Tourism in Saudi Arabia
To enjoy a diverse nature, historical treasures where the ancient history, many cultures, and delicious cuisine, and holy land. All these and other things make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a destination for millions of tourists worldwide. for religious, environmental, or recreational tourism.
Whether your holiday is long or short, you will enjoy with a host of experiences, adventures, and fun activities. in addition to Saudi Arabia is the first destination for lovers of shopping, food, and sports alike.
Saudi Arabia:
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries in the Middle East by area, and it is located specifically in the southwest of the Asian continent and forms the largest part of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of about two million square kilometers.
Money in Saudi Arabia:
The official currency of Saudi Arabia is the Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR).
The Riyal is pegged to the US Dollar at a rate of 3.75 SAR = 1 USD
Where to travel in Saudi Arabia?
Riyadh: The capital that brings together history and modernity.
Best Time to Visit: November - March
A perfect mingle of modernization and traditions, Riyadh is a place that has both historic charms, in addition, sophisticated modern architectural buildings.
Also, it is home to cultural pleasure for all tourists and business travelers alike.
(Riyadh, 2020)
Places to visit in Riyadh:
The Edge of the World. It is an unexpected and dramatic geological wonder in Riyadh's rocky desert northwest.
(Riyadh, Edge of the world 2020)
Heet Cave a fantastic unknown cave in Riyadh. It is a natural swimming pool it is about 40km from Riyadh City. It is well worth visiting for a dip in its deep, beautiful turquoise waters.
(Heet Cave, 2019)
Masmak Fortress is a museum that features a rich collection of artifacts that give insight into the rulers' history and their lifestyles.
(Al-Masmak Fort, 2019)
Jeddah: The Bride of the Red Sea.
Best Time to Visit: October - March
Jeddah is often referred to as the Red Sea bride because it includes the most beautiful beaches of Saudi Arabia. Corniche Jeddah is the most famous area. It is a park more than 30 km that embraces the Red Sea waters, with plenty of restaurants, recreational places, and gardens to rest and relax.
Besides, Jeddah is famous in the Muslim world as the gateway to Makkah, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims land every year to perform the pilgrimage.
(Jeddah, 2019)
Places to visit in Jeddah:
Historic Jeddah (Al Balad): It is located in the city's center near the Makkah Gate. Historic Jeddah will take you on a journey to the past where It's like an open museum full of valuable historical pieces, besides traditional souks (markets) and delicious foods.
(Jeddah, 2020)
King Fahd’s Fountain: It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city and is considered the longest fountain of its kind in the Guinness World Records world. The fountain is beautiful at night when hundreds of colorful lights light up the arc of water as it rises spectacularly against the night sky.
(King FAHAD'S Fountain, 2021)
Umluj - aka the Saudi Maldives:
Best Time to Visit: January-June
The small coastal town of Umluj boasts one of the most beautiful and peaceful beaches not just in Saudi Arabia but around the world.
Located are on the country's Red Sea coast. In the northern Tabuk province of Saudi, Umluj is often referred to as the Saudi Maldives.
With beaches of pure white sand, turquoise waters so clear you can see it teeming with beautiful marine life.
(Umluj, 2021)
Al Ula & Mada'in Saleh:
Best Time to Visit: November-December
Al Ula is one of the oldest cities in the Arabian and home to Mada’in Saleh (Hegra), a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It is rich in historical, geological, geographical significance, the best-known destination in Saudi Arabia.
The most famous place is Mada’in Saleh is A stunning archeological site with impressive architecture from the Nabateans - ancient Arab settlers who inhabited northern Arabia.
You will explore over 110 remarkably well clusters of 2,000-year-old Nabatean tombs. Also, you will Enjoy beautiful golden rock formations at sunset.
(Mada'in Saleh, 2021)
Abha – Highest Large City of Saudi Arabia
Best Time to Visit: February to mid-May and September to November
Abha is the capital of Aseir Province. It is famous for being the highest large city in Saudi Arabia at over 2200 meters. The mountainous Abha region enjoys pleasant weather year-round. Therefore. It is a trendy holiday destination during the summer months due to its beautiful scenery, the famous misty mountain tops, and cooling breezes, in addition to its diverse activities.
(Abha, 2021)
References:
Saudi Arabia, .. (2020). Welcome to Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.visitsaudi.com/en
Saudi Arabia, .. (2019). The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.saudiembassy.net/about-saudi-arabia
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MUMBAI HERITAGE WALKS : LIVE THE FORGOTTEN
Mumbai.
“It’s the city of dreams. The city that never sleeps.”
“It’s the city of heavy traffic, potholes, noise and pollution.”
“It’s the financial capital of India, the city with a population equaling the state of Iowa, USA.”
“It’s the Bollywood city. City of sky-scrappers, malls and multiplexes.”
