AL ULA, Paradise in the DESERT Our Saudi Arabian Adventure العلا السعودية
welcome to another planet it's pretty it's for a cafe you can't even see it welcome to the mirror this is a Saudi hug okay guys welcome to the elephant rock I can't believe that they have created well actually I can believe they've created something so cool cheers welcome to another planet this is alula Saudi Arabia possibly the most difficult place we have ever had to travel to after a six hour bus Journey from Medina the reality of traveling Saudi Arabia on the local buses is that well especially here in Medina the bus station the Saudi standards is a bit of a dump we've got five and a half hours on this bad boy we then got a taxi that couldn't find this Chalet that we're going to be staring at for the next two to three days we actually found this place on Instagram and we don't actually think it's open yet it's not completely finished but we got an incredible rate to be literally staying in Mars is slowly becoming the most popular tourist destination in all of Saudi Arabia and you can definitely see why join us this has got to be the most outrageous location we've ever stayed in it's pretty spectacular and it feels so surreal to be surrounded by this is home to over 200 000 years of human history and is home to Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO world heritage site how cool is that but we are actually kind of stranded so we have a few days here so um we were told that we could actually get a bike and ride to town we can't it's quite followers away we are stranded in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the most unique rock formations ever it's not a bad place to be surrounded we could have done it with a car but never mind we will spend a day relaxing here in our Chalet so we have our own private swimming pool hence the bikini we have our shallow as you can see there you have four hammocks because I think we can have four to five people here obviously the backdrop is absolutely unbelievable um we have a barbecue oh my gosh look at this we didn't know this so we have no food we're in the middle of nowhere but we're gonna make it work we Glide over there over there just everything about this is so so unique you know there's you can't see anybody else about you can't hear anything and um it's prettier it's another planet it really is we are as remote As It Gets right now you cannot hear a thing listen hello the echo with the huge Canyon that is behind our Chalet it's like the perfect protection from the Sun Saudi you're actually putting so much money into this destination every day you see like a new famous celebrity or singer here performing in the middle of the desert but I would say at the moment in terms of Transportation it's not quite ready you need to have a car which we don't the only place to get a car is in town and we're like how do we get to town taxis can't actually find our location so we're definitely gonna book a couple of the tours through the next couple of days to explore the entirety of al-ula but this afternoon I feel like we'll have to just jump on the bikes and hope that we can find a cafe we haven't eaten it's like two o'clock in the afternoon I literally cannot get over this place like the location is outrageous he's also got like this bedwind tent it's a little tent that uh we haven't been explained but not much has been explained we are still very excited oh this is cool so you could come here of an evening food and drink if you need to bring some I have to say it is very very hot in here he's giving us a lift a local cafe landscapes it's a lifesaver it doesn't speak English thank you so much he really has saved our life this is the cafe of recommendation which I think is called it's the only thing near us and I mean again Matt is still into the Rock This is is pretty spectacular this is ridiculous it really is built into the rock face I've never seen anything like it and also I kind of haven't heard that you have to pay entrance fee even though we're coming to 10 riyals per person even though we need to eat we need to eat it's been 24 hours okay I see why we had to pay an entrance fee we're in the middle of the rocks look at this I do not know where the cafe is you literally have got to whoa Dodge underneath the caves to get through to the cafe is the cafe this way it is thank you okay this is the most unique place I have ever been to look at this just to go for some breakfast we all walk in between two different Rock faces it's almost like a narrow Gorge but wow Molly this is unreal this is insane you would never have thought that those tiny little packages would leave you lead you out into the cafe in the middle of the rocks thank you this is the coolest location for a cafe ever turns out they don't have lunch so we have a couple of snacks and we have a Saudi coffee look it comes this little oh my God a Little Teapot have you got the capabilities I'm good I still think over the fact that like Sally coffee is like this murky yellow color but it's in the middle of the canyon yeah it's an incredible place to drink some Saudi coffee so all of this came to around 11 English pounds on for breakfast and lunch I have a date okay so at least it healthy healthy traditional but I hate sweet things in the morning [Music] this is us until we figure out some form of transportation we're gonna be walking the desert roads hello my friend I'm so sorry that's okay how are you nice to meet you my friends okay let's go let's go one more time laughs so we thought we were going to end up lost but we actually found a local guide from Ala his name is tawfiq we've met him and he has taken us to the Mariah the mirrored building the largest mirrored building in the world according to the Guinness book of records and apparently it's got over 9 000 mirrored panels this is pretty well we have tofique for a few hours so he's going to show us some of the best things to do this you can't even see it it looks like it's just reflecting the Wilderness but this is insane only in Saudi this is absolutely insane so this is the real Wilderness the mountains the rock formations behind me and there is the mirrored building that is which is also a concert hall oh my God it is unbelievable look at the shape of this thing it holds up to 600 people and we're