Abha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We started out the day, after breakfast, with Faraj and Dad picking us up in a rented suburban. Turns out, even though every Saudi family owns a suburban, renting one is quite the feat. Took them a couple of hours to locate a suburban.
After we were loaded, Dad asked Faraj to take us to the place where the Boy Scouts camped when they came last. This was the tip I was so mad I couldn't make, this trip that has prompted me to beg Dad to take me to Abha for the last couple of years. I don't know the name of this place, so I've just been calling it
The Camping Place
Walking to the awaiting vista...
And there it was!! Isn't it INCREDIBLE? And this is in Saudi!
The first thing I did was sit on the edge. Dad flipped out. Everyone kinda flipped out. Apparently, I am the only one in the family (well, besides Taylor) who isn't afraid of heights. They made me get up and back away. I wasn't even that close to the edge!
Notice how far we are from the edge? Even this close and Dad was telling us not to be so "risky". Haha.
The photographer in Ramz kinda came out and we had fun.
See the village down below? That is our next stop. We rode in a gondola down, where Faraj met us in the suburban. He took us to this old villiage, where one of the houses was converted into a museum. It is officially the best museum I have EVER been to. It has completely redefined my... appreciation... of taxidermy. Among other things.
In this region, there are baboons everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Along the sides of the road, in all the trees... it's incredible. All the villages are infested with them.
Baboons
Gondola to Abha Museum
Abha Museum!
The added wood rooms on the outside are showers.
Bedouins lived in these buildings until pretty recently. They actually ran wires throughout it so they could have electricity.
There was a random amphitheater outside. I've never seen anything like this in Saudi. And there was a random volleyball net in the middle.
Entrance to the part that was converted into a museum.
Hands down the best part of the entire museum:
(We think this is to show what wildlife is indigenous to this area. We laughed so hard at these animals. And stayed in here by far longer than in any other room in the museum. This completely redefines my views on taxidermy...)
Falcon
(Why, yes, that is packing tape in the bottom left hand side of the bird, holding the tail feathers togeher)
Still not sure what this little guy is. We settled on an ROUS (Rodent Of Unusual Size, from The Princess Bride). See the teeth??
Fox and snake. Probably the best show of taxidermy in the exibit.
I don't know what this is either. But it's scary.
Wolf. It's missing the bottom half of its jaw. And it's legs are in a really, really weird position. Like a card table before the legs give way and the whole thing falls.
The sign is being held on by a piece of table. Just a long string of tape around it's neck, stuck in the fur, holding the sign below its chest.
And, behold, my personal favorite animal in the entire exhibit:
There were various school of thought on the identity of this guy. I, personally, think it's a hyena. Although, I had no idea hyenas were ever in Saudi... I am open to ideas.
Is this not the scarriest thing you have ever seen?
There is one part of this guy that is not a mystery - his sex. He is, uh, was, a male. The, removed its penis. And left a gaping hole.
All in all, this is the most terrifying, demonic, possessed, horrifying grouping of animals I have ever seen. It was awesome. See, I told you, best museum EVER!
A stirring stick. She picked it up, posed, and then about fell over. I came to her rescue and put it back. The women must have been really ripped to stir with those things, let alone pick them up.
To defend the fort/villiage.
Either they were really little people, or made the rooms/doors super small in order to better defend it.
And here is our second favorite room in the museum.
What is in this room, you as? Well, I'll show you:
Yes, that is right. Chains. Binds. Cuff. And on the floor - a whipping block. We thought this was awesome. Someone doesn't act in the socially accepted way - you bind them and whip them. Excellent planning.
We were laughing so much, Faraj become a little offended, I think. He explained this, and Ramz has it on video - I'll have to see if I can get it from her. He explained this room would have been for slaves. If they misbehaved, they would come in her, be whipped or chained or whatever, in order to learn better social politeness. It made more sense when he explained it.
Old Qu'ran
An old mirror in one of the rooms.
View from the top of the fortress:
We then drove up this intense, curvy road back up to the top (we took the gondola down instead of driving). There were baboons all along the way. I put some of those pictures above.
Hanging Village
Our next stop was about 2 hours away, the Hanging Village. This was one of the great parts about having Faraj take us around - he knew all these random places no one knows about (like the Abha museum/fortress and the Hanging City).
We got there and had to use the bathrooms. Bathrooms are so fun in Saudi. It took the girls 20 minutes to go. And there was no water nor soap, and Bob is really into hand washing, and she may have had a slight breakdown about when someone innocently called her "pee hand Bob".
Looking out over the vista, before taking the gondola to the Hanging Village.
You can see the Village at the bottom of the cliff. The village was built as a way to protect the Bedoins from the Ottomans. The Ottomans were invading the area, and forcing all the young boys to join their army. The tribe in this area took their families and belongings and scaled down that cliff and build their village below. This kept them safe from the Ottomans.
Gondola sign
View of the village from the gondola
Across from where the gondola stopped, there were these ruins:
They looked far more interesting, so we walked/adventured over.
Even a satelite dish managed to make its way here. Crazy.
We left the Hanging Village and drove back 2 hours to eat dinner at this fancy shmancy place. Someone famous (I think Princess Diana?) ate here. Faraj was super excited about this and told us multiple times.
