SAUDI ARABIA – Mekka Province (Jeddha, Mecca, Taif)

Saudi Arabia dominates the Arabian peninsula and contains Islam’s holiest cities — Mecca (Makkah) and Medina (Madinah) — where Muslim pilgrims throng during the Hajj. The Hajj, along with a few crops that grow well in oases, such as medjool dates, used to be the country’s main source of income before oil was discovered less than 100 years ago.
It is not possible for non-Muslims to see Mecca and Medina – no way – unless you convert.
The kingdom strongly enforces a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, though minor relaxations have been adopted in the last few years, the most notable being allowing women to drive.

Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR). 1€ = 4.24SAR; 1 US$ = 3.75SAR; 1 CAD = 2.93SAR (xe.com Nov 2021
Population: 33 million (2018)
Country code: +966
Electrical socket: 3 prong Bristish
Language. Expect significant variations in the English spellings of place names in schedules and even road signs: Al Wajh and Wedjh are the same place. In particular, Q/G, E/I, and E/A are interchanged freely (Qassim/Gassim, Mecca/Makkah, Jeddah/Jiddah), H/A sometimes swap places (Al-Ahsa/Al-Hasa) and the definite article al- can be left on or off (Medina/Almadinah, Riyadh/Arriyadh).

Visas. Advance visas are required for all foreigners desiring to enter. Saudis prefer not to grant visas to unaccompanied women. Tourist e-visas started in September 2019 and are relatively easy to obtain online. Require at least one night of a reserved hotel and Covid vaccination.  These are one-year multiple-entry visas allowing you to stay up to 90 days per entry. Citizens of 49 countries can get an e-visa online or get a visa on arrival.
Those not listed must apply at an embassy or consulate and provide additional documentation: proof of accommodation, proof of employment, proof of a return ticket, and a bank statement. The visa fee is SR570 (2021).
Covid PCR less than 72-hours old.
Tawakkalna App. Records your vital statistics and Saudi phone number. Required to travel around Saudi Arabia. Download from Play Store onto your phone. Should be, but is not often asked for to enter malls, museums, and stores. Cannot be filled out until after arrival in SA as need a SA SIM and phone number.
Muqueem.sa – Arrival Registration form. Personal details and vaccination info. Also required to enter but only asked for at flight check-in.

Observations Saudi Arabia
1. Highways. Except for the thousands of inappropriate speed bumps, SA has the best highway system in the world. Almost all is 4-lane divided with wide shoulders and fast speed limits: 120 on main highways and often 110 through towns (although this gets limited by traffic). 98% is lit at night with light standards with 2-4 lights each often stretching for hundreds of kilometers. It is worthwhile driving at night to see it especially as many of the poles are lit with LEDs, sometimes in many colours. Good highways go everywhere.
Gantries with radar cameras are common but are rarely active (I have a detector so know). But there are also small boxes and the tall poles with round balls on top.
2. Drivers. There is a lunatic fringe in every country and SA is no different. Here they can be particularly brazen passing on the left shoulder and passing aggressively on double solids. They also zoom up behind and tailgate until you change lanes. On the other hand, speed bumps are traversed so slowly, they can get tiring.
3. Vehicles. About 75% are Toyotas and the rest a mix of other Japanese, S Korea and North America. Maybe half of all are larger SUVs or small trucks. Besides the rare Porsche, there are no German cars or other European makes.
3. Prices are very reasonable. Mediocre hotels go for 150-200/night (about US$38-52). Food is likewise comparable to most places.
4. Wildlife. Baboons are easily the most common and especially in the southwest. Whole troupes sit on top of the highway cement barricades, cross the roads and mooch food. The important males have large red buttocks. Camels are not common.
5. Southeast Asians (Bangladesh, India) appear to be doing all the menial jobs: fast food, gas stations, construction, picking up garbage from streets.
6. Houses. Saudis have large opulent homes spread all over the place – on top of mountains and spread evenly almost everywhere I go.

