Meda'in Saleh weekend

Hi guys - here is my blog for the last week..

My week was spent being busy as usual - work was a little quieter than normal as I have now pretty much done all my personal training work so just waiting for feedback on it basically. Also with the current volcanco issue then my DVD practical exam is cancelled as my colleague is stuck in the UK.. that is causing nightmares world wide I know... I had more car hassle - this time one of the hoses had split with the radiator fluid in it - so more too-ing and fro-ing with the mechanic - first time I have seen a guy fix a car using his mobile phone as a torch!!! Anyway its fixed now I think but my faith in my car has gone down hill... Weds night I had a few friends round for drinks - it was nice to have space to entertain rather than trying to cram everyone into my apartment - I hope its not much longer that I have to wait for a house....

So, Thursday, off on the trip to Meda'in Saleh. We flew from Dammam to Medinah but were delayed almost 2 hours before we started! So, this set us back and then we were supposed to have a police escort all the way to Al Ula (where we were staying) and this hadn't bee arranged, so at every check point we were stopped while the police sorted out drivers to accompany us. We must have stopped around 10 times on the 4 hour journey which then ended up taking 6 hours! We were only 5 miles away at the last stop and they were making us wait so I got out and yelled at the police in what Arabic I know to hurry up as we were all tired and fed up of travelling. It worked it seems and we got there at 9.30pm...

The next day we were up early for breakfast and then went to Meda'in Saleh to see the tombs. There are around 160 of them - built by the Nebateans some 2000 years ago. Those of you who have visited Petra will see the link and that they are built by the same people. We also visited the railway that was destroyed by Lawrence of Arabia - this linked Meda'in Saleh withMekka and Petra in the early 1900s. After this we then went to the mud village - it was lived in until most r

ecently in the 1970's apparently - all the houses were joined together - segregation was practised so that the women ran around in the alleyways and the men would go around via the roofs!!!

After lunch, back at the hotel, we went back to see the largest tomb - Qasr Al Farid which was amazing - the guy who had this built was indeed very well off! Following this we went to see an archeological site - apparently not many folk are allowed in so we were lucky - and then the Lion's tombs - these were built by the Dadones - the Nebateans came down from the South and the Dodones from the South - so there are 2 different styles of tombs. We then went to watch the sun set over Elephant Rock. Dinner followed and then a relatively early night. Lawrence of Arabia was on DVD but as it was on for 4 hours I didn't stay up!

Up early Saturday - we went climbing up a mountain and saw some mosiac art work - I had trouble climbing due to my bad knee though and then we went to the museum and then back to pack and leave. The police did appear to have their act together and the journey back was relatively smooth, apart from a few short stops this time.

This week has been busy really - I had to go to the Dr to see about my knee and have tendinitis so am out of action for a while which is not good.. Also got called to an emergency meeting regarding the casino night this Thursday and due to a security issue we have had to cancel - its happened before but so annoying with only 3 days to go. Cannot risk folk possibly losing their jobs really just for a night out... so I am now going to Bahrain tomorrow to do some shopping!

Here is the link to the rest of my photos too:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jillbarrows69/MedinahSaleh?feat=directlink

Anyway, hope to hear from you soon...

Jill

xxx