Ask a Mumbaikar, or even an outsider, to describe Mumbai city, and these are some of the common replies you get. Ask them about the Church at Churchgate, about species of trees found in Mumbai, about places where some of the oldest recipes can be relished, about the contemporary art galleries… and most of them would draw a blank.
The reason ? No, not their ignorance. Not their apathy either. In fact, it’s about the glorious past and the rich history of this grand old city having got overshadowed by the modern-day glitz and the glamour, the hustle and bustle, the noise and the cacophony. The historic grandeur still stands, the age-old flavours still exist… there is much more to Mumbai than meets the eye…. What you need is interest, inclination and insight.
Well, those who have the curiosity to see the unseen, the penchant to experience the concealed, the desire to live the forgotten; there are certain Mumbai lovers who, in their own capacity, take you into the nook and corners, into the pockets and parcels of Mumbai where you find the golden heritage of Mumbai still alive.
They take heritage lovers, art lovers, history lovers, nature lovers, foodies and all those who simply want to see Mumbai in different light on, what is commonly called, Heritage Walks and Tours across the length and the breadth of the city.
Low profile in nature but equally rich in substance, these Heritage Walks and Tours are conducted by professionals from fields of diverse fields such as art, architecture, marketing, advertising etc. Preferring to keep away from the limelight, they call their endeavours, an extension of their profession and an expression of their love for the city of Mumbai.
Mumbai as a Heritage City
It’s one thing to go around Mumbai hopping from one location to another, enjoying places of tourist’s interest in a cliched manner, and quite another to have an insightful tour that leaves you enriched and enlightened in the end.
Abha Bahl, a young architect who is also the founder of Bombay Heritage Walks, says, “Mumbai is like an open-air exhibition of myriad heritage styles…. There is colonial heritage. Then there is religious heritage… the old Hindu temple architecture like the Walkeshwar Temple Complex, there are mosques, Portuguese Churches… it also has ancient caves like Karla caves, Mahakali Caves dating from Buddhist period…. There are forts. There are still so many forts existing albeit parts of them… Mahim Fort, Bandra Fort, Sion Fort…. So I think Mumbai is a treasure chest of archaic art, architecture, religion…. All this doesn’t show…. You have to look for it…with a magnifying glass.”
The curators of the walks and the tours are adept in unravelling Mumbai in a manner not to be found in any books, textbooks, tourism sites or blogs. Informative, educative, interesting, fascinating and thought provoking, all at the same time, these Walks and Tours cater to people of varied class, community, religion, age group, preferences and penchants, and come in diverse form and feature ranging from ones that create awareness about Mumbai’s colonial architecture to tasting age-old food recipes to the ones that take you to Asia’s largest slum to viewing traditional and modern art in different light to even meeting people from LGBTQ community!!
Making a Difference by Being Different
In today’s day and age of digitisation, when information is freely and abundantly available everywhere around us, making heritage walks and tours a different experience is a herculean task.
Says Bharat Gothoskar, founder of Khaki Tours, “It’s all about the narration and the connect that you establish with your audience. Add to it the historical facts, stories and trivia, and you have an experience that’s different and simply unforgettable. For example, did you know that the oldest naval dockyard in Asia is right behind the walls of the Lion Gate where a ship was manufactured in the year 1810 called HMS Minden. It was the first European naval ship to be manufactured outside Europe. That’s not all. A man named Francis Scott Key was on this ship which was heading for the battle of Baltimore. An incident on board this ship, HMS Minden, inspired him to write a poem, which later on became the national anthem of United States of America!!”
Innovation is yet another tool that make these walks and tours unique. No Footprints is a company which specialises in walks and tours which are out of the box. Besides catering to people interested in knowing the heritage and ancient traditions prevalent in Mumbai centuries ago, they also cater to people who live in tune with times. The Queer Day Out organised by No Footprints, gives you a chance to meet the LGBTQ community!!
Ask Harshvardhan Tanwar, Co-Founder of No Footprints about why and how of such innovations, and he says, “Me and my partner Isha are from advertising field. So, innovation comes naturally to us. When we started off, we realised that there was a dearth of creativity in heritage walks segment….. Everyone has information and content, but the difference lies in its dissemination. We therefore focus on dissemination of information in all walks and tours….. Moreover, we believe at the centre of everything that we do is community. There is Hindu community, Parsi community, Muslim community, Christian community. Similarly, there is LGBTQ community. That’s how Queer Day Out was born. Or for that matter our tour to the Pubs in Mumbai. It’s not a simple pub tour. It’s entails story of alcohol….. prohibition era etc. We operate in a very different zone you see.”
