Places to see/avoid in Saudi
 

Hi, I'm looking for any experience of riding through Saudi, we, 2 of us, plan to ride from Qatar to the UK. I think we will be alright for 3 day visas as we are residents here. We have some biker friends in Damman, so will stop there on the first night, then our target is Aqaba.

Day two is planned for Damman to Hafralbatin, 480km, seems dull but 'do-able'

Day three is planned for Halfrabatin to Hail, 700km, a long haul! No timie to stop even if there was anything to see?

Day four is planned for Hail to Aqaba, a stonking 930km!

Question, are these distances realistic?

Is there anything worth a detour?

I wonder just how tight they are on the 3 day visa, but I can ask from my friends in Damman.

Any experience shared would be much appreciated, Rob

Rob
I went from the UAE (Sila) to Aqaba in summer 2008. It was around 3,000km. You can manage the distances you mention if have a big bike (KTM 990?). Outside the cities, the roads are fairly good and traffic-free.

The best part of Saudi (that I saw) is around Al Ula area. It has beautiful desert scenery and rock formations. If you want to visit Madain Saleh you will need 48-hour clearance from the appropriate ministry in Riyadh so it might be something your friends could work on for you in advance.

You might be given a police escort as you get further north-west which shouldn't slow you down (they drive fast). We entered Jordan on the 4th morning of the '3-day visa' and nobody at the border even mentioned it. (We still had police escort right up to the moment of exiting.)

I have some good documentaries about the Hejaz Railway on mp3. They make nice listening when you're in the area. Drop me a line if you'd like a copy.

Stephan

Hi Stephano, thanks for the advice, most encouraging. I think we will give Madain Saleh a miss, short of time and I'm not good at waiting in line for the pen pushers!

The police escort sounds fun! We cant decide what bikes to buy, the KTM 990 Adventure was the tool of choice, but now the new Multistrada has been released, all the road tests say it's fantastic. Apparently there will be one at the Moto GP this weekend at Lusail right here in Qatar, a chance not to miss.

Yes please to the mp3s on the Hejaz railway, rob@stepdata.net (I dont think I can PM on my 'newbie' status on the HUBB). Part of the trip is in homage to T E Lawrence (even if he didnt do everything quite like it is in the film) so the railway, the crossing the corner of the Nefud desert and entering Aqaba from the north all fit together perfectly. Shame I cant afford the 250,000 USD for a Brough!

The files are on their way.

You'd better delete/reformat your e-mail (rob AT stepdata DOT net) to avoid getting spammed.

Have a great trip - I read your web page. Gallipoli is a wonderful place to ride too. :scooter:

Stephan

hello
I have a few questions. We have 2 free weeks left when we are in aqaba. So maybe we want to drive to oman and UAE. Is it worth to drive all the way through Saudi-Arabia to see Oman and UAE?
I'm also interested in the distances in Saudi-Arabia. Is the shortest/fastest way from Aqaba to UAE 3000km? and is there anybody who knows the distance from oman (by example salalah) to aqaba?

Many thanks in advance

greetz brend

Have you considered Sila-Haradh-Kharj-Riyadh-Buraidah-Hail-Jouf-Tabuk-Aqaba?

Riyadh National Museum - went there this morning, wish I had more time there, quite interesting!

Spare time in Jordan easy to kill, Wadi Rum (camp at Bair Ali), various Castles, Kings Highway, Roman sites. Smashing.

bin

Hi Bin Ridin, what is riding in Riyadh like? I made a decision to avoid the place as I heard the locals treat bike riders as targets! For my route, not going via Riyadh makes sense if I go via Damman to meet up with my biker mate, but I'd still appreciate any experience of local conditions.
My trip 'home' is starting to make loads of sense, the first part, through Saudi, Jordan and Syria will be 'in the camel hooves of Lawrence of Arabia', following the rough route of the Hejaz railway, then we swap over to being biker/divers as we hug the coast of the mediterranean and dive dive dive all the way to the top of the Adriatic, then we have to think of some other pastimes as we head through Budapest, Prague etc.....

I found Riyadh aggressively scary. Much worse than Sharjah where I ride every day or Delhi, Mumbai etc.

Think sexual repression and large, powerful cars and you get the idea. It was worth visiting for the Kingdom Centre but I wouldn't want to hang around there.
Stephan
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-Mamlaka_.jpg

I'd say traffic in Riyadh is the worst followed closely by Jeddah and Dammam/Khobar. Not even comparable to the tame puttering around that the rest of the Gulf does :mchappy:.
You need to ride like an aggressive cowboy treating the other cars like a bunch of cows, bulls and a few bears !!! Filtering constantly to keep yourself up and above the average speed limit of the herd makes sure you ride back home everyday.

hello Bin Ridin
yeah it is right. these places are really great. but we have been at these places twice already so it is really spare time. so still consider if it is worth to drive saudi-arabia to see oman and UAE. a great option otherwise is to take the ferry from UAE to Iran and drive that way back to europe. but I don't know if it is safe. but that is maybe something for another thread.

thanks, brend

Brend, what safety concerns do you have? There are no specific dangers on the route you mention other than traffic.
Stephan

