Alula was a capturing city to visit (no pun intended), where the Nabateans captured it as the last civilisation and claimed it as the second biggest city after Petra. Though they stretched from Yemen to Damascus, and from west Iraq right into the Sinai Desert; barely anyone knew how large their empire really was. Through all the writing that were carved on the walls in Dedan in a language that was definitely not Arabic (maybe Aramaic?), the evidence proves that Dedan played an important role in linking the civilisations of North and South Africa. They would draw out their history in these tombs, just like how we would write and draw in our diaries today. In the National Museum, I saw a tomb from Meda’in Saleh where a man killing a snake was carved on, and I found it so amazing how the lifestyle has completely changed; where these memories or tasks would not be one that we would even think of achieving. These few surviving evidences were very well preserved and is also very significant since there is no extensive history written about the Nabateans, however, I was unable to explore the most important Nabatean site next to Petra, Mada’in Saleh (I got ill, thanks heatstroke).

As we were travelling to our resort in Alula by coach; Aziz, our photographer and friend who has such great pride in his birth country, Alula, was explaining to us that the Thamud tribe has lived in the region 7-8,000 years ago, though they were replaced by the Nabateans who were the last to occupy the land. He would always tell us how deserted Alula was, but I just never took it seriously since I thought he must have been exaggerating. Yeah…he wasn’t. The coach felt as if someone put black card all over the windows, that’s how pitch black it was; but it was because of how the city was filled with mountains and sand, yet zero lights. Though it was a shocking factor, the next morning was a beauty to wake up to, it truly felt like paradise, and something I have never experienced before. The reason that humans wanted to desperately occupy the beautiful city of Alula was due to the amount of water that the city has. We explored the wells, as well as one of the biggest wells in Dedan, and it was truly fascinating to see how well-preserved it all was though the resources were very limited back in the day. I was unable to join the rest of my group the next day, but I still ended my last night in Alula beautifully by finally getting the chance to see the Elephant Rock (which really does look like an elephant!), and watching the sunset from a picturesque view from the highest tops of the mountains. We also got a chance to go drifting which was something I was dying to try, and that was truly the best way to end my day in the best city, Alula.

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Hi, I’m Reem Nasir, 20 years old, and I study English Language and Linguistics at Kings College London. I’m from London but originally from Yemen. I wanted to visit Saudi Arabia because I feel like everyone knows about the obvious aspects such as Makkah and Madinah, but not much about the historical side and what made Saudi Arabia the country it is today. Going to villages such as Diriyah, and forts such as Masmak, I was able to really see everything behind the country, but through this trip I was also able to see what Saudi Arabia was working on going forwards as part of Vision 2030. I definitely want to visit again, but more than that, I don’t want to ever leave.