Saudi Arabia – Mekka Province (Jeddah, Ta’if) Nov 27-29
Tentative WHS
DARB ZUBAYDA Tentative WHS (Pilgrim Road from Kufa to Makkah) (08/04/2015).
Al-Jumaimiyah Pool N3275894.87 E 364798.83
Al-Thulaimiya Pool N 3278032.44 E365701.37
Zabala Pool N 3252358.56 E 360364.63
Faid Site N 3002185.00 E 254404.13
Al-Rabadha Site N 2726024.07 E 731792.87
Al-Kharaba site N 2455251.21 E 689080.3
There were historic pilgrimage (Hajj) Roads that passed through the Arabian Peninsula to reach Makkah, connecting the Arabian Peninsula with the major neighbouring countries, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. The Al- Kufi pilgrimage route, also known as “Darb Zubaydha”, was one of the most important among them. Zubaydah trail runs from Kufa to Makkah, and is named after Zubaydah bint Jafar wife of the Abbasid Caliph Harun Al-Rashid for her charitable works on the numerous stations along the trail.
The origin of the trail date back to the pre-Islamic era, but its importance greatly increased with the dawn of Islam, and the route flourished during the time of the early caliphate. Zubaydah Trail reached its peak of prosperity during the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 C.E.) when markers and milestones were installed and the trail was developed with stations and provided with wells, pools, dams, palaces, houses, and pavement that made it more easily accessible. 27 major stations and 27 substations have been identified, the most prominent among them are: Al-Sheihiyat, Al-Jumaima, Faid, Rabadha, That-Erq, and Khuraba.
During successive centuries, the last organized pilgrimage convoy along this route was carried out by Abbasid Caliph in 641 AH/1243 CE. In the following centuries, the trail lost its importance and was almost completely abandoned by the pilgrims and travelers.

EGYPTIAN HAJJ ROAD Tentative WHS (08/04/2015)
One of the important pilgrimage routes in Islamic history, linking Egypt to Makkah and Medina, for pilgrims coming from Egypt, Sudan, Central Africa, Morocco, Andalusia, and Sicily, as they meet in Egypt, then travel through Sinai to Aqaba then march across two trails: the first, is internal trail moving to Medina passing Shaghab, Beda, valley of the villages, and the second is coastal trail passes through a number of stations most important of which are: Ainouna, Al- Muwailih, Dhuba, Al-Owained, Al-Wajh, Al-Hora, Nabat, Yanbu and Al-Jar. From Al-Jar the trailheads to Makkah through Al-Juhfa then Khulais then Usfan. Or heads through Badr until it reaches Makkah or Medina. Like all the other Islamic pilgrimage roads it received great interest and attention of Muslim rulers in different Islamic eras and periods, as they established many structures on the path of this road like pools, canals, and wells, they also paved obstacles and built barricades, bridges, castles, forts, and mosques, and on the road near the camps are numerous Islamic inscriptions and commemorative writings, engraved by pilgrims as they passed through the toad.
In its late usage, the land road was discontinued and pilgrims traveled by sea from Suez, and then, by air to Jeddah.
Magha’ir Su’aib in Al-Bide’ – 695650.71 m E 3152942.30 m N
Median Wells in Al-Bide’ 697620.02 m E 3152641.60 m N
Ainouna Wells 716331.00 m E 3109849.00 m N
Sharma 718481.63 m E 3096908.41 m N
Al-Mwaileh Fort 744653.95 m E 3064321.00 m N
King Abdul Aziz Fort in Dhuba 766600.29 m E 3027908.70 m N
Al-Azlam Fort 204309.01 m E 2994336.37 m N
Al-Souq Fort in Al-Wajh 246113.14 m E 2903342.79 m N
Cape Karkoma 265527.62 m E 2861839.45 m N
Traditional Souq in Umluj 324781.39 m E 2769008.61 m N
Al-Swaiq Site in Yanbu 443914.59 m E 2695595.50 m N
Yanbu Al-Nkhel site440647.09 m E 2689974.03 m N
Old Town of Badr 479103.11 m E 2629557.91 m N
Al-Abwa Traditional Town 507956.37 m E 2554667.38 m N
Rabigh Tower 503323.70 m E 2522178.06 m N
Al-Juhfa Site 514032.67 m E  2514807.92 m N
The Road then ends in Makkah

