AlUla. Saudi Arabia’s hidden gem.

Waqas Malik

Al-Ula is a unique region of Saudi Arabia that was hidden from tourists until September 2019. Now the whole world has the opportunity to discover ancient places, which are more 6000 years old.  In this episode :  Ancient tombs of Mada’in Salih ( Hegra ),  Remains of Al-Hijr Biggest mirrored building in the world - Maraya concert-hall https://www.youtube.com/@hajiwaqasmalik7564 (unexpectedly) performance by Craig David and Lionel Ricchi.

Transcript

00:00This is Al-Ula, a unique region of Saudi Arabia.

00:11Due to the fact that the country was closed to tourists for a long time, these fantastic

00:23landscapes, similar to Utah and Arizona, have been seen by few.

00:27And, interestingly, they are quite different from the rest of Saudi Arabia.

00:31Fortunately, though, since 2019, the country has started issuing tourist visas, and today

00:36we have a chance to show this incredible place to you.

00:46So we find ourselves in Al-Ula now.

00:48It is not a city, but a historic region.

00:51It has tons of interesting stuff, and it's where they are building tourism from the ground

00:55up.

00:56It is meant to become the postcard of Saudi Arabia that will become its main attraction

00:59and gem.

01:02This is why they are holding a Winter in Tantora festival.

01:05It's the second time it's been held here, spanning over three months and attracting

01:08tourists from all over the world, who of course come to see this unique region of the country

01:13that wasn't originally accessible to the public.

01:16While it's the buses that usually take care of the visitors, I will roam with Laura and

01:20Amjad, the Ministry of Tourism representatives who will help me with filming, because as

01:24you might have guessed, you need a pass for that too.

01:30Let's go then.

01:36Al-Ula has left an indelible impression on me from the first day.

01:44Just so you know, this region is the size of Belgium, or Maryland for you Americans.

01:58Here erosion and time are the main architects, shaping these sandstone rocks into the most

02:03surprising forms, making them look like art installations, and Elephant Mount may be the

02:18most well-known.

02:26As for my favorite, it is this immense bottle-shaped hole in the rocks.

02:33I guess what I'm trying to say is that even a basic drive turns into a total delight here,

02:48and three days in, I was drop-dead in love with this place, just like I fell in love

02:53with Utah and Arizona two years ago.

03:01But beautiful landscapes are not enough for tourists to start flowing in, you also need

03:04quite serious infrastructure.

03:06Let's see what they've built to support the festival.

03:11As for accommodation, apart from existing hotels, the organizers have raised Bedouin

03:16tents that vary from the ones with swimming pools to slightly more budget tents, although

03:20I'm sure that emotions from living in the desert are guaranteed in both cases.

03:25I, on the other hand, had it even better, staying in a trailer park located in a super

03:33picturesque valley.

03:35These usually standard trailers, here, in the middle of a desert, make it look like

03:38a Mars mission, very futuristic to say the least.

03:42To be clear, these aren't standard trailers, they're manufactured by an American company

03:46Airstream, that has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary.

03:50Inside, it's a fully-fledged hotel, with an aircon, fridge, stove, bathroom, and two

03:56beds.

03:57Oh yeah, you get a terrace, too, and each morning, officials bring you breakfast.

04:05It's a fancy life in a desert, with many comforts.

04:10Food-wise, there are also pop-up restaurants that serve people throughout the time of the

04:13festival.

04:14The positioning of these restaurants is simply on another level.

04:24What's incredible is that the walls of these restaurants still carry the rock drawings

04:27that are probably thousands of years old.

04:35At times, restaurants were so well-placed into the surroundings that I couldn't help

04:38but question how they managed it all.

04:41This is a road to one of them.

04:51To get food, you sometimes need to navigate through some narrow rocks, but it's definitely

04:56worth it in the end.

05:03This is just, wow, guys.

05:09Everything is top-notch here, to say the least.

05:11Long bars, lots of waiters, chefs from across the world, and the views, of course.

05:23Undoubtedly though, the Mariah building, that translates from Arabic as mirror, and was

05:28built specifically for the festival, takes the main stage.

