King Fahd Fountain - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Since 1985, the King Fahd Fountain has shot water 260 meters (853 ft) in to the air at 6pm every day, earning it the Guinness World Record for being the world’s highest water fountain. People gather for picnics and await the occasion. I was invited to have Saudi coffee, dates and cookies with one nice family and able to watch many others enjoy it. Jeddah is the entry point for people coming on religious pilgrimage to Mecca, so there are lots of people from all over the world there.

Exploring Jeddah

Jeddah lies on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, and is the country's second-largest city. There is a lot of aspirational building and pedestrian public space along 30 km of the coast that includes parks, beaches, bike lanes and walking paths. There also is a beautiful old part of the city called Al Balad that is being beautifully restored. (Until recently it seems like Saudi Arabia was only looking forward and building new things vs maintaining history. Thanks to tourism where people want to see historical things, restoration is in progress.)

Like so much of the country, development is spread out and built along a 50 mile stretch of coast line. To see the sites it meant long drives to everything. To state the obvious, gas has always been cheap in Saudi, so people are car dependent and then things are built far apart. Luckily Ubers are super cheap, so once I found my bearings, I figured out what to see where to not be stuck in a car all the time.

What made it feel very different was that it is travel hub serving Muslim travelers going to the holy city of Mecca for Islamic pilgrimage. Millions of pilgrims from all over the world arrive here first. Most of those pictures are posted elsewhere in my Saudi album, but Jeddah’s description would not be complete without the reminder of that. Having been open to the outside has meant Jeddah has always been considered more open in general. Plus add coastal vibes, that always seem to open up a place.

I find the best places to chat up women in the Islamic world is the ladies room. So today in Medina, I started speaking to a Bangladeshi, who lives in London, here in Saudi on pilgrimage, and I say “I live in a Bangladeshi neighborhood in New York and she immediately says “Jackson Heights?” Yup! I live in a neighborhood that is known and home to people from all over the world!

Seeing rock art in Jubbah

 

Change of pace… it’s time to share another aspect of my trip… history. We visited Saudi historical rock art in Hail Province, which has been a global historical site since the nineteenth century. Arab ancestors left traces of their human experiences through drawings representing human and animal figures. It was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015. Jubbah is one of the most famous rock art sites in the Saudi Arabia. It is an oasis with remnants of an ancient lake that was once rich in vegetation, wildlife, and human habitation. Now, it is surrounded by a sea of shifting sands in al-Nefud Desert. Unlike paintings and engravings from the New Stone Age found in other parts of the world, the rock art in Jubbah is characterized by deep carvings. These display very prominent images that still retain their original features significantly. The engravings depict images of men and women, providing insight into the clothing people wore in the past and how they styled their hair. These artistic relics also display animals, hunting scenes, and weapons such as bows, arrows, sticks, and spears.

Jubbah is distinguished by passing through three different eras: the modern era, the Thamudic era, and the late prehistoric period. Thus, its rock art does not belong to one era or one civilization. (Saudipedia) It dates back to up to 10,000 years old.

New Year's Eve in Saudi

 

New Year, New Adventure. Starting off 2026 in Saudi Arabia has been amazing so far. Interestingly the Saudi’s recognize a different calendar, so there were no special activities or traditions on NYE. Instead, after a fancy dinner at a mountain top restaurant, we prepared for visiting Medina and shopped for our abayas (traditional female robes) at a busy local market. Towards midnight my group clicked glasses of non alcoholic beers and mocktails at the hotel cafe and made our own fun. One fun new thing was we read horoscopes and Chinese New Year zodiac predictions, which I think might have to be added to my annual NYE traditions.

Picnicking in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia

 

In Saudi, the long tradition of nomadic Bedouin culture still can be seen. One charming thing is that people love to picnic. They put out blankets and pitch tents right along the sides of the road and head out to camp in the desert. To get a feel for it, my group opted to spend an evening picnicking in a national park outside Ha’il. This is no stop-at-a-grocery-store-and-grab-a-loaf-of-bread-and-some-cheese kind of picnic. No, this is a full on multi plate dinner made on open fires, while we sat around an open fire in a huge tent lined with beautiful carpets and comfy pillows.

While the food was being prepped 2 of us opted to go walk around and check out the park and whole picnic scene. Right by us was another tent and when I looked over it was filled with a big group of Saudi youngish men.

Sidebar: throughout the whole trip, men in their throbes and keffiyeh (headscarves) continued to make me stop and take note. It’s all so beautiful and traditional and it really made my heart skip a beat over and over again. Keep in mind almost ALL the men were dressed this way. So imagine glancing over and seeing a group of men in a classic tent with Arabian carpets and think how my brain felt. Opportunity!!! Well, of course I immediately took out my phone and motioned asking if I could take a picture. The response was big waves and inviting us over to the tent. We were invited to join them for Saudi coffee and sweets and sat down to talk with them.

Caveat: all I ever want to do is speak to locals when I travel. In Saudi, the sexes are still pretty careful around each other, even if the laws have opened up to allowed more interaction with strangers. This meant I had hardly been able to talk to men on my women’s focused trip up to this point and with so many changes happening in society I was eager to hear people’s thoughts. This was my chance! I dove in! I used my brazen friendly open American way to ask tons of questions. I learned they were all cousins and they meet every couple of months to camp together and come from their homes in Qatar and around Saudi Arabia. At least 5 of them had gone to college in the US and had interesting thoughts of memories. They were excited about Vision 2030 and the aspiring goals for Saudi. By the time my guide wandered over and found us sitting there, the look on her face showed me that I wasn’t having a common occurrence. She left us to keep talking and after a bit we politely said our goodbyes. Sweetly one of them stopped by our tent later and offered us a dessert to try, hopefully giving a sign that they enjoyed the chance to speak to us as much as we did.

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