Day 1 Sat Nov 28.
Fly to Jeddah on Saudi Airlines from Mauritius, arrived at 21:10
It took me over three hours to do my business at the airport (even has a train to take you to immigration and the main airport). Could only find one ATM with money, only one car rental agency of 14 there with cars, would take Mastercard, would rent to a foreigner and offered unlimited milage (Yelo). Then got a SIM card (the guy was super nice as he filled out the T app necessary in SA, and found my hotel as it required Arabic). I finally got the car, complained about the low tire warning (it is normal!) and drove 21kms to my hotel – Dallah Jeddah. It is not great but adequate and only 200 SR for 2 nites (about US$25/night).

Day 2
JEDDAH (pop 4.7 million) is a city in the Hejaz region and the country’s commercial center. Jeddah is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital Riyadh), and the tenth-largest in the Middle East. Jeddah Islamic Port, is on the Red Sea, is the thirty-sixth largest seaport in the world and the second-largest and second-busiest seaport in the Middle East (after Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali).
Jeddah is the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, 65 kilometers (40 mi) to the east, while Medina, the second holiest city, is 360 kilometers (220 mi) to the north.
Economically, Jeddah is focusing on further developing capital investment in scientific and engineering leadership within Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.^[5] Jeddah was independently ranked fourth in the Africa – Mid-East region in terms of innovation in 2009 in the Innovation Cities Index.
Jeddah is one of Saudi Arabia’s primary resort cities and was named a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC). Given the city’s close proximity to the Red Sea, fishing and seafood dominate the food culture unlike other parts of the country. In Arabic, the city’s motto is “Jeddah Ghair”, which translates to “Jeddah is different”. The motto has been widely used among both locals as well as foreign visitors. The city is widely perceived as the most liberal city in Saudi Arabia and is a popular tourist destination in the region.
I then had my usual drive/walkabout to see all the NM sites in Jeddah.
Jeddah Tower. Previously known as Kingdom Tower, is a skyscraper construction project currently on hold. Located on the north side of Jeddah, it is planned to be the world’s first 1 km (3,281 ft) high building, and the centrepiece and the first phase of a development and tourist attraction known as Jeddah Economic City.
There was steady progress, but in January 2018, building owner JEC halted structural concrete work with the tower about one-third completed due to labor issues with a contractor following the 2017–19 Saudi Arabian purge.
The design, created by American architect Adrian Smith, who also designed the Burj Khalifa, incorporates many unique structural and aesthetic features. The creator and leader of the project is Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a grandson of Ibn Saud, and nephew of the Kings of Saudi Arabia after Ibn Saud.
King Saud Mosque. His Majesty King Saud Mosque is the largest mosque in the city of Jeddah. The Mosque was finished in 1987. It is mainly built of brick and covers an area of 9700 m² with the prayer hall alone covering 2464 m². The largest dome has a span of 20 meters and reaches a height of 42 meters. The Minaret reaches a height of 60 meters.
The layout reminds of Persian “four Iwan” designs, such as the Great Mosque of Esfahan in Iran. The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan in Cairo in Egypt may have served as a model for the minaret and other features such as the decoration of the attic.
The mosque itself is almost square. The north and south iwans are each set in front of a domed hall that separates four pillared halls to the east and west. The actual mosque is built at an angle to the street grid so that the qibla wall may point to Makkah.
This completely white mosque has maquina designs on the minaret and main entrance. It does not appear to be used regularly. A back door was open but I could not see the inside.
Bicycle Monument. This is a huge rusted Iron 2-wheel bicycle set on pillars in a roundabout next to a freeway. It has a wire seat and two lights. Ironically, one never sees bicycles anywhere in Jeddah. 

