Time of the visit: the 4th of dec.2024

I stayed for three days in Riad in order to get to know SA's capital a bit, and to visit the Al-Ahsa Oasis and the Turaif-quarter (both unesco whs).

I had booked my ticket online for the train from Riad to Hofuf just a few days earlier to make sure that I got one as I had read that that train is often booked out. However,the train was quite empty. I took the one early in the morning.

After my arrival in Al-Ahsa I took an ueber taxi from the railway station first to the Jawatha mosque. As I had read that the mosque is tiny I told my driver to wait for me as I would be back within 5-10 min. I stormed out of the taxi and saw a man leaving the mosque and the door wasn't closed when I was already inside. I took some pics and went out where the aforementioned man looked at me quite puzzled. As I was in a hurry I didnt start a conversation.We headed then to the mountain Jabel Al-Quarah. On the way the taxi driver,a former saudi policeman,gave me all the important infos to know about Hofuf which I wanted to know.I stayed inside and outside the mountain Jabal Al-Quarah for almost 2 h. And like my fellow member Martina I consider the swiss-cheese superrock the most interesting stop of that unseco whs.

The Jabal Al-Quarah is like a hollowed out swiss cheese with different paths, caves, cracks. All partially lit by the sun. Great lighting effects, incredible photo opportunities there. There were 2-3 restaurants at the entrance to the area.
The entrance fee was around €15. Before I entered the rock area, I went into a room on the first floor, from which the entrance from the entrance building to the rock area branches off. I was met by a young saudi man who showed and explained me the history of SA based on pictures displayed on the walls. He invited me than to a coffee and a sweet inside a tent set up in the room. I also received a bag with a lot of brochures and little souvenirs.They do it for every visitor,but since I was the only visitor for the 2h I stayed there I was probably treated better than the average visitor. The taxi driver told me that during the moslem weekends (friday and saturday) and the hot months of the year the mountain is quite crowded.

After that I had to wait outside the mountain in a restaurant for my taxi to my next destination,the handcraft castle. Very nice building,but almost all shops were closed there as I arrived in the early afternoon.From there I walked through some remains of the old town to the Fawares Mall to buy some cold drinks and from there to the Souq Al-Qaisariyah. The souq was quite clean and must have been renovated some time before. As it was early afternoon most shops were closed so that my experience there was quite underwhelming. I guess during nighttime it may be more attractive. 

I then walked to the Qasr Ibrahim,a kind of fort-palace,where I had some difficulty in finding the entrance. I stayed there for around 30 minutes,interesting visit,but nothing from a another dimension. The entrance is free.

They told me there that the Qasr Al-Sahood is closed and currently being renovated.

I decided to walk to my last stop,the Qasr Khuzam,and then call it a day. The walk took longer than I had expected before but I had to blame myself for it as I wandered through an old and totally run-down neighborhood  which at times looked like the remains of a battle field in an abandoned ukrainian city.Truly fascinating. Only foreigners live there,mostly indians and pakistani people.

The Qasr Khuzam is smaller than the Qasr Ibrahim.......I needed 15 min to see everything there including walking on the defense walls ( forbidden,but nobody was there). No information boards could be seen. A very underwhelming experience. A visitor short of time can skip the Qasr Khuzam.Its counterpart near the souq,the Qasr Ibrahim,is far more interesting.

My train departed at 17.30 from Hofuf's railway station.....and the trains are on time in SA. I had to wait 5 min for a taxi and made it just in time for the check-in at the railway station.

A mildy interesting whs site.I would have probably been quite disappointed with my visit there but the mountain Jabal Al-Quarah saved my day.