to take us around and one of the sites I wanted to see was a place called Habala, which was a village hanging on the side of a cliff.  A long time ago a man committed murder and ran away from those who wanted revenge.  He used a rope and some ladders and started a little family community where the water seeps out of the cliff.  Now it is a historical site that can only be reached by cable car.

It was an interesting place and almost had a different culture from so many years of isolation.  Jessica and I tried on some of their hats, which reminded me of the Bolivian bowler hats.  You can see a picture of the old family on the wall behind us.

As we drove through the mountains we saw the herds of baboons that live there.  Most of them now hang around the dumpsters or wait for cars to stop and throw food.  We got some old smashed fruit from a local vendor and watched the poor creatures fight for food.

We also had to stop when we found the famous local beekeepers and honey sellers.  They were all decked out in their traditional dress complete with the yellow flowers from the mountain. 

The honey in Abha is the most delicious I've ever tasted.  Jessica bought some but I thought it would be too difficult to transport home without everything getting sticky.  You could even buy pure honeycomb in bulk.

It was a nice break to get away from Riyadh and see some nature for a week.  It was also the last trip I took in Saudi Arabia until my long awaited trip home in July.  So now I'm finished with another chapter of my life and moving on to the next adventure!