Khuzam Palace (Museum of Archaeology) is a major palace and museum that houses the Jeddah Regional Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography. The building was constructed as a royal palace from 1928 to 1932. The oil agreement with the Standard Oil Company of California and Saudi Arabia occurred in Khuzam Palace, Jeddah, in 1933.
The collection ranges from artifacts of the Stone Age over items of several pre-Islamic cultures and items illustrating the rise of Islam to relics from the time the palace was used by the royal family. A second collection holds ethnographic items portraying the recent culture of the region.
Abdul Raoud Khalil Museum (Al Tayebat International City). This entire over-the-top place and the museum are the product of Mr. Khalil, a megalomaniac collector. There are 380 galleries over 3 floors with a maze of rooms – Saudi, Islamic, and the world collections. Everything is also of high quality and everything is labeled. Not only are the glass cases full but every square inch of the walls are covered with art, not necessarily fitting with what is in the rooms. Some of the highlights were the reconstructed Bedouin and other “tribes” recreated houses, the hundreds of miniatures (including a mother of pearl Jerusalem, the ivory and bone (huge carved tusks, a boat, bone chests, and a chess set), the carpet “pictures”. It is a total ethnographic experience. One of the best collections in the world. Privately owned, it is quite expensive at 80 SR and would take days to do it justice.
Mall of Arabia. A huge, very modern mall near the airport with 3 floors. Has all the brand names and is one of the largest food courts I have ever seen. There was no parking but a steady stream of cars letting off small groups of women.
Aisha Mosque. An ultramodern mosque (built in 2008) is a round cone with a round minaret shaped in a spiral at the top. Inside the prayer hall is a square with wood beams. Inside is plain white. The mihrab is thousands of hanging crystals in a rectangular shape.

The Globe. In the center of the roundabout, this large tilted globe sits on a conical platform and is covered with glass mosaics. 
Floating Mosque (Al Rahma Mosque). Established in 1985, it consists of one main dome and 52 outer domes, 23 external umbrellas, and 56 windows designed in Islamic style.
This area was one mammoth construction project. Combined with the upcoming Formula I Race, it was impossible to get close even with walking. From a distance, this modern, round, large domed mosque has one minaret.

Red Sea Mall. This mammoth 3-story mall is two ovals around a central area. The inner oval has a glassed roof. I had an Iced Capp at Tim Hortons.
Accident (Crazy Speed) Sculpture. In the NM Bizzarium series, it consists of five cars that appear to have crashed headfirst into an enormous block of solid reinforced concrete.Jeddah Aquarium (Fakieh Aquarium). As the only aquarium in SA, The highlight is the tunnel under a large pool with sharks and penguins. The dolphin show was closed. 65 SR
Al-Shallal Theme Park.
Jeddah Lighthouse. Landmark port lighthouse and observation tower with a distinctively modern, Islamic influenced design. The port appears to be a high-security area and I was not allowed to enter. I could see the remarkable-looking lighthouse from about a block away.

Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah. World Heritage Sites. An outstanding example of Red sea architecture, once common on both coasts of the Red sea, with only scant vestiges preserved outside Saudi Arabia. Characterized by imposing tower houses decorated with large wooden Roshan built in the late 19th century by the city`s mercantile elites, and also by lower coral stone houses, mosques, ribat-s, suqs, and small public squares.
As a gate to Makkah for Muslim pilgrims reaching Arabia by boat since the 7th century, it had a cosmopolitan population where Muslims from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East resided and worked.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the introduction of steamboats that linked Europe with India and Asia, enormous wealth built lavishly decorated houses, suqs, and mosques.
Now it appears to be crumbling in on itself with the balconies and lattice windows in poor shape. Many shops line the narrow streets but it is uncertain if many people live here.
The next three sites are in Historic Jeddah
Jeddah Regional Museum (Bait al Balad). Appears to have been closed for some time. Under restoration.
Souq Al Alawi. The largest souq in the country has narrow ways, vivid colours of the traditional garments and textiles, spices and herbs, “cosmetic shops” (perfume, shampoo, lotions, toothbrushes, and paste, but no evidence that anyone in SA uses dental floss or interdental brushes).
Naseef House. Jeddah’s best-restored old coral houses belonged to one of Jeddah’s most powerful trading families and was later a royal residency for King Abdul Aziz. Ramps allow camel-mounted messengers to ride all the way to the upper terrace. The huge tree left of the door, as recently as 1920, was the only tree in the whole of Jeddah.
Also appears to have been closed for some time.

