Saudi Arabia Map

 

 

            Middle East Map

latest picture: January 12, 2016

• click a picture to see details

This is our eighth visit of Saudi Arabia, whereas seven were transit trips: 1) 5/25/1994 United Arab Emirates-Jordan;

2) 3/10/1996 Jordan-Kuwait; 3) 4/6/1996 Kuwait-Bahrain; 4) 4/10/1996 Bahrain-Qatar; 5) 4/15/1996 Qatar-UAE;

6) 6/15/1996 Yemen-Jordan; 7) 2/2/1999 Jordan-UAE; 8) 1/9/2016 Sudan-UAE

001  Jeddah, 1/9/2016: Upon arrival with the

ferry from the Sudanese port of Suakin at the

Red Sea, we start with our 3 days transit visa

to the U.A.E. and marvel once more at

Jeddah’s artwork: The cars roundabout with

four vehicles encased in concrete …..

002  ….. and the one with a huge globe

(Globe Roundabout) – one of the most

famous city monuments, which is

colorfully lit-up at night

003  Leaving Jeddah, impressing desert

mountains are greeting us; from here the

road #15 climbs to about 5'000 ft. to

Taif to the 6'500 ft. [1'500m] high pass of

the Sarawat mountain range that runs from

Jordan to Yemen along the Red Sea

004  The Wadi Laban Bridge along the

Riyadh ring road #500; below are tens of

thousands of cars impounded by the police

005  Riyadh’s Wadi Laban cable-stayed

bridge. It was opened in 1997, has in each

direction 3 lanes, has a width of 117 ft.

[35.8m] and a length of 2'503 ft. [763m]

006  The suburb of Tuwaiq before

Riyadh appears. We stop at a super-

market and already experience the Arabian

hospitality when a friendly Arab surprises

us with a golden shining flacon of perfume

007  Reddish chains of dunes are stretching

to the right and to the left of the good and

fast desert highway #10 between Haradh

and Al Batt'ha at the UAE border

008  Desert road sign along highway #10:

We have accomplished almost three-quarter

(740mi./16.3h/= Ψ 45mi./h) of the 904 mi.

[1'455km] long transit stretch from

Jeddah to the UAE

009  The sun is setting in the desert,

when we reach Khasrah at 2'766 ft.

[843m] altitude after a daily drive of

390 mi. [628km]/=8.6 hours and camp

at a Sasco Gasoline Station for the night

010  The colorful wagons of a long cargo

train disrupt the monotony of the desert. It

is on its 345 mi. [556km] long journey from

Dammam on the Arabian Gulf via Haradh

to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia with

its 7.7m of people

011  Our LandCruiser on the black asphalt

ribbon of the Saudi highway #10, which runs

before the UAE border dead straight for

162 mi. [261km] through the desert. Result:

The "Longest driven journey" drives on the

"Longest straight road" (Guinness Book)

012  A Bedouin tent in the Saudi

Arabian desert. Bedouins live mainly

of livestock farming. They have a very

special relation to their Arabian camels

(Camelus dromedarius)

013  A herd of camels is roaming through

the endless desert. The desert is their

home. They have a life expectation

of 40 to 50 years …..

014  ….. and can survive two weeks

without any water with a daily march

of at least 25 mi. [40km] …..

015  ….. the proud owner of this

handsome herd is nowadays following

his precious desert ships in a

comfortable air-conditioned SUV

016  Our traveling trio in front of a

golden shimmering sand dune – one of

our most loved scenery. We are located

here between the two big deserts of

Ad-Dahna and Rub' al-Khali

017  Liliana looks happily out of the window

of our LandCruiser. The encounters with

camels spur her love for the desert. Conform

to the country's dress code, she wears a

headscarf and a full-lenght "Abaya"

018  Farewell from the dunes of

Saudi Arabia that fascinated us during

the 900 mi. [1'455km] long transit

route, limited to exactly 72 hours

Next website from the United Arab Emirates:

United Arab Emirates – from Saudi Arabia border in Batt‘ha to Sharjah and the ferry port to Iran – January 12th to April 10th, 2016

Next website of our 2nd Central and North Asia trip 2016 to Russia:

Iran – from the ferry port Bandar Abbas to Turkmenistan border near Ashgabat – April 11th to May 6th, 2016

The African trip 2013-16:

CapeVerde: Santiago/Praia part 1 – November18th to December 13th, 2013

CapeVerde: Fogo – Dezember13th to 23rd, 2013

CapeVerde: Brava – December 23rd to 26th, 2013

Cape Verde: Santiago/Praia part 2 – December 26th, 2013 to February 28th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Nicolau – February 28th to March 13th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Vicente/Mindelo part 1 – March 13th to 20th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antγo/Eastern side part 1 – March 20th to April 7th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antγo/Western side part 2 – April 7th to 10th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Vicente/Mindelo part 2 – April 10th to 29th, 2014

Namibia Part 1 – from Walvis Bay to Windhoek

Angola Part 1 – September 26th to October 4th, 2014

Angola Part 2 – October 4th to 22nd, 2014

Namibia Part 2 – from Windhoek to the Angolan border, back again and on to South Africa

South Africa Part 1 – from Namibia border to Capetown – January 22nd to February 23rd, 2015

3rd Major Repair of our LandCruiser FJ60 - 1982  (due to two broken sideshafts)

South Africa Part 2 – from Capetown to Tsitsikamma National Park – February 24th to March 13th, 2015

South Africa Part 3 – from Addo National Park to the Lesotho border – March 13th to April 7th, 2015

Lesotho – April 7th to 15th, 2015

South Africa Part 4 – from the Lesotho to the Swaziland border – April 15th to 23rd, 2015

Swaziland – April 23rd to 28th, 2015

South Africa Part 5 – from the Swaziland to the Botswana border  – April 28th to May 15th, 2015

Botswana

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

Malawi

Armed Robbery in Malawi on July 31st/August 1st, 2015

Tanzania

Kenya

Ethiopia Part 1 – from Kenya to Djibouti – October 25th to November 18th, 2015

Djibouti – October 18th to 27th, 2015

Ethiopia Part 2 –  from Djibouti to Sudan – November 27th to December 9th, 2015

Sudan – December 9th, 2015 to January 8th, 2016