Fancy Shmancy Dinner
Driving there:
Eating:
Such a fun dinner. They put us in this huge room, turned on a TV, and left. Dad was convinced it wasn't in English (it was) and turned it off so we could "get to know each other better". We all had to say something about ourselves and everyone had to say true or false. It was very entertaining.
Dinner itself was also eventful... a couple people had some pretty embarrassing moments... and Camree and I both laughed till we cried. It was awesome.
Well, that's it for Abha. All of this in one day. We were totally wiped out, but it was AWESOME.
I LOVE ABHA!
Abha Museum!
The added wood rooms on the outside are showers.
Bedouins lived in these buildings until pretty recently. They actually ran wires throughout it so they could have electricity.
There was a random amphitheater outside. I've never seen anything like this in Saudi. And there was a random volleyball net in the middle.
Entrance to the part that was converted into a museum.
Hands down the best part of the entire museum:
(We think this is to show what wildlife is indigenous to this area. We laughed so hard at these animals. And stayed in here by far longer than in any other room in the museum. This completely redefines my views on taxidermy...)
Falcon
(Why, yes, that is packing tape in the bottom left hand side of the bird, holding the tail feathers togeher)
Still not sure what this little guy is. We settled on an ROUS (Rodent Of Unusual Size, from The Princess Bride). See the teeth??
Fox and snake. Probably the best show of taxidermy in the exibit.
I don't know what this is either. But it's scary.
Wolf. It's missing the bottom half of its jaw. And it's legs are in a really, really weird position. Like a card table before the legs give way and the whole thing falls.
The sign is being held on by a piece of table. Just a long string of tape around it's neck, stuck in the fur, holding the sign below its chest.
And, behold, my personal favorite animal in the entire exhibit:
There were various school of thought on the identity of this guy. I, personally, think it's a hyena. Although, I had no idea hyenas were ever in Saudi... I am open to ideas.
Is this not the scarriest thing you have ever seen?
There is one part of this guy that is not a mystery - his sex. He is, uh, was, a male. The, removed its penis. And left a gaping hole.
All in all, this is the most terrifying, demonic, possessed, horrifying grouping of animals I have ever seen. It was awesome. See, I told you, best museum EVER!
A stirring stick. She picked it up, posed, and then about fell over. I came to her rescue and put it back. The women must have been really ripped to stir with those things, let alone pick them up.
To defend the fort/villiage.
Either they were really little people, or made the rooms/doors super small in order to better defend it.
And here is our second favorite room in the museum.
What is in this room, you as? Well, I'll show you:
Yes, that is right. Chains. Binds. Cuff. And on the floor - a whipping block. We thought this was awesome. Someone doesn't act in the socially accepted way - you bind them and whip them. Excellent planning.
We were laughing so much, Faraj become a little offended, I think. He explained this, and Ramz has it on video - I'll have to see if I can get it from her. He explained this room would have been for slaves. If they misbehaved, they would come in her, be whipped or chained or whatever, in order to learn better social politeness. It made more sense when he explained it.
Old Qu'ran
An old mirror in one of the rooms.
View from the top of the fortress:
We then drove up this intense, curvy road back up to the top (we took the gondola down instead of driving). There were baboons all along the way. I put some of those pictures above.
Hanging Village
Our next stop was about 2 hours away, the Hanging Village. This was one of the great parts about having Faraj take us around - he knew all these random places no one knows about (like the Abha museum/fortress and the Hanging City).
We got there and had to use the bathrooms. Bathrooms are so fun in Saudi. It took the girls 20 minutes to go. And there was no water nor soap, and Bob is really into hand washing, and she may have had a slight breakdown about when someone innocently called her "pee hand Bob".
Looking out over the vista, before taking the gondola to the Hanging Village.
You can see the Village at the bottom of the cliff. The village was built as a way to protect the Bedoins from the Ottomans. The Ottomans were invading the area, and forcing all the young boys to join their army. The tribe in this area took their families and belongings and scaled down that cliff and build their village below. This kept them safe from the Ottomans.
Gondola sign
View of the village from the gondola
Across from where the gondola stopped, there were these ruins:
They looked far more interesting, so we walked/adventured over.
Even a satelite dish managed to make its way here. Crazy.
We left the Hanging Village and drove back 2 hours to eat dinner at this fancy shmancy place. Someone famous (I think Princess Diana?) ate here. Faraj was super excited about this and told us multiple times.
Fancy Shmancy Dinner
Driving there:
Eating:
Such a fun dinner. They put us in this huge room, turned on a TV, and left. Dad was convinced it wasn't in English (it was) and turned it off so we could "get to know each other better". We all had to say something about ourselves and everyone had to say true or false. It was very entertaining.
Dinner itself was also eventful... a couple people had some pretty embarrassing moments... and Camree and I both laughed till we cried. It was awesome.
Well, that's it for Abha. All of this in one day. We were totally wiped out, but it was AWESOME.
I LOVE ABHA!
Labels: Abha, Abha Fort, Family vacation, Hanging Village, Saudi Arabia
posted by Brittney Deanne @ 8:46 PM
1 Comments
