Since we were living in Qatar at the time, we got into a wee bit of a pickle with traveling. We booked a flight to Japan that we were really looking forward to, but it got cancelled once the fighting between the US-Israel and Iran started. It cooled down a bit later when we had a short holiday coming up for Easter, so we booked a trip to explore Dhaka in Bangladesh. However, Qatar Airways cancelled our flights for some reason. Or rather, they rescheduled our departure and cancelled our return, even though the return flight was still operating. The only reason I could see was that they wanted us to book the now five-times more expensive one-way flight back from Dhaka—those greedy rats!

We still wanted to go somewhere, but flights were hard to get as Qatar Airways was the only airline operating from Doha, and they were not cheap. We also only had four days to go somewhere. Clare found a good deal for Karachi, and we actually got really excited about going back to Pakistan, but then something else got in the way… Pakistan cancelled the “Prior to arrival visa,” and we had to go through the normal process of obtaining a tourist visa. Their page said 7–10 days, which was exactly how much time we had due to the last-minute booking. We even went twice to the embassy in Doha to try to give the process a little “nudge” and get ourselves on a priority list, but I’m writing this over a month after applying for the visa and still nothing. If the timeline makes any sense to you, you can guess that we couldn’t leave and had to cancel the flights.

Now I have to be nice to Qatar Airways: they let us cancel the flight only seven hours before departure and refunded us in full within three days!

We thought about going to Sri Lanka, but it just made no sense for four days. So in the end, we took advantage of having a valid visa to Saudi Arabia. We even still had valid car insurance, as we had to pay for a whole month when we transited through on our way to Dubai a few weeks ago. We wanted to check out the northwest, the AlUla area, and Jeddah, but Saudi Arabia is massive! It was 1,600 km away. We just couldn’t do it. Last time we were in Saudi Arabia, we skipped Hofuf, and since it was the closest city to the border with Qatar, it was time to check it out now!

Day 1: Hofuf Town

We weren’t pressed too much for time, so we didn’t leave super early and had a longer lie-in with Yoda. We took him for a short walk and then said bye-bye to the kennel.

Yoda actually looks like he enjoys the kennel and often “needs it for a wee reset.” But this time he jumped and looked at me like: “Please, don’t leave me here again.” It’s true that we left him there just two weeks ago when we had the Eid holiday. I understand why Clare prefers to wait in the car when he gets dropped off!

Since we had all the necessary paperwork and insurance, and had already used our visa before, it took only about 10 minutes to get through the Saudi border. Clare was driving, as my leg was still not 100%. It took about two hours to get to Hofuf once we cleared the border.

We first drove to Asfar (Yellow) Lake to look for a camping spot before it got dark. It was a good idea because later it would be hard to find the same spot, which was nicely hidden from the main entry road to the lake. We then turned around and drove into the town. Our first stop was the Al Qarah Mountain with its cave system and museum. We read somewhere that it wasn’t worth the visit, but I must disagree. The caves were nice and surprisingly cold inside. Yes, we had to pay 57.5 SAR each for entrance, but it was worth it as we didn’t really plan to visit many places on this trip. We finished with lemonade and ice cream to start our trip right.

We then moved to the northern part of town to the Jawatha Mosque. I must say there is not much to see. It was a small mosque, right next to a water park, and it was closed. We walked around for a minute and continued towards Al Shuaba mountain. It was getting dark, so we just drove by and decided we would come back the next day, possibly on bikes.

Therefore, we started turning towards the old city center. We made quick stops at Mehaires Palace and Sahoud Palace—both were being repaired and were closed. We then continued downtown, parked the car (loads of free street parking outside of the center), and went for a walk. We passed Ibrahim Palace and had a chance for a quick glance inside, but they were just closing. We took a few photos and crossed the road to visit the Al Koot Heritage House and Hotel. It looked nice inside and there was a restaurant, so we sat down for a pot of karak. We didn’t stay for dinner because it was really expensive there (a small pot of karak for 30), and we wanted a local “white-walls-type” restaurant.

It was dark by the time we finished our drinks. For some reason, the town looked more “real” than a city like Doha. People were just walking around, getting their dinners, and going shopping. We enjoyed just wandering around. We finished our walk with a visit to the Al-Ahsa Souq.

We then walked north, navigating the never-ending car tire and battery shops. About half a kilometer in, we found our dinner place. In the middle of the car shops: white walls and a simple menu. We even got to eat on the floor and got a partition cover, as locals are not used to women eating in a place like this. We ordered a full chicken mandi with rice and more karak. They are used to getting karak at the end of their meal, so the fellas were a bit confused by our order. Luckily, they had pictures as there wasn’t much English involved in the ordering. We were full after the whole plate, but couldn’t resist trying one of the Yemeni desserts.

We then walked back to our car and got on the way to our camping spot. We already ran into a few crazy drivers during the day, but clearly, they mostly come out after sunset. I already mentioned that in our previous log from Saudi Arabia: the roads are dangerous there, and not because of the state of the roads!

Day 2: Biking in the Rain

The night was quiet and no one bothered us. But of course, we chose to come during one of the rainy weekends. We got hit a bit during the night, and there was more to come.

To be honest, this winter was weird in the Middle East. Qatar was gray and cloudy for a month, and it was raining almost every other day at one point.

