Travelers exploring the beauty of Saudi Arabia - a country the size of Western Europe

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

إطلالة على قرية ذي عين الأثرية - الباحة by Jawad Roumi جواد الرومي, on Flickr


View . by Hmood Al Nasseer, on Flickr

KSA has some of the largest lava fields and volcanic areas in the world. Mainly in Western KSA, Hijaz in particular.


Albida Volcano, Kybar, saudi Arabia by Abdullah Alturaigy, on Flickr


Volcano Madina Saudi Arabia by Abdullah Alturaigy, on Flickr


kasser by Abdullah Alturaigy, on Flickr


Alkasser Lake Zulfi Saudi Arabia by Abdullah Alturaigy, on Flickr

Traditional Hijazi architecture in Jeddah. The old town is a World UNESCO Heritage Site.


Old Jeddah by BA&AA, on Flickr

Prayer time in Southern KSA.

فرسان by Jazan Know, on Flickr

Saudi Arabia Snow by ABO_TMEEM, on Flickr

Madain Saleh Archaeologic Site, Saudi Arabia by Eric Lafforgue, on Flickr

faifa 2011 by al_gasemy, on Flickr

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

A beach in Jeddah:



Ras Tanura beach in the Eastern Province:

Ras Tanura Beach by Andrew A. Shenouda, on Flickr

Beaches of Saudi Arabia - Ras Tanura by Justin Scott, on Flickr

Neighborhoods nearby:

Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia (NASA, International Space Station Science, 12/30/07) by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, on Flickr


فرسان by Jazan Know, on Flickr

Tabuk area منطقة تبوك by tabuk تبوك, on Flickr

١طريق الحوطه by عبدالله العيدي, on Flickr

كشته بحريه by عبدالله العيدي, on Flickr


Historic Jeddah_12 by AHMED SAMIR, on Flickr


KAFD Skyline Dec-2-16 by Bader Alotaby, on Flickr


KAFD Skyline II Dec-2-16 by Bader Alotaby, on Flickr

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

HDR-0024.jpg by Linda Polik, on Flickr

Architecture HDR-Explore Front Page by Tariq Almutlaq, on Flickr


Untitled by Ayman Zaid, on Flickr
IMG_0272 by Brian, on Flickr

مسجد copy by عبدالله العيدي, on Flickr

RM21012_Masjid_Nabawi_Panorama_012 by WaytoPixel.com, on Flickr
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals by || Msh3L Alomran ||, on Flickr

ALMADINAH by Muhammad Bakhdar, on Flickr


تحدى وتنافس by محمد السويد, on Flickr



Al Qassim by KhanSaqib, on Flickr


Al Qassim by waleed hider, on Flickr


Ottoman, Asfan Road, jeddah by Abi C.P, on Flickr


#Jeddah by khled @elgende2010, on Flickr

Al Tayebat Centre for Civilization and Stuff by Claudia Loughran, on Flickr


Al Tayebat Centre for Civilization and Stuff by Claudia Loughran, on Flickr


masjid nabawi by khled @elgende2010, on Flickr


Untitled by yaser alghamdi, on Flickr



JEDDAH by Muhammad Bakhdar, on Flickr

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - LANTERN SCULPTURE by Ricky Viray, on Flickr


Al Bujairy Naighborhood in Ad Dariyah Saudi Arabia a heritage town they had been revived to remember our ancestors حي البجيري بالدرعية التاريخية به محلات تراثية ومقاهيby Faisal Bin Zarah, on Flickr


Al Ula mountains العلا - Saudi Arabia by Eric Lafforgue, on Flickr


King Fahad National Library at night by Faisal Bin Zarah, on Flickr


Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Mosque by Faisal Bin Zarah, on Flickr


Qassim Museum by Ayie Zamora, on Flickr


السياحة الريفية بمحافظة عنيزة بمنطقة القصيم by owyed alowyed, on Flickr


Zyaan by محمد البحيصي, on Flickr


Palace of Shubra in Taif - Saudi Arabia by Eric Lafforgue, on Flickr


... by Fahad Almazyad, on Flickr


Waterfall in the Middle of the Desert by Clive Chanel, on Flickr


quba mosque by Harry Purwanto, on Flickr


Madinah by Akram Saleh Alsinany, on Flickr


The Holy Ka'aba by Rehan Jamil, on Flickr

Abha Asir Region-7397 by Linda Polik, on Flickr

Abha Rijal Almaa-7447 by Linda Polik, on Flickr

Al-Ula-Old Town4 by Linda Polik, on Flickr

Al-Ula-Nabatean Workers Tombs2 by Linda Polik, on Flickr


Madain Saleh view - Saudi Arabia by Eric Lafforgue, on Flickr


Najran oasis - Saudi Arabia by Eric Lafforgue, on Flickr

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Over 50% of Saudi Arabia's territory is mountainous and in much of Hijaz and Southern KSA there are also tropical areas where many exotic fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea etc. grow:

Asir region South Saudi Arabia KSA by Life-Style, on Flickr

faifa 2011 by al_gasemy, on Flickr

مرتفعات عسير 2010 by alkodair, on Flickr

جبال عسير by Khalid Yousef, on Flickr

faifa 2011 by al_gasemy, on Flickr

Jazan region South Saudi Arabia KSA by Life-Style, on Flickr

KSA has a very rich marine life and a long beautiful and largely untouched coastline. For instance the Red Sea is home to the second largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia (NASA, International Space Station Science, 12/30/07) by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, on Flickr


فرسان by Jazan Know, on Flickr

Tabuk area منطقة تبوك by tabuk تبوك, on Flickr

​

There are almost 2000 islands in KSA as well. The vast, vast majority are uninhabited. Most are found in the Red Sea.

