After our first day in Riyadh with an early 6am rise and coffee, Salwa’s partner Mohammed picked us up in his car where we began our 2.5 hour drive to the Edge of the World:
Stop by for the Saudi Arabia’s distinctive black camels before you go off-roading!
Where am I?
The Edge of the World is an unexpected and dramatic geological wonder within the rocky desert northwest of Riyadh. Considered as Saudi Arabia’s own “Grand Canyon,” it boasts its unique name because from atop the escarpment, you have an uninterrupted view of the horizon.
The view reminded me of the Yangykala Valley in Turkmenistan.
We then spent an hour here underneath Mohammed’s shade enjoying alcohol-free beer, coffee and tea.
Afterwards by 11am we headed back into Riyadh where we caught the 3pm domestic onward Saudia flight to Jeddah.
We landed at 4:30pm in Jeddah where it wasn’t taxi drivers or family members that greeted us, but a freaking aquarium:
Another one of Salwa’s travel partners, Abdulazis, picked us up here where we drove into Jeddah for sunset.
We parked up at Joujou for dinner where sights that couldn’t have been imagined years ago were occurring naturally here. Let alone being informed by literally everyone we were one of the first foreign tourists to visit the “new Saudi Arabia.”
I took full advantage of it:
- At time of posting in Jebel Fihrayn, it was 30 °C - Humidity: 19% | Wind Speed: 5km/hr | Cloud Cover: clear