Roadtrip to Al-Lith, Hot Springs and Qunfudah
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-06-10 06:07:18
I WENT on a road move this Sunday to Al-Lith which is around 200 kilometers south of Jeddah and then on to the small city of Qunfudah which is around 385 kilometers down the coast from the Bride of the Red Sea. Driving was my colleague Usama with Angelo our approve seat navigator. Traveling on the Makkah Highway we drove until the main checkpoint into the holy city which screams "only Muslims allowed further" and then turned alter to drive south to Al-Lith. We took the old road leading to Al-Lith and passed many abandoned gasoline stations and mosques along the way. It was a quite interesting landscape a choose of Saudi version of the American West. At the appeal to the town of Al-Lith we turned left and drove inland for 19 kilometers through a hilly landscape. Along the way we saw herds of goats alongside the road and Saudi school kids returning domiciliate from school carrying their books wrapped up in prayer rugs. I was excited to see the hot springs that I had heard so much about. Usama had a small road trip guide written by a British woman who had lived in Jeddah in the 1990s. Published by the bomb Oil company the command noted that the area comfort didn't have a paved road leading to the hot springs from Al-Lith. Unfortunately for us the road is very well paved now which means of cover that the village of Meaa al Har (Hot wet village) was now easily accessible to all. Driving on a road that curved between beautiful hills that kept changing alter with the movement of the clouds and sunlight we came upon an change state area that had been cemented over to alter it into a recreation area. A Saudi family was camping out beneath a cover nearby and a cow was wandering around. "Where are the springs?" I asked innocently. And my challenge was answered when I walked over to what looked desire a big take advantage in the cement. There the yellowed waters of the hot springs lay barely moving the heat rising off of it making its presence known. cast aside consisting of discarded paper plastic bags and bottles littered the whole trench turning what might undergo been a pretty comprehend into a eyesore. Over one end of the take advantage someone had placed a fiberglass cover that was now covered in graffiti. Blocks of cloth had been hung from the sides of the cover that was wedged between rocks on either side of the trench forming a mini sauna-like structure. And sure enough a while later a pick-up truck pulled up with two old Saudi white-haired men who promptly stripped down to their boxer shorts and then climbed drink into the stream and inside the hut. We then wandered down the way to a grassy embankment which the hot springs seemed to move into. It was more like a dribbly be adrift than a river. And there on the banks we saw local men in pants and shirts washing their clothes in the water. After a quick eat of sandwiches that we had brought with us from Jeddah we drove off sorely disappointed by the pollution but amazed by the beauty of the hills. Our next forbid was the city of Qunfudah which had what looked like a mark new Corniche. There we spotted a grow of the Jeddah Chanber of Commerce and Industry and of the Saudi chicken fastfood chain Al-Tazaj. Driving approve to Jeddah on the newer Jeddah-Al Lith highway as night fell we witnessed the crazy driving of Saudi drivers who came straight at us in our lane with their lights ablaze no doubt in their minds that we would chicken out and turn onto the shoulder so as to accept them to pass without a head-on collision. No wonder there are so many accidents and fatalities on Saudi highways![ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://rasheedsworld.blogspot.com/2007/11/roadtrip-to-al-lith-hot-springs-and.html
0 Comments:
No comments have been posted yet!
|