Day 3
I woke up early for a big drive day to see what I could in Mecca and then continue on to Asir Province.

Islamic Development Bank building is a 22-story skyscraper in south Jeddah. It is 99m high and has an unusual architectural style – basically a square with a gap separating it from a smaller tower. The bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance with 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1973 by the Finance Ministers at the first Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now called the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). Ranked on the basis of paid-up capital (as of August 2015), major shareholders include: Saudi Arabia (26.57%), Algeria (10.66%), Iran (9.32%), Egypt (9.22%), Turkey (8.41%), United Arab Emirates (7.54%), Kuwait (7.11%), Pakistan (3.31%), Libya (3.31%), Indonesia (2.93%).

About 115kms southeast of Jeddah, the road to Mecca was a 10-lane divided highway.
MECCA (pop 1.6 million) is the holiest city in Islam. It is 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 m (909 ft) above sea level. Its estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042 million, making it the third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Ḥajj pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Hijri month of Dhūl-Ḥijjah.
Mecca is reputedly the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the Jabal al-Nur (“Mountain of Light”) is just outside the city and where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Visiting Mecca for the Hajj is an obligation upon all able Muslims. The Great Mosque of Mecca, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is home to the Ka’bah, believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael. It is one of Islam’s holiest sites and the direction of prayer for all Muslims (qibla).
Muslim rulers from in and around the region long tried to take the city and keep it in their control, and thus, much like most of the Hejaz region, the city has seen several regime changes. The city was finally conquered in the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by Ibn Saud and his allies in 1925. Since then, Mecca has seen a tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, with newer, modern buildings such as the Abraj Al Bait, the world’s fourth-tallest building and third-largest by floor area, towering over the Great Mosque. The Saudi government has also carried out the destruction of several historical structures and archaeological sites,^[6] such as the Ajyad Fortress. Non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering the city (not true).
Muslims from around the world visit the city, not only for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages but also as tourists to visit regional landmarks such as the ‘Aisha Mosque (Masjid ‘Aisha) and the sites visited by pilgrims in the Hajj and ‘Umrah. Mecca is now home to two of the most expensive buildings in the world, the Masjid al-Haram, valued at 100 billion US dollars, and the Abraj al-Bait complex, valued at 15 billion US dollars.
Contrary to popular opinion, you can drive into the middle of Mecca, right to the large square that is the entrance to the center of the “holy” area. I tried to enter that but was denied by the two soldiers as I had shorts. I had the feeling that if I had a pilgrim “outfit”, wore one of the cute hats, and went with a crowd, that maybe it would have worked.
The square is gleaming white marble, is full of pilgrims (and pigeons being fed large amounts of stuff), and is surrounded by the Diamond Tower and a new mosque under construction.
Abraj Al Bait. (Diamond Tower). In the NM Architectural Delights series, is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, has the world’s largest clock face and is the third-tallest building and fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The clock tower contains the Clock Tower Museum that occupies the top four floors of the tower.
The building complex is metres away from the world’s largest mosque and Islam’s most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom’s largest construction company. It is the world’s second most expensive building, with the total cost of construction totaling US$15 billion. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the historically significant site in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked an international outcry and a strong response from Turkey.
The site of the complex is located across the piazza to the south from the main entrance (King Abdul-Aziz Gate) to the Masjid al-Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba. To accommodate worshippers visiting the Kaaba, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers has two large prayer rooms (one for men, one for women) capable of holding more than 10,000 people. The tallest tower in the complex also contains a five-star hotel, operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, to help provide lodging for the millions of pilgrims that travel to Mecca annually to participate in the Hajj.
In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers has a five-story shopping mall (the Abraj Al Bait Mall) and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles.
List of component towers