Painstaking Endeavour
Content gathering, research, referencing, visiting places, talking to people… are the pillars of dissemination. One needs to dig deep to discover intriguing facts, untold stories, and weave it all into the narration to make the experience utmost enriching.
Kruti Garg, Director Conservation at Abha Narain Lambah Associates (ANL), who conducts heritage walks, nature walks, food walks amongst others, says hard work goes behind curating every walk and tour. “There are lot of books written on the history of Mumbai, and then there is online content also. They serve you information in chronological order. What I do is join the dots. If I have read something on page 20, and something related to it is written on page 200, then I connect the two, and incorporate that in my talk...”
“It’s very important to understand that architecture is one of the many ways to see a city. It’s a physical form. But there are so many things which are non-physical, which are intangible. These intangible things are the underlying and invisible force behind the tangible. Without the intangible, tangible wouldn’t exist. So, I study these various aspects and put them together as a whole… not segregate them individually.”
Nishita Zachariah and Alisha Sadikot, the founders of Art Walks Mumbai, which gives insights into the works of art exhibited at art galleries around Mumbai, find their passion to be challenging in a different way. “We do not expect the walkers to have any kind of prior knowledge about art.…..We start with the basics….Talking about the space itself. Each contemporary art gallery differs in objective, differ in layout…. we talk about the space, the background of the artists, and then how those works have come to be…. the process, the concept behind it…. We break it down to make it as simple as it can be for the newbies, who have never been to an art gallery before, as well the experienced. We take people to the street gallery that’s around Jehangir Art Gallery just to show people how a public space differs from a private space, how their mandates are different, how their goals are different.”
An Informal Sector
It was during the first Kala Ghoda Art and Cultural Festival in Mumbai in the year 1999, that the idea of Mumbai Heritage Walk was mooted. Inspired by its success, many individuals started conducting heritage walks and tours around Mumbai, and today it has become quite a common sight. What started as a passion or an extension of profession for the curators, has now grown into an informal business sector.
However, even after two decades, very few players seem to have given a thought to formally launching themselves in the heritage walk market. Registering their business is not on anybody’s mind. No one gives importance to promoting their walks and tours through mainline media. Everyone seem to be happy in keeping their business informal, and low profile.
“I have never thought in that direction,” says Nishita who has been conducting art walks for the past three years now. “People contact us through our Facebook page or write ups in newspaper or word of mouth. So we have never felt the need to advertise. Again, the thought of turning our service into a brand or launching a company has never crossed our mind. As far as formalising the walks per se is concerned, the closest we would be tour guide. And personally, I don’t know the rules that apply to tour guide. I don’t know whether the government has legislated this area…… I don’t think it will make any difference if we registered our businesses.”
Bharat Gothoskar has a different reason for not publicising his Khaki Tours. “Currently the demand is more than the supply. I am not being able to train as many people as I need to. I am an MBA myself to start with. So it’s not that I don’t want to. I am planning to start with digital advertising. But word of mouth is working enough for me because of the quality of experience that I dish out….. Though Khaki Tours has been around for over a decade, it’s been just two years that I have formally launched Khaki Tours. I look at long term goals. I am creating an organisation which will be known for what it does. I will be doing marketing and advertising at some point in time.”
Walker’s Speak
Shardul Nautiyal, Sr. Correspondent at PharmaBiz, calls himself an ardent fan of Mumbai city. He, along with his family, quite regularly enrols for heritage walks and tours. Says Shardul, “Ever since I have started going on these walks, I have started looking at Mumbai in a different way. It’s not that I haven’t been to Gateway of India, Dhobi Ghat, Khau Galli, Haji Ali Dargah, Chor Bazaar, Dharavi slum, any time. But seeing them through the eyes of the curators, has been a revelation of sorts.”
Echoing his impression is Shaunak Bhatt, an advertising and marketing professional. “I love Mumbai for its vibrancy and effervescence. Though walking doesn’t come to me naturally, couple of years ago I joined my friend n a one hour walk around Ballard Pier. I was so impressed that since then I frequently go for such walks, and take my family members along whenever I can. My perception about the city I love has changed significantly now.”
Shruti Patel, a doctor by profession and settled in USA, was on a visit to Mumbai meet her cousins. “I believe Mumbai is a lot like New York city,” says Shruti. “I have been to Mumbai quite a few times now, but exploring its history and places on foot, I realised it’s quite an underrated city in terms of tourism. The next time I come over I would spend more days here and join more tours to understand this city better.”
Chauhan family is not only a regular on these walks but also encourage others to join them. Says Vipul Chauhan, a stock broker, “When one of my family friend informed me about these walks, I was quiet sceptical about it. But after we attended one such walk, we have started loving the idea. We make it a point to take someone from our family or friend circle along with us on the walks. After all, happiness must be shared, isn’t it?”
2019 - FEELINGS - VADODARA
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