In recent years several new volcanic islands have emerged in the Red Sea due to volcanic eruptions. More specifically in the waters close to KSA and Yemen. Most recently last year.

This video is 5 years old.

It's quite amazing really.

KAUST wrote a paper on the subject not long ago.

Plate separation births two volcanic islands | KAUST Discovery

Another article from another source.

Birth of two volcanic islands in the southern Red Sea : Nature Communications : Nature Publishing Group

During his first exploration of the Red Sea the legendary underwater explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau observed about the shorelines of Saudi Arabia and Sudan - "Life abounds in bank after bank of exuberant coral structures, second only to those of the Great Barrier Reef in extent and exceeding it perhaps in splendour. Here there is deep clarity, blazing colour, and active fauna".

For years cloaked in secrecy, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has exploded on to the tourist track. International Cultural Tourism has been evident for many years with groups coming from Japan, America and Europe. Saudi Arabia is now realising a national heritage and opening sustained dive tourism. Our Saudi Arabia dive trips are from Liveaboards and proving to be a great success. This is as a result of spectacular diving with newly discovered dive sites and an abundance of large pelagic activity both on our Yanbu and Farasan Banks itineraries, with several species of sharks including silkies, oceanics and tigers, as well as giant mantas.

It has been said that Saudi Arabia is one of diving's last frontiers, and it is a fact that very few westerners have ever been able to dive here. The appeal of diving almost untouched, barely explored reefs is undeniable. With an incredible variety of marine life and some of the most flourishing coral reefs to be found anywhere in the world - it is no wonder that so many famous explorers have dived here.

The Red Sea is rated as one of the top ten diving destinations in the world. Egypt, Sudan and Jordan offer fantastic diving, but how many of you have dived the Saudi Arabian Red Sea? How many of you know anyone who has? Without question, many if not most of the outer reefs in that region have never been dived. The diversity of marine life and fauna along the reefs really are quite exquisite and offer the diver a high quality and extremely memorable diving experience.​

http://www.diving-world.com/saudi.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cousteau

That is it for now and a very small glimpse of the diamond that is KSA.

 

[nahtanbob]

only request is to label the photos so we know what it is

 

[Mithridates]

such beautiful country to capture.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

such beautiful country to capture.

That never happened in history and cannot happen. KSA has been unconquered throughout history. Too big and too harsh/difficult landscapes and climate, lol. The Greeks, Romans, ancient Egyptians (closely related to us and fellow Semites) and ancient Mesopotamians (closely related to us and fellow Semites) next door as well as Persians in the past (you are an Azeri if I am not wrong). Even Ethiopians tried, lol. Mongols too. Westerners (Brits and French) too but failed. Happened the other way around though. Ottomans (most of them were fellow Arabs) did not conquer Arabia either only limited areas of it (Hijaz) and never had many soldiers. Local rulers (Sharif of Makkah) ruled on their behalf and were independent rulers. Najd, Eastern Province, Southern KSA and Northern KSA were never part of the Ottomans. 90% of the country.

Anyway everyone is welcome to visit and that includes Iranian neighbors as well in particular Iranian Arabs but everyone else too. As long as they are peaceful. 100.000's of pilgrims visit already but until very recently they could only visit those 2 cities and the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, lol.

only request is to label the photos so we know what it is

Some of the photos (in fact many) are from Flickr and they have descriptions. Obviously not all. Just google the images.

B&W - Masjid Al Nabwi by Sadoons Photography, on Flickr

Untitled by Hani Bader, on Flickr


rejal alma3 0003 by osama alslmi, on Flickr


tehaan1 by osama alslmi, on Flickr


رجال ألمع by osama alslmi, on Flickr

Below is a typical Hijazi house with a slightly modern touch. Built by Sayyid Sami Angawi. One of the standard bearers of Hijazi culture and a prominent architect as well as a prominent Sufi.

Sami Angawi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With former US president Jimmy Carter.

His house is built in a typical Hijazi style and resembles the old town of Jeddah (Al-Balad) which is a World UNESCO Heritage Site.

The embarrassing part of all this is that once not that long ago every major city in Hijaz had such old city centers (often much better preserved than those found in Jeddah today) but much is sadly in a very bad condition or gone.

If just 20% of the new houses/buildings were built in the traditional Hijazi style I would be a very happy person. Unfortunately this is just a distant dream as hardly anyone in the world continues to built modern-day buildings in a traditional fashion other than occasionally. I can only think of Yemen but that is a double-edged sword as many of the buildings built in a traditional standard don't live up to the modern-day standards that many (vast majority) of people aspire to.

Anyway here is a reportage.

 

[Wilhelm II]

I love those green lands

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Some amazing videos. All in Arabic unfortunately.

 

[Wilhelm II]

Lost and Unknown treasure of world

 

[nahtanbob]

only request is to label the photos so we know what it is

I am a geography buff. But i should confess I am clueless about Saudi Arabia

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

I am a geography buff. But i should confess I am clueless about Saudi Arabia

This should help:

 

[nahtanbob]

This should help:

I am familiar with the stuff you mentioned. I am not that bad

I do not know the name of mountain ranges, any rivers (if they exist), ethno-botany of the region etc

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

I am familiar with the stuff you mentioned. I am not that bad

I do not know the name of mountain ranges, any rivers (if they exist), ethno-botany of the region etc

Well, Google should help you with that.