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There are days when the magic of inspiration and imagination has escaped from the high security prism of my Quartz. You see! There was a pun intended there and you didn’t get it did you? That’s proof that I’m living in the void of wannabe-magic-but-never-impressing-even-the-permanently-laughing-psycho-patients of Alice’s Wonderland.
Living here in the Paradise of the Arabian Resort of Yanbu-al-Bahr hasn’t succeeded to stir the thick mud of imagination that lies deep inside my Quartz recently. And yet I bet I could write a very long list of things to do here on a 1001 Arabian Nights - not that I plan staying here that long! Although in my line of work you never know!
What? I hear calls from my very large blog audience… You’re challenging me to that bet? How much? 1001 Rials per blogger? You’re on! Just give me nearly three years to prepare the list ok?
Anyway, more seriously I can tell you that on my days off which in this part of the world are on Fridays I will often venture to the beach by way of having something to do. Accompanied by one of my colleagues from work I went driving along the coastal road heading north from Yanbu town centre and we saw some really beautiful white sandy beaches that go on for several kilometers. At intervals along the beaches are shade pavilions and children’s playgrounds. There are also loads of benches to sit on and even small beach shops selling snacks and drinks. Sadly, there is a tragedy to this tale of paradise beauty. Fridays is not the day to come here as the beach shops are shut as required by Islamic law. Thursday would be a better day to come if I wanted to enjoy thirst quenching drinks and play volleyball in the lovely soft sand. But, even then only if I was accompanied by my wife otherwise I’m not welcome into the family designated areas. And even if I were permitted there’s no chance of hoping to see beautiful bikini clad Arabian women here. Instead I can see them from a safe distance wading in the sea fully clad in their black chadors. This is genuinely a tragic paradise!
Yanbu Al-Bahr has beautiful white sand beaches.As I carried on driving north I passed a place called Happyland which again on Fridays is closed. There they have small funfair type rides for children. Farther on I saw a place with the words ‘casino’ in the name. Yup! I had to rub my eyes and check again. The place seemed a bit rundown and possibly not in use any longer. Still I asked myself the question when in Saudi did they ever allow casinos? And what kind of casino I wondered? Even further up I passed a place called the Dolphin club. I had heard about this place which is walled all the way round with entrance permitted only for privileged Saudi Aramco employees with passes. I’ve been informed that within those walls are restaurants and (non alcohol serving) bars. There’s also a beautiful clean sandy beach and an array of various seaside leisure facilities on hand including water jet skiing. You know, as we passed the gate to the club I could have sworn I saw St Peter outside but it could have been a mirage I’m not really sure!
Is this the Phantom of Arabia? St Peter? Or just a mirage?On one stretch of beach away from the family designated areas we decided to stop and take a walk. In the sand we noticed a whole range of small mounds that was evidently freshly dug. Nearby to each mound was a hole. There were no prints in the sand to give me any clues about what kind creatures were responsible for this miniature mountain range of mounds. Was it some kind of large sea worm, turtle or mole? Could it be a phantom of a sort?
A range of mounds and holes! The real phantom needs to own up!We carried on down the coastal road until we came to a section with a promenade and a pier with people fishing off the end of it including women. There was a beach here too and we took another walk round. It was here I came upon the answer to the mound mystery. We saw several crabs scuttling along sideways and gee whiz – they scuttled at some remarkable speed! I ended up having to run in order to see where they were heading until I suddenly saw them disappear into little holes in the sand. That was of course the moment when the light came on inside my dim Quartz! I decided I couldn’t miss this as a photo opportunity, so with a little effort and running around like an over-excited little boy I managed to get a nice snap of Sammy or Sarah depending on whether it was a boy or a girl.
Gotcha! The Ghost Crab of Arabia. Whooooo hoooooo!After doing some research on the internet I found out that Sammy / Sarah is known as a ghost crab that digs his / her home in the sand between sunset and dusk. Without being able to consult an expert for verification, this particular Arabian species, maybe known as an Ocypode Samtari or Ocypode Saratan. Now what would you have done without that very informative piece of trivia?
While wandering these beaches I did come across another unusual species called philinwetsuitus flipperitus. It can sometimes be seen crawling out of the Red Sea, especially on Fridays. I was lucky enough to catch one red handed coming out of the sea and this amazingly tame creature was kind enough to expand its flippers for my camera. What luck eh!