05:32Designed by Italian architects, it became part of the Guinness World Record books in

05:37as the largest fully-mirrored building in the world, and acts as a 500-person concert

05:41hall.

05:42Apparently, it has been raised in just three months, but its main feature is how harmoniously

05:46it fits into the local landscapes.

06:04Everything that happens next to the cube becomes an extremely photogenic process.

06:09Filming it is perfect movie material.

06:28Alright then, time to jump into an SUV and show you some other local attractions.

06:46Desert X Exhibition, for example, also runs throughout the three months of the festival

06:50and displays 14 installations by artists from around the globe.

06:54It used to be held near Coachella Music Festival, but now it's been moved to Saudi Arabia,

06:58since this desert used to serve as a trading route for spices, incense, and textile between

07:03Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

07:06This now quickly brings us to a very important subject.

07:08I've been quite often comparing SA to Dubai in this episode, and as you may know, Dubai

07:13isn't necessarily rich in history.

07:16Well, this is where Saudi Arabia steps in, having not only intensely rich history, but

07:23also objects that are over 6,000 years old.

07:26Some of them are located in Al Ula.

07:28The total number of the monuments in this area is unknown, as the excavations are not

07:32completed yet, and even the discovered ones are sometimes only reachable by air.

07:40Excavations only began a half a year ago, but there were already around 600 monuments

07:43at the time.

07:44And here comes the crazy part.

07:47More than 22,000 new spots were discovered since the start of excavations.

07:53This place is soaking in history.

07:56Of course, it would have been impossible to see it all in just three days, but I still

08:00managed to capture some.

08:02Let's begin with Open Library, a place whose rocks carry thousands of inscriptions in the

08:07ancient Dadenite language.

08:09Locals call it the Ancient Twitter, as the writings are arranged in subjects like politics,

08:13religion, and general social stuff about life.

08:16How old are these signs?

08:18700 years before Christ, 2,700 years ago, at least.

08:25What's incredible is that just 10 years ago, none of these places were heritage sites.

08:29There were no tourists, and locals used these sites as playgrounds, including the ancient

08:34city of Dadan, for example, that is even mentioned in the Bible.

08:39Nowadays it's very hard to believe, but locals in general disregarded all these places as

08:43monuments of history.

08:45And it's only with the influx of tourism they realized how important this region really

08:48is.

08:49Today, this place is beginning to take shape as a true tourist spot, with further advances

08:54to come, of course.

08:55I think that it's only now that Saudi Arabia has begun to realize how many hidden gems

08:59it has.

09:00And the greatest gem there is, is the Medain Salae.

09:09This ancient necropolis is scattered across quite a large region, making hiking between

09:13the sites nearly impossible.

09:15For now, it's home for 138 rocky tombs, but numbers keep growing as more get discovered.

09:22You wouldn't be wrong in thinking there are similarities with Jordanian Petra, because

09:25both of these places are built by the same people, Nabataeans.

09:30Being over 2,000 years old, these monumental structures are cut out of sandstone, and since

09:35it isn't the most durable material, it's astonishing how they still remain intact.

09:39That's partly thanks to the climate, of course, and the fact that these places were fully

09:43abandoned.

09:44The tombs were built for burials, hence the façade served as a main identifier of the

09:49owner's status and wealth.

09:51Amongst these ably-made tombs lies the main attraction, the Qasr al-Farid, otherwise known

10:01as the Lonely Castle.

10:05It's the biggest tomb in the necropolis.

10:07Although it was never completed and probably never served its main purpose, it still looks

10:11utterly unreal, and its decorations look like something out of The Fifth Element.

10:24Badain Saleh is a unique heritage site that, until recently, was only accessible to a limited

10:29number of people, and there were even fewer who knew of its existence.

10:33One thing I am certain about is that it's the most impressive place in Saudi Arabia,

10:37and most likely one of the most impressive monuments in the world.

10:50To add to it, the Lonely Castle became an art object itself during the festival, and

10:55part of a very unusual show.

10:59This place is magical, guys.

11:00There aren't many people around, ambient music is playing in the background, I can't fly

11:05my drone any longer, because the sky will be taken over by something else now.