actually lucky because supposedly if there isn't a festival one or a concert you can't actually access this area wow like Molly said only in Saudi so this is and you've seen all the changes so I didn't go out never sure and this is the mirror wow honestly it's just such a unique concept and apparently in a couple of days Alicia Keys is actually going to be here performing it's such a shame that we miss it but I still think that being able to see this please have a photo okay welcome to the mirror this is a Saudi hug it is almost an optical illusion we're driving up to it and we didn't even know that it was here five minutes is long enough no one wants nine thousand mirrors looking at this ugly mug okay guys welcome to the elephant rock here the nature is participating as our heritage here in alola honestly how cool is this so this is a 50 meter tall natural rock that has just formed into a shape of an elephant I think you can see there you have like the body of the elephant and then it goes down into the trunk it shows the complete contrast of alula you have this super modern man-made building of mirrors yeah and then a natural wonder that is equally as that's an elephant's trunk and not an elephant you know the closer you get the more you can see how this thing looks like an elephant with the perfect walkway in the center and actually behind we've been told is a brand new burger restaurant that does the best burgers in all of alula I think there's some sort of I can hear music and some sort of Festival only would you be in the middle of Mars and they've put a fancy state of the art burger restaurant has now dressed me appropriately for the desert of alula and as you pass underneath elephant rock they have this area where you can just come and it's all free to sit down these really fancy lounges and there's just so much going on there's another little cafe here we we're getting burgers this is and smells so so good it's well recommended and I can't believe you can sit on a burger at elephant rock maybe one jalapeno burger one original thank you very much thank you so much [Applause] lemon Burger in the middle of the Saudi desert this is insane I can't believe that they have created well actually I can believe they've created something so cool in the middle of the desert but these are Cheeto fries so it comes with Cheetos and sour cream on their flight are good and then what we didn't realize is they give you mini burgers so you actually get four even though we only paid for two but they're like small ones so this is a jalapeno burger oh my God foreign [Applause] next to a like 200 000 year old rock and they are some burgers I was about to say I think they they are a close Contender with Five Guys good morning from Mars otherwise known as alula Saudi Arabia what a legend tafiq was he just shows again I know I keep going on about it how great Saudi hospitality is he took two hours out of his evening to show us some of the best spots in the area the mirror elephant rock there's so many contrasts and so many amazing things to see in alula but they have fixed the bikes at our accommodation and we are just finishing oh our morning workout look at this place this is our front drive this is me arriving home in our Ula Saudi Arabia this is absolutely look at this place that's hard work he definitely burnt off the burgers from last night but it's time to show you our Chalet lakusha Chalet where we've been staying so obviously I've shown you the outside I've shown you the scenery I'd highly recommend this place because if you look at some of the fancy hotels they are like a thousand pound a night it's ridiculous and if you have a car this place is absolutely perfect but as you can see huge sofa area living room we have a smart TV we have a kitchen so you bring your food we actually found out that we have bread and other things we just didn't find them so you can have your breakfast have coffee have tea and then that bedroom has three beds in it so you can have people in there we have a bathroom and then the main bedroom in here also has a bathroom and honestly I just want to show you look at the view from your bed it's insane unbelievable so we have headed down into the alula old town this place was an incredibly important settlement back in the 12th century for the pilgrims heading from Damascus to Mecca but today there is a flipping Starbucks they call this Starbucks I've ever seen we wouldn't normally go to a Starbucks but I think a Starbucks in the desert town roof you kind of have to go to it Cheers Cheers what a cool location for a Starbucks we've got a strawberry something strawberry and cream Frappuccino which I hate Starbucks as well yeah it's not my favorite but we are right next to some hundreds year old buildings and we're surrounded by the rocks and you're in the middle of the desert so it's really it's got to be the coolest Starbucks in the world they really have done the old town so well so you've got all of the old buildings one which is currently being renovated into a fancy restaurant and then you have souvenir shops that are all like boho um arts and crafty I like the history and I like the fact they've turned it into something that's so cool it's crazy to think that didn't start really getting Popular until only three to four years ago and now they've turned it into this Hub in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a desert there's now an international airport I'm drinking a Starbucks underneath these huge Sandstone Cliffs next a thousand year old buildings it really is the most unique place it's like a cross between the Grand Canyon between Uluru and between Cappadocia this is crazy they're living in the future in the middle of the desert you can get these pods electric pods that take you around to different areas of alula look at this ridiculous this right here is the view we're hoping to get from right up here Old Town plan was to head up this no I'm not pointing at it this is this that the Citadel of but apparently the only way to go up there is to book a tour which is 20 each which seems a lot to just have a Viewpoint of the old town we just thought like imagine going up here and you've got the actual traditional Old Town buildings for Sunset would be great but um 20 no chance we've stumbled across an art exhibition and I know