Clare found that there should be bike trails around Hofuf, so we packed our mountain bikes. That was why we also planned to stay near the lake, so we could go biking around it in the morning. We set off early after a cup of coffee. There wasn’t any posted road, but we followed the path made by cars. The path went around the lake on the north side and headed towards the sand dunes we could see in the distance. There were many side turns, but we couldn’t use any since they were sandy and we would get stuck.

The path was hard and dry, but as we were getting closer to the lake, it started to get wetter with large puddles. At one point, we had to get off the bikes and walk around a large basin. The lake was overlooked by a sand dune that provided a great viewpoint. We tried to bike up a bit but got stuck after not even two meters in the sand.

After, we tried to loop around the lake, but as we biked further and further, we were getting cut off by marshes. We followed some car tracks across the wet plains and had fun battling with the sand. Eventually, we reached a point where we got properly stuck in the mud and decided to turn around. We got stopped on the way by some local fellas who were worried about us being lost and gave us bottles of water. With all the twists and turns, we ended up doing 34 km.

Once we returned to the car, we had a small coffee break and continued the other way towards the Al Ahsa Oasis. We struggled to find the way in as the whole place was enclosed by a fence, but eventually (by pure luck), we found one side street that had a hole in the fence big enough for the bikes.

Inside the Oasis, we followed a paved road to the main gate. The whole afternoon part of the bike trip was during on-and-off rain. We have lived in the Middle East for almost six years now, and we haven’t seen this much rain at the end of March. At least it cooled us down.

Our original plan was to bike to Al Shuaba mountain and try some MTB trails that Clare read about. However, by the time we biked around the Oasis, we had over 50 km in our legs that weren’t the easiest in the sand, and we needed a bigger break. We decided not to attempt Al Shuaba since that would be another 10–15 km. We didn’t know if there were actually any good trails, as it was sandy everywhere, and we would be knackered by the time we got back.

Instead, we left the park and biked a bit down the street, where we found a small restaurant. We each got a quarter of a chicken with rice, and once we saw that they also had Kunefe, we had to get a piece of that as well. It was still raining, so we took the takeaway and headed back to the park, where we ate our lunch in a shelter. The way back was more straightforward as we didn’t have to look for the hole in the fence again; we just made a short stop at an old water tower at the top of the Oasis. We finished with over 70 km and covered in mud.

When we packed the bikes in the car, we drove to Al Shuaba for a walk. We really wanted a karak, but nothing was open yet, so we had to make do with an ice cream. The Al Shuaba mountain was transformed into a park with a chairlift, kids’ playgrounds, and even a wee market at the bottom. We walked around and made it to the top, where we found a suspension bridge and the MTB trail. We were glad we didn’t try to bike there, as the trail would likely be too difficult for us, and the whole park was buzzing with people using the trail as a walking path. We thought there might be more trails on the other side of the mountains, but we didn’t go to check.

Although we didn’t really see it while we were actually in the park (which the map called the Al Ahsa Oasis), we could definitely see the oasis now. From the top of the hill, there were palm trees stretching out to the left and right as far as we could see. No wonder the Al Ahsa Oasis is the world’s largest palm oasis and registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site!

Once we got back to the parking lot, the karak place had just opened and we could—finally—get one. But our card didn’t work and we didn’t have any cash! Luckily, a local Samaritan waiting for his order offered to pay for us.

Some shops use a local Mada card system and won’t accept Visa or MasterCard.

We left when it was getting dark and drove north, where we stopped for dinner in a town called Al Husima. It was then an hour’s drive east to Uqair Beach, where we planned to camp. Driving at night in Saudi is not the nicest, as the roads sometimes lack markings. However, the road was relatively quiet.

Uqair Beach seemed very popular and was full of people. We wanted to camp on the beach, but when we arrived, we spotted a sign that prohibited camping. There were cars on the beach, but we couldn’t see any tents. Therefore, we found a spot hidden in the dark away from the street lights and pitched our tent there. We finished the day with shisha.

Day 3: Spin Around the Uqair Park

We woke up to a sunny day near the beach… what more could we want? Oh yes, an ice cream truck passing by!

We wanted to get on the bikes again, so after coffee, we joined the beach and biked along the sea heading south. We spotted several tents then, but were glad that we didn’t camp directly on the beach as it got loud during the night. Arabs are real night people!

It didn’t take long before we ran into construction, but we were able to get around it and followed the beach for a bit longer. Once we were about 3 km from where we parked, we joined the main road that ran around the peninsula. We followed the road continuing south, and except for a few cars, we were the only people around. We passed a Roman-style looking amphitheater being built and a hotel.

The southern part of the peninsula would definitely be better for camping, as it was way quieter and darker. However, since it wasn’t “built up,” it was lacking trees or cover for privacy. Also, up north, there were public toilets available.

It was just under 15 km when we reached the end of the peninsula and the road started turning around to follow the beach on the other side, in the cove. Another ~15 km and we were on the main road leading back to the central beach part where we camped last night. In total, it was 34 km around the Uqair Beach peninsula. We finished with an ice cream on the beach.

We got washed in the public toilets, packed everything away, and were on our way back to the border with Qatar. Right at the exit, we spotted a kiosk at a petrol station and got karak and a wrap. Along the way to the motorway, we made a brief stop at Uqair Fort. The main part of the fort dates back to the Ottoman era, but it was closed. However, we got to walk around the courtyard and living quarters as there was ongoing construction, the doors were open, and no one was stopping us.

Since we were about halfway between Dammam and Salwa, it took only about an hour and a half to get back. We stopped for one more Yemeni chicken and rice lunch and were on our way back across to Qatar.