Feimster Fever: Al-Hofuf: the Largest Saudi Oasis

The dunes off the highway

This spring, the great people at ISG Jubail organized a day trip down to Al-Hofuf, the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia, and it's only about 3 hours away! We got up at 4 AM to make it to Hofuf for the camel market early in the morning. The drive to Al-Hofuf was very interesting. The landscape of our area of Saudi is relatively flat with shrubbery and gravel. As we drove further into the desert toward Al-Hofuf, the classic sand dunes slowly appeared, along with herds of grazing camels on the sides of the highway - just like cows in the states! The different colors of camels were amazing - they ranged from white (rare and expensive) to the golden brown we generally know, to dark ebony.

Grazing camels

Unfortunately, we had the wrong GPS coordinates and didn't make it to the actual camel market! The rest of the school group did, however, and we heard first hand stories while we took a break at the Intercontinental Hotel in Al-Hofuf. Surprisingly, the stories were rather sad! Once a camel is sold, they strap them into a sitting position, hoist them up using a crane, and place them into the back of the buyer's waiting truck. The process isn't so bad, but the camels have very strong relationships between one another, so when they start separating the families, the camels would scream back and forth. Overall, it was very sad, and many of the folks on the trip were emotionally upset by the vocalness of the animals.

The Fort - Qasr Ibrahim (Qaser Al-Qubbah)

Dan and me outside the entrance to the Fort

Our next stop of the day was to the fort (Qasr Ibrahim (Qaser Al-Qubbah)) in Al-Hofuf. Saudi is not known for it's tourism, and so you can never plan that a historical site will be open to the public. Luckily for us, Saudi Aramco had scheduled a tour of the fort on the same day. Since they were already open for the school group, the guards let our group in as well! The fort was built during the Ottoman Empire by the Ottoman Turks. This is the only mosque we will probably ever see inside of in Saudi Arabia - usually they never let non-Muslims (let alone women) enter the mosques here. To stand in there and imagine men hundreds and hundreds of years ago saying the same prayers that they do today made me really think about how little this part of the world has changed. The architecture of the fort was stunning - the whitewash reminded me of movies of the Arabian desert - not something we see much of in the industrial part of the country in which we live.

Outside of the Fort

Outside of the fort - one of the corners

Inside the fort

Dan and Jamie in front of the mosque

Dan and me inside the mosque

The Al-Ahsa Oasis: Al Gara Mountain caves and pottery

On top of Al Gara Mountain with the palm tree forest of the Oasis

Next, we traveled a little ways outside of Al-Hofuf to the Al-Ahsa Oasis for a visit to the caves and pottery shop. What greenery! I never realized how dusty and brown everything is here until we drove into the oasis. The palm tree forests took my breath away. And they had grass! And weeds in the ditches! It was unimaginable that we were still in Saudi. Along the road were these 8-foot wide viaducts that helped move the water of the oasis further from the origin. As we drove through the small town in the center of the oasis, it felt like we had stepped back in time.

The viaducts in the oasis

As we arrived at the caves of Al Gara Mountain, it was middle of the day and scorching! We all trudged up the make-shift stairs to the entrance to the cave area. We walked about a quarter-mile through the giant rock formations until we encountered the cave opening. It was unbelievably refreshing! The temperature inside was easily 20 degrees cooler. Now, I'm used to tourist areas in the States where there is a map and guided walkways and directions on where to go and where not to go. That is not the case in Saudi! Once inside, it is a free-for-all. You could follow any path you could fit through, making for some interesting attempts of exploration! It was also very dusty, so of course of black abayas weren't so black by the end!

Dan and me at the potters' place

The next and last stop was to see the Al-Ahsa potters. These hard working people are always happy to see several vehicles of westerners arrive, but it unfortunately keeps them from really wanting to negotiate with you at all! Dan and I bought a pair of pieces that I believe are meant to be candle covers, but I just liked the way they looked!

Overall, this was a unique experience for us. We were able to see a part of Saudi that we wouldn't just venture to on our own, tour an ancient Muslim fort, explore natural Arabian caves, and buy crafts from local potters. Although an exhausting day - we really enjoyed it and hope to go back again some day.

More Photos - Enjoy!