nothing about art who even thinks our exhibition as the Citadel was closed we're gonna have something to eat earlier we actually made a reservation at this place called somewhere it's one of the best restaurants somewhere where supposedly somewhere what look at this place unreal we have our Fountain we've got the backdrop it's so good cheers we definitely are somewhere we actually booked this place on the my table app thinking that it was going to be packed it said 100 people had already booked today but we forgot we'd come for an early dinner everyone and Sally doesn't eat until like 10 at night so we've got the whole place to ourselves it's a little expensive but I don't know how in our Lula they have made so many of these what would you call them I don't know like Michelin star award-winning restaurants in the middle of the desert tastes expensive hi thank you very much yes thank you that's great thank you so much they look amazing truffles are good thank you this is yours thank you that was honestly the quickest Food Service ever but this just looks too aesthetically pleasing to eat look we got two chicken warmer what are they called buns oh my God how do you even eat them and then we have two lots of different fries Matt's got truffle and cheese fries and I have spicy ones and the bun even has the name definitely not gonna forget where you are are you ready [Applause] that's delicious it's like I don't think the buns are so soft chicken's really good it has kind of like a Big Mac sauce in there eating lemon truffle fries with a backdrop like that and this is a post restaurant I shouldn't be using my hand foreign that food was absolutely unreal last night I was a little bit worried I was trying to show off be a little bit of a gentleman take Molly out for a nice fancy meal and I thought it was gonna I thought it was gonna damage my wallet alula is not cheap but for all of that it came to around 40 which I don't think is bad at all but today our third day in alula we are checking out the highlight of the area and that is hegra you might have heard of Petra in Jordan but today we're seeing her little sister we have one tip is to rent a car taxis specifically you have to have a guide to go on one of these buses and it's around 30 pounds per person and we meet up with a big group thank you thank you this is amazing this is the first of the four stops that we will be checking out in hegra today you actually get as long as you want at each stop so the buses drop you off and then you can jump on the next bus whenever you are free which I think is really good and um hair grow was home to the nabatian people of course they first settled in Petra and when they were in search of water along their route they made it here set up their city and there's over a hundred tombs which you I don't think you can explore anyway not at least for this one but look at them the way they're just carved into the side of the rock I don't see how they can still stand with like the intricate carvings like just sitting in the middle of a rock in the middle of the desert it's crazy to believe that they didn't really start excavations around here until 2008 and that was when it was enlisted into UNESCO the first world heritage site in all of Saudi Arabia and behind us is the most famous tomb of them all tomb of lithan son of kuza and how they managed to carve this is remarkable it's on the front of like a semi-circular type Rock who needs Petra look there's absolutely no one else here not only it hammers to create this in front of the unique Palace I'll locally named this tomb it's uh uh actually owned to a commander in the Army and it's the most biggest tomb we have in all of higra so it's not complete as we can see in in the bottom there and this is telling us the process that they start from the top till they reach the end and over there they have stopped because uh the scientist actually was wondering because of that so that's why they started to study the certificate what it's not complete why and when they study the certificate they discover that it's only mentioned the owner name so there's no wife no generation so they believe he was a single a bachelor and died in the battlefield and buried there it's crazy to think that over 2 000 years ago people came with their camels and their Caravans from Petra and produce something as magical as this to think at the most famous tomb we were the only only ones there like it's just can you imagine that in Petra yeah you just you're just not going to get it I definitely recommend coming in the afternoon as well as you can see we also have stop number three which is girls Mountain to ourselves and they believe there's over 30 tombs here and over 20 of them were women that were buried in the tombs hence why it's called girls Mountain literally surrounded by a wall of tombs and number 26 is the only tomb in hegra that you are allowed in quick run here we go I'm gonna slip oh wow so this is what the inside of a tomb inhegra looks like you can see where they would put the bodies in the Tomb this is what they cast them for and that is just about our time in what a way to spend our final day Petra without the crowds I definitely recommend doing it in the afternoon we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves because everyone was scared of the hot midday Sun but wow in only a few years they have completely transformed the desert of this area into this tourist Hub and it's only going to get better like I said a mix between the Grand Canyon Cappadocia and Uluru in Australia all combined into one and I think they're adding direct flights to Europe very very soon which means this place is just going to become insane there's going to be so many tourists that was lucky to be able to experience it before it completely blows up and I love the way that I each stop yesterday you could just jump on whatever bus when you wanted so you could have as long as you want and it wasn't at all where you only had five minutes and you had to run around really really enjoyed it I would definitely come back here in the future it has been the highlight of our trip in Saudi Arabia but we are now heading to a little town in the middle of nowhere called Rider to see a man about a camel we'll see you in the next one [Music] thank you [Music]
2023-07-10 16:20