11:11Oh, and try to guess what those lights are.

11:20I'm sure you guys figured it out that it's drones.

11:30There are 300 of them, all synchronized by special software that can form objects without

11:35the drones crashing into each other.

11:37Unfortunately, the camera just doesn't translate the grandness of it all, but believe me, it's

11:42very impressive.

11:48A couple of words about the evening program now.

12:01First, the lit up rocks start looking even more spectacular.

12:05Secondly, it's the restaurants where all the visitors gather.

12:10But the main action happens in the Mariah Hall, as the festival has a very tight concert

12:15schedule.

12:19Some of the top artists in the world perform on a weekly basis throughout the three months

12:22of the festival.

12:23This, by the way, is the list of those we already missed.

12:27Quite sad that I missed this guy, and these, and maybe these guys too.

12:33But these two are performing in five minutes, so let's go and check them out.

12:38First thing that needs to be mentioned is the space you have between the rows.

12:41I guess the number of spaces weren't the main criteria.

12:44As for the concert itself, first, Craig David went on stage to warm everybody up.

12:49Then he was followed by Lionel Richie, who blew up the stage and got everyone dancing.

12:54His top hits were in the mix, of course.

13:14The sight of both men and women dancing to the rhythms of music was absolutely unreal

13:20for Saudi Arabia just five or six years ago.

13:23But today, it unfolds right in front of me.

13:26This country is changing, and it's amazing.

13:28Best thing about it is that we can see it happening right in front of us.

13:32The last thing left now is to show you the Al Ula city that hides the reasoning behind

13:36the festival's name.

13:38Tantora is the sun clock situated in the old town, used by locals to register the change

13:43of seasons.

13:45As for winter, well, it's the most interesting time here.

13:49It's now the end of February, and it's probably the only period of time when the desert is blossoming.

14:03Despite being a desert, this place is full of life.

14:07There's water that gathers in the reservoirs between rocks and, surprisingly, fertile lands.

14:12Al Ula is the oasis where even fruits grow.

14:15It's also home to a unique old town, built 800 years ago, that functioned all the way

14:21until the 20th century.

14:23Today it's fully conserved, and I was eager to see more of it.

14:27This though proved to be difficult, since the city is locked by police.

14:32But after Laura made a couple of calls, we were let in.

14:36Let into the place that no one can really access.

14:40Laura?

14:41This is it?

14:42Yeah.

14:46This place is totally unique because it was left as is by its population, that got moved

14:51to another city nearby.

14:53It's now more of a monument of the ancient life, hardly accessible by anyone.

14:57Although the Al Ula old town is now fully conserved, I doubt that these flimsy structures

15:02will last long.

15:03Maybe 10 or 50 years from now, it will deteriorate and collapse to the ground, serving as an

15:08end to a beautiful story that is Al Ula Old Town.

15:12The last family left the town in 1983, turning it into a ghost town ever since.

15:22It was an absolutely astonishing experience to stroll through the streets that have long

15:26forgotten the sounds of life, and I distantly felt that same feeling I had in Chernobyl.

15:39The last thing we'll delve into is entertainment.

15:53There are lots of activities during the festival, a polo tournament for example, and more interestingly,

15:58this festival of air balloons, that I unfortunately missed, but can at least share these official

16:03shots with you.

16:09One thing I didn't miss, was a flight on retro planes that were brought in specifically

16:20for the festival.

16:22This guy flew in from the UK, while that passenger's C45 is from the US.

16:27The pilot was German though.

16:29I managed to snatch this biplane that was made in 1952, and was used by the US Army

16:34for training purposes.

16:36Let's cut to the chase now and get to the skies.

17:06Here's what flying a WWII plane feels like.

17:20First, it's very loud.

17:21Secondly, you get to wear funny goggles.

17:23Third, you get to stick it between your legs.

17:28And finally, it's awesome.

17:36Love this, apart from the turns, because I almost crapped my pants.

17:54To summarize Alula, I am very impressed.

17:57You live your life not knowing much about this country, and then it suddenly opens up

18:01to you with all its unreal history.

18:04One question though, why have you been hiding it from us guys?

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