Makkah Royal Clock Tower. In the NM Architectural Delights series, the tallest tower in the complex is the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, with a height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). Currently, it is the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, surpassing the Ping An Finance Centre in Shenzhen, China but shorter than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, the Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo, Japan, the Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China, and the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China.
The building was planned to be 734 m (2,408 ft) tall in 2006. In 2009, it was published that the final height would be 601 m (1,972 ft). The tallest building in the complex (from a height of 450 m (1,480 ft) up until the tip) was designed by the German architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch and his firm SL Rasch GmbH. The façade was constructed by Premiere Composite Technologies, the clock by German tower clock manufacturer PERROT GmbH & Co. KG Turmuhren und Läuteanlagen. According to the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowments, the project cost US$15 billion.
The project uses clock faces for each side of the main hotel tower. The highest residential floor stands at 370 m (1,210 ft), just below the media displays under the clock faces. At 43 m × 43 m (141 ft × 141 ft), these are the largest in the world. The roof of the clocks is 450 m (1,480 ft) above the ground, making them the world’s most elevated architectural clocks. A 151-meter-tall (495 ft) spire has been added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 m (1,972 ft). Behind the clock faces, there is an astronomy exhibition. In the spire base and the glass-covered floors (The Jewel) there is a scientific center that is used to sight the moon in the beginnings of the Islamic months, and to operate an atomic clock that controls the tower clocks.

The 115 km drove to Taif went up and over the top of the mountains on a 4-land divided highway (no tunnels for the Saudi’s). On top was a city. I had a delicious mocha frappe at one of the 5 drive-by coffee shops on the side of the highway. A gondola (Shafa Mountains & Cable Car) ascends Al-Hada Mountain and starts in Al-Kurr Village. The road passes beside the end. Several small amusement parks, trees, grassed areas, and much cooler here.

TAIF (pop 690,000) Located at an elevation of 1,879 m (6,165 ft) in the slopes of the Hejaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarawat Mountains,
Taif has been indirectly referred to in the Quran in verse 31 of Surah 43. The city was visited by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, sometime in the early 7th century and was inhabited by the tribe of Banu Thaqif and is still inhabited to this day by their descendants. As a part of the Hejaz, the city has seen many transfers of power throughout its history, with the last being during the Saudi conquest of Hejaz in 1925.
The city has been called the unofficial summer capital of Saudi Arabia and has also been called the best summer destination in Saudi Arabia, as it enjoys moderate weather during summer, unlike most of the Arabian Peninsula. The city owes its popularity among tourists to its many mountain resorts and moderate climate, even during the harsh summers of Arabia. The city is connected to the nearby resort town of al-Hada via the iconic Highway 15 (Taif–al-Hada Road). It stands out from the rest of the Hejaz region as it is a city that plays an active role in the agricultural output of Saudi Arabia and is the center of an agricultural area known for its cultivation of grapes, pomegranate, figs, roses and honey. Taif is also very active in the manufacturing of traditional ‘Ittar, and is known locally as the City of Roses. Taif also hosts the historic Souq ‘Okaz
A moderate-sized mountain town and popular resort area. Has beautiful vistas and attractions in the mountainous areas surrounding the city.
Shubra Palace. Old Ta’if architecture. Contains the Sharif Museum about the Saudi royal history (King Abdul-Aziz and King Faisal both resided here). A 4-story square white building with brown balconies and lattice windows. Closed
King Fahad Garden*. A popular recreation spot with large green spaces, a lagoon with an artificial waterfall, cafés, and restaurants. It is next to the zoo.
Ta’if Zoo. A well-done zoo with many African animals in nice enclosures but like most zoos very child-orientated with a large amusement park. 50 SR