Blog 43 Riyadh to Al Kharg

30th October

The ride on the main highway was predictably busy but whilst I made the wrong decision to leave my digs later in order to finish off my blogs, it was the right decision not to attempt the road at night and camp in the desert. It’s not comfortable but I love it. I don’t sleep, until the trying exhausts me, but it is the real end of adventure.

Starting this morning at 5.30am as light sprung into view gave me the best chance of surviving the onslaught of a slightly lower volume of traffic. After a couple of hours the desert seceded to buildings and I saught refuge in a Dunkin’ Doughnut coffee place.

After my doughnut I ride on existing by the thickness of my skinny lycra shorts alongside the torrent of early morning cars. I once saw graphics on a bridge over a motorway in England which read, “Morning Lemmings” and it feels just the same here.

Good Morning Lemmings

Just before the city I detoured to Ridyah’s World Heritage site at Diriyah. It's a tale of two halves.

A Bit of Information

Diriyah is a town in Saudi Arabia located on the north-western outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, and served as the capital of the Emirate of Diriyah under the first Saudi dynasty from 1727 to 1818. Today, the town is the seat of the Diriyah Governorate, which also includes the villages of Uyayna, Jubayla, and Al-Ammariyyah, among others, and is part of Ar Riyad Province.

The Turaif district, the first capital of Saudis, in Diriyah was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. The layout of the city itself can be easily studied in the National Museum of Saudi Arabia with the help of a large-scale detailed model of the city on display there. Diriyah also hosts the Diriyah ePrix race for the Formula E championship.

Diriayh

There is the Cafe d L’Espkanade and the Flamingo Room, names straight out of Knightsbridge. Brunch and Cake, a cafe called ’Somewhere’ and along with ‘Collective Africa’ a catalogue of places where wealthy Saudi’s come to be seen to play. And that they do very well.

Map of the Day