Introducing Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia. The world’s last great forbidden kingdom, and an emblem of everything most inexplicable to the West: the Middle East, Islam, oil and terrorism. For centuries the country was considered closed to outsiders, penetrable only to the bravest and the boldest, such as Richard Burton, TE Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger, who risked life and limb to get there. Today it continues to exist only in the realms of the imagination for most people, who still relish the sensational stories surrounding it.
And yet, ever so tentatively, the country is beginning to permit travellers past its portals. For those willing to ‘risk’ the realm, there may well be a surprise or two. Madain Saleh, called Saudi Arabia’s Petra, numbers among the most magical and monumental sites of the Middle East. Or it would if more people knew about it.
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Locally made baskets and ceramic bowls for sale in Najran Basket Souq.
- Tony Wheeler
- Lonely Planet photographer