Riyadh traffic is risky on a bike, avoid if poss. You could use taxis to get around, leaving bike at hotel or wherever. No real problem, just not a good idea if you don't know the town.
Have you been to Madain Saleh and Al Ula? Good TEL visit.
The railway station in Tabuk has been restored, I read recently, but I have not been there.
After Tabuk, which crossing are you heading for? You could follow north to Halit Amma where there are remnants of the Hijaz Railway., and 15kms over the border, there is a road to the West towards Wadi Rum. I did not try it as I was alone and I think it is not all paved. Would love to ride it next time. Stayed in Bait Ali camp, recommended. Good stuff on Google Earth.
Bin

hello Stephan
safety concerns about Iran i mean. our government says to all inhabitants to avoid the country. when it is safe and no problem to travel there then we would love to go there and make a little round trip, turkey syria jordan saudi arabia oman UAE iran and turkey. that would be great.

thanks
brend

Hi Bin Ridin, we plan to cross at Halit Amma, but then turn south to Aqaba, well to follow in the camel hooves of T E Lawrence you have to approach Aqaba overland dont you:). We plan to dive the Cedar Prize, then a day in Petra, then follow a bit more of the Hejaz railway on an off to Amman, then Damascus, then turn left for Beruit, more diving, back into Syria, Antioch to see the holy hand grenade, Aleppo, then Turkey etc etc

What time of year are you travelling? I cannot emphasise how tough it is to do long distances here in summer. You will be very ill if you do 900 km days in the summer heat.

There is good advice here from the Saudi guys (Hi Lar, Vik)

Avoid the center of Riyadh at any time of day or night unless it is very early morning like 5-6 am. Some of the local youths may think it's fun to drive you off the road (or stone you :) )

Three places worth seeing in KSA:

The Empty Quarter

Al Ula/Medain Saleh/the route of the Hejaz railway

Wahba Crater on the highway from Riyadh - Jeddah


It's a big country and 3 days doesn't give you much time for sightseeing.

Oman is my favorite place in the Gulf, parts of it are beautiful.

I'd recommend flying to Oman and hiring a car there. Can you get transit visas OK? It's big miles from from Aqaba to Salalah, I drove from Riyadh to Muscat via Abu Dhabi and down the coast to Ras al Jinz and it was around 2250 km each way and took three days.

You'll be driving for a week there and back.

Hi Red Snapper, thanks for the advice, all very helpful. I've been doing loads of route planning and the main issue seems to be the lack of places to stay between Al Jobayl (where my biker mate lives, not Damman as I thought) and anywhere else. I guess we could do Jobayl to Hafralbatin at 420km, then Hafralbatin to Hail, 770km, the Hail to Tabouk at 680km then Tabouk to Aqaba at 260km. That makes 4 days in all at a more realistic pace. We plan to depart May 2011, and yes we understand the heat and dont underestimate the effects, the main issue seems to be the huge distances between towns. Staying in Tabouk will give us planty of time to see the station and the remains of the Hejaz railway. We plan a shake down tour from Qatar to Oman this winter, no good for experiencing hot weather riding, but should at least allow us to work out how many pairs of underpants to pack! Thanks for all your advice, Rob

You may be riding in temperatures of 110F / 40+ C so riding early morning/ late afternoon is best, getting out of the sun at mid day. The facilities at some of the roadside garages may not meet your standards :)

Camping is not usually a problem in KSA, it's huge and empty inland and if you get away from the main highway out of site you won't have any problems, unless you are in a restricted area.

Carry a shade cloth to rig between bikes if you break down or take time out of the sun.

The glare can be something else, good sunglasses are essential.

Lightweight riding gear in light colours, well ventilated is best to minimise solar gain.

Carry lots and lots of water and rehydration salts. You can get through 12 litres a day in the open in Saudi in Summer.

Relative humidity in from the coast is very low so look after your eyes. They can dry out and the dust can cause a few problems.

Good Luck! And if you go in may 2011 let me know, I might hook up with you through Saudi.

Hi QatarRider, just a remark to the Hejaz station in Tabuk. In my opinion it is not worth a visit. The whole area is fenced off and is not open to the public. You can just look through the iron bars. Not much details of the station and the other railway installation are preserved. Suggest you visit the installation in Mada'in Saleh: station, workshops, railcar wagons etc are well maintained there.

As regards landscape: the part East of Ha'il is more or less flat and for me it was boring. However, around Ha'il and West of it (e.g. Al Ula) but also towards Jordan I enjoyed it - black rocks/mountains, hilly and this Spring in some places green.

I tried to enter Riyadh by my own car, but made a U-turn, some 5 km before the center - too risky.

You may want to consider also to spend a night in Al Majma'ha: small town where you will find your way easlily, with good infrastructure (incl hotel).

regards
Hans

PS. Crossed KSA twice this year: once in February and once in March

This road from Halat Ammar border to Wadi Rum is in a very bad condition, the tarmac is flaked off and you only have the stony sub-strate to ride on. You cannot ride slowly cos all the undulations and huge potholes will wreck up your body, so u need to keep the speeds up (say 100kmph). The 50kms odd stretch was the toughest that i have ever ridden 2-up fully loaded on my KTM 990 adventure. After this stretch i had to take a break to relax my pumped up arms. NOT RECOMMENDED if you don't have a proper dual sport bike with long travel suspension.

PS : Hi Ric, how RUH treatin ya ? It rained cats n dogs 2 days ago and the weather is just fantastic (still !!!). Is it the same over there ?

Hi All, many thanks for the advice, all useful stuff. I think I'll start a new thread on similar lines for each country, one per month, I have plenty of time before the 'off'!
For those of you with time on your hands, have a look at The Long Way Home - Home I've created a little website for the trip home. I rave about Weebly, I tried a few other blog/web sites, Weebly is so easy to use, well worth a try if you fancy letting the world know what you're up to.

Hi Vicky, sounds like a tough ride esp. two-up. Thanks for the info. bin