Red Sand Dunes

A week after visiting the Edge of the World, MJ organized a day trip to the Red Sand Dunes. Due to the previous positive experience, we joined his group again.

Red Sand Dunes is located approximately an hour's drive from Riyadh. As a first-time, we rented just the 110cc ATV for SAR50/hour. An advanced rider should certainly get a bigger one (400cc) as it seems to be much more powerful and fun.

Due to different delays, we missed the sunset hike. However, we still enjoyed hiking in the dark, sandboarding, photo-taking under the full moon and BBQ.

The itinerary was as follows:

• 1:30pm - departed from Riyadh
• 2:30pm - arrived at Red Sand Dunes, looked around and haggled 
• 3:00pm - ATV for an hour
• 4:30pm - left for another dunes area (no ATV, no other people)
• 6:00pm - arrived after sunset. started to hike & sandboard
• 8:30pm - desert BBQ
• 10:30pm - headed back to Riyadh

The above itinerary could be further improved by either leaving Riyadh earlier, or doing only 1 activity (ATV only, or hike/sandboard only). Doing both seems to be a little rushed because when we reached the Red Sand Dunes, it took time to choose a good ATV provider, and to haggle on the price.

In addition, there will always be something unexpected, for example, someone lost something during the ride. Anyway, we always learn and continue to improve :)

Let's enjoy the video:

Click here for the photo album.
Click here for the location of Red Sand Dunes.

The cost of the trip was SAR200 in total (RM150 tour fee + SAR50 ATV rental for an hour).

This was my first time riding on and steering an ATV. Good experience overall. I found that we need to make a quick and firm decision, otherwise the intention to drive up a dune would fail. It's similar to our life, where we need to be decisive and take actions to achieve what we want. Hesitating too much will just get us to nowhere.

One extra bonus from this day trip was - I met a Malaysian from Penang! She is working as a nurse in Saudi Arabia, having a local boyfriend, and she is heading back to Malaysia for a holiday soon. She asked if I want anything from Malaysia and she could bring me. When this question was asked suddenly, I couldn't think of any!!

I wish her a safe trip home, enjoy the Chinese New Year, and bring back a lot of nice food for herself!

The 1st Dream Came True in 2020

Right after the 1st failure, I searched online for some local groups or tours bringing people to visit Edge of the World every weekend.

I came across a few, checked with them about the price and itinerary.

At last, I decided to go with MJ Hiking Group. The organizer, MJ, is originally from Sri Lanka. He has been working and Riyadh for 10 years. He works for a bank and likes to organize small tours to explore different places together with other ex-pats from various countries.

Edge of the World (Jebel Fihrayn), an unexpected and dramatic geological wonder, is located in the rocky deserts and is one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in Saudi Arabia, and part of the much larger Tuwaiq Escarpment. It earned its nickname because of the clear uninterrupted views of the horizon.

MJ initially persuaded me to stay overnight for desert camping, which should be a very special experience. Therefore, I bought a sleeping bag from Carrefour Online and received it right before the arrival of the weekend. However, this plan did not come true finally, because most of the people joining the group would like to go home on the same day.

Basically, our itinerary of the day trip to the Edge of the World is as follows:

• 10:15am - left Riyadh, made a few stops along the way
• 13:00pm - reached Edge of the World & started hiking
• 15:15pm - reached campsite, had BBQ lunch
• 17:00pm - sunset hike
• 18:00pm - back to the campsite 
• 21:00pm - headed home
• 23:00pm - reached Riyadh

It has been extremely windy during the day. However, the good thing was when we arrived,  the place was not crowded. We could enjoy the peacefulness and silence. For sunset viewing, we did it from somewhere secluded too!

The following video provides a better illustration of the trip:

If you would like to check out the full photo album, it is here.

The cost of the trip was SAR200/person. The price includes transportation, food, and drink. It is very much cheaper to follow a group.

Via the day trip, I met with some nurses coming from South Africa and the Philippines. Surprisingly, I knew from them that even the nurses having the same qualifications work in the same department of a hospital, having a similar job scope, their salaries could vary based on where is their original countries.

For example, if you are from Sweden, you will be better paid than someone from India. I'd say this was the biggest surprise of the day!

Failed Trial to the Edge of the World

After reading some articles and watching some videos about the Edge of the World, I've been tempted to visit the place, almost immediately!

So we rented a car to go for a 2D1N weekend road trip, with Edge of the World being the 1st destination.

I was thinking to have it as my 1st "dream come true" in Saudi Arabia...

We did our best, somehow it failed. Regarding the reasons, they are basically about:
1) our lack of experience with desert driving
2) the car rented was not powerful enough

Despite the failure, we were still lucky enough to meet with some camels.

You may get a better understanding after watching the following video:

No matter how I'm not getting defeated by the first failure. I will definitely find other ways to get to the Edge of the World!

Visit to the Ushaiger Heritage Village

We arrived in Saudi Arabia on 30 Nov 2019. After 2 weeks of staying in a hotel, we finally found a place to move to. After moving, we spent some time, mostly during weekends, to slowly find and get all the necessities.

Finally, on our 5th weekend in Saudi Arabia, we managed to rent a car and explore somewhere out of Riyadh, for the first time.

Based on the original plan, day 1 is to go to the Edge of the World. Somehow, it failed. So left the place earlier and headed to Ushaiger Heritage Village. When we arrived, it was almost sunset time. So we just briefly walked around, then spent a night at a hotel in Shaqra.

The next morning, we visited the Ushaiger Village again, spent a few hours strolling around. The visit became much more interesting when we met friendly locals who speak English, and gained a lot of useful knowledge from them.

Afterward, we started our journey back to Riyadh while making a few stops along the way, as shown below.


Map link here

This is the video about our visit to the Ushaiger Heritage Village:

If you would like to check out the full album, click here.

Here is a summary of the expenses:

The total amount is equivalent to MYR 917.58 or AUD 319.31.

Our original vs. actual itinerary is as shown: 

1. Edge of the World (car could not support)
2. Shaqra - Hotel Asfar
3. Ushaiqer Heritage Village
4. Overlooking Ushaiqer
5. Pass by red sand dunes, saw camels
6. Rughabah (not found)
7. Khaled Ibn Ali Al-Jeraisy Historical Mosque
8. Ad Diriyah (failed - could not find where to visit)
9. Uwais Market

The first trial has not been smooth, which means, there are a lot more for us to learn! :)