A rare and unique species - philinwetsuititus flipperitus. Rumour has it that when this creature extends it's flippers like this it's some kind of mating call...This dark four limbed sea creature can sometimes be seen swimming over the coral.The coastline here at Yanbu has tens of kilometres of coral reef. The coral is among the best to be seen anywhere in the world. I’ve been enjoying some of my Fridays’ snorkelling over the reef. The coral grows over a flat lava shelf that sits out into the sea by somewhere between 50 and 150 metres from the shore to the shelf edge. The lava shelf sits just some half a metre below the sea surface. At the shelf edge it drops by around 15 to 25 metres. This kind of geology makes it absolutely perfect for snorkelling.
The coral reef just off the Yanbu coast is as good as in these two pictures.The colour and life around these corals is breathtaking and amazing. I’ve never been to anywhere like this before and to think that people pay hundreds of pounds on diving / snorkelling expeditions to see this kind of beauty makes me feel so very lucky to be paid while being here and doing this sort of thing. The variety and numbers of marine fish is astonishing. They are just like the fish you see in the big marine aquariums only a bit larger in size. The sheer numbers of them though does make swimming among them an experience not to be missed. I have seen blue spotted groupers, clown fish, and parrot fish to name but a few. There are also electric eels and turtles but I’ve not sighted any of those as yet. I did however see a stingray swimming gracefully beneath me some 5 or 6 metres below. That did bring to mind the tragedy of Steve Irwin. There are also sharks in the Red Sea and I’m kind of hoping I won’t be having any encounters with those unless it’s in controlled and safe circumstances.
There are diving courses available here in Yanbu and I’m seriously thinking of going on one after Moon has been out here and gone back home again. I think it’s an opportunity not to be missed. After I’ve done the course I could try becoming the next Jacques Cousteau and try diving around some shipwrecks on an organised trip.
Meet Darius and his pretty wife in the background! - Camelus DromedariusIt beats me how it appealed to Lawrence to ride on one of these creatures.One can’t come to Arabia and not see camels. So last Friday, on the way back from my not quite so Jacques Cousteau snorkelling expedition, I went on a camel spotting mission. It’s easy to find camels here and you only have to drive along the highway going north from Yanbu and look along the roadside to see herds of them. I’ve not seen any camel caravans as such. I guess I’ve not ventured far enough inland into the desert to see the nomadic tribes that ride camels. Come to think of it how do you ride a camel with one hump anyway? How did the colonel Lawrence of Arabia sit on those creatures with a rifle in one hand and help the Arabs succeed in their revolt of 1917?
Anyone for the Arabian Derby?I had heard at work that Lawrence on his many journeys around the Middle East paid a visit to Yanbu Al-Bahr for a short time during 1917 to provide assistance to the Arab army that had a base here. The home where he allegedly stayed is supposed to be still standing. So off I went with a colleague on another mission to the old part of Yanbu town to find this place. We asked some Arabs and eventually one pointed to this grand old dilapidated home. I took a photo and went inside the place to have a good look round. This was a dangerous thing to do because this place was so derelict that the roof and ceilings are at the point of collapse. I was amazed at the number of rooms this place had and quite literally this place was like a maze. So much so that after we reached the back end of the house we actually got lost coming back out again. I joked with my colleague that the newspaper headlines tomorrow would say something like “Two English Expats go missing inside Lawrence of Arabia’s Home”.
Derelict home in the old part of Yanbu.I went inside and very nearly never found my way out again!I must add that this probably wasn’t the place where he stayed but it was a fun adventure all the same. I did find an old photo on the net that makes claim to a place where Lawrence stayed in Yanbu and it doesn’t compare well with the picture of the house I took!
Thanks for stopping by and reading. Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I did writing it.
- Anonymous
I'm thinking of taking a breather for about two or three months. ALthough knowing me I'm likely to still put in the odd blog here or there. There's a whole plethora of reasons, one being I want to keep my attention on Moon while I'm with her, another is that I no longer have internet access back at home, yet another is that I'm struggling to find time to write, etc...
FRIEND
Written with a pen
Sealed with a kiss
If you are my friend,
Please answer this:
Are we friends or are we not?
You told me once, but I forgot.
So tell me now and tell me true,
So I can say, I am here for you.
Of all the friends I've ever met,
You're the one I won't forget.
And if I die before you do,
I'll go to Heaven
And wait for you.
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¶¶¶¶¶¶ aithful
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¶¶¶¶¶¶ espectful
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¶¶¶ ntelligent
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¶¶¶¶¶¶ verlasting or loyal
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¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶ aughtyand
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¶¶¶___¶¶¶earest of all
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I thoroughly enjoyed you blog. Have a safe and pleasant journey.
Thursday 24 May 2007 - 03:40PM (CDT)
