Al Abha

This Saudi's premier vacation location, it's in the mountains at around 7500 feet and a lot cooler than the desert in the summer. Lots of Gulf people built second homes to move their families for the summer.

Sorry these are out of order but I still haven't figured out an easy way to move them around. The follow and many further along are pictures from Rijal Alma Village, this village has been somewhat restored at least on the outside. It includes a museum and a cultural hall for visitors and local gatherings.

On the left is a large pot to cook meat with a traditional stirring spoon, log, branch, ?? it was heavy what ever you would call it. The silver to the right are wedding belts and headbands. A girl would receive these on her wedding day and then wear them on other important dates. This is still a tradition here additional they may include, ankle bracelets, arm bangles, and necklaces all make of silver or gold depending on the families wealth, they can also be rented just for the day.

This area has three kinds of construction, this is the stone houses made from the local stone and trees of the area. I just love the decorations of different colored stones and techniques.

Baboon haven along the side of the road near a dumpster, which as a local you know the trash is placed around or near it not in it.

Beautiful parks all around us and delightfully cool weather.

Banana PLEASE!

Hey I want one too!

YUMMMMMMM

We meet some guys from Jedda taking photographs and making coffee. They invited us for coffee but Salwa (our Saudi tour operator) before we could have some. They were really nice and shared their bananas with us and laughed at our crazy antics.

This is another type of building found in the region. I was not able to get a pogo of a house but will next time I go. Those are stones sticking out of the mud bricks.

Nada and our Japanese flower boy after climbing over the rope bridge.

Beutifily embroidered bloomer the three young Saudi girls bought at the local market/souq.

A British baboon eating a banana!

Having tea and coffee on the top of Green mountain, and in true arab fashion the hill is all decked out in green florescent lights giving it it's name. Nada and the twins with bloomers.

This is a shop/museum on the way down from Green mountain it had some really nice things in the museum.

The view from the airport when we arrived

Shada Palace:  One of the most important heritage features in the town of Abha.  Shada Palace was built in 1927 upon the recommendation of His Majesty the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud to His Excellency Sheikh Abdul Wahab Abu Milha, the financial director of Abha at that time.  The Palace was the pulsating heart of the city of Abha for a period of time and the headquarters of the Prince of the region.

The Almeftaha Arts village is a small group of shops and workshops in the area. It depicts the local architecture with  murals and facades.

Nada dressed as a local of the region.

Our Japanese man dressed as the men would have and still do for traditional events, they are called flower boys. Their head is crowned with flowers and greenery from the area.

A fuzzy shot of  stone mud building.

The view from my hotel room overlooking the city and dam.

The hanging village of Habalah is a place apart. The name means 'rope valley', a reference to the fact that this village, built of stone hewn from rock at the foot of sheer 300m cliffs, was once accessible only by "habal" (rope ladders). The village was settled about 350 years ago by members of the Khatani tribe who sought the most inaccessible location as a means of protection from the Ottomans. Large iron buckets used to haul food and supplies up or down the village, which was inhabited until 1980, are just some of the remains that visitors can still see today. This village was amazing it had everything you could need water, food, protection and a cool location. I saw a stream, blackberries, banana trees, peaches anything that would grow in a Mediterranean climate. The best part we took a cable car down instead of the ropes, I not sure I would have liked that.

Some guys from Jedda tiring to get us to believe they were from the unoccupied village and had climbed down as their parents had.

She wanted her photo taken a young Saudi girl checking out the Hanging Village.

This is a dam out side of the city filled with water 9 kilometers long we had an unusual amount of rain in that region last winter and spring.

Another museum somewhere.

Stairway to heaven, this gives new meaning to the song.

The toilets of roman days? No cooking fires would made in them and meat and vegetables cooked.

Coffee, tea anyone?

Rijal Alma, an Aseeri village in the bend of an expansive valley on the trade route between Yemen, Makkah and the Red Sea. Unlike much of the rest of Saudi Arabia, Rijal Alma has retained its traditional architecture and culture in the face of encroaching development. In contrast to the deserts of the East and the sprawling cities of Riyadh and Jeddah, the region of Aseer is green and mountainous, boasting the country’s highest peak, blossoming trees and rugged horizons. Aseer literally translates as ‘difficult’, which not only reflects the landscape, but also the independent spirit of its inhabitants.

The people of Rijal Alma are largely from the Tihama tribe, whose way of life Ahmed Matter describes as similar to Yemeni culture. The Tihama are also known as the ‘flower men’, due to their custom of wearing garlands of dried herbs and flowers in their hair. The young flower men of today— traditionally considered to be one of the fiercest tribes in Arabia— But Tihama communities continue to be dominated by tribal law and customs, and have remained relatively unaffected by the oil boom and urban development that has transformed the rest of the country.