Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Mom's Saudi Experience

So this for Tuesday Ten I thought of posting ten things about my mother's stay with us in Saudi-Arabia. She was here for about two months and we did so many things, visited so many places and met so many people! Here are some quick highlights of her visit...

Mom had her own bedroom in our house which has view to the large balcony. She liked it a lot and it's bigger than her own bedroom back home!Saudi houses are often much bigger in size though. It seems so empty now.
On our roadtrip around Saudi mom and her granddaughter are watching the sunset at Abha mountains. The green scenery there amazed her. Abha is definitely on our list of places to return to again, we were there off season so many touristic places had already closed.
This is from our last weekend in Saudi when it had rained and we found a small lake in the middle of the desert. She walked around in the lovely red sand dunes. Another strange experience for her.
At her first "Hash" walk in the desert, she climbed the red sand dune just like all her younger counterparts. Climbing up this thing is not easy folks! Going down is fun though and we saw many different styles such as running like mad, jumping and even cart wheels!
In Abha region we stopped to buy honey from this local salesman. Mom ended up buying  huge canister of that honey which was from Yemen.
A souvenir shop we found on our roadtrip. Mom bought replicas of houses of the Najran region. She was delighted to find the exact same ones to add to her collection that she bought on our trip to Yemen a few years back. This is one of the best souvenir shops I've been to in the Kingdom.
On Farasan Islands mom was in her element. She swam whenever she got the chance. The water was warm and lovely and there was no one else around. It was pure bliss and my daughter enjoyed those lazy days on the beach and in the water as warm as a bath tub!
We spent one night sleeping in the desert on Farasan Island. It was amazing.
We had so much fun at the women's souq in Najran. Here mom is trying on Bedouin niqabs.
The magnificent Empty Quarter, Rub al-Khali was simply breath taking and we agreed to return there one day for an overnight camping trip!
Miss you, mom! Hope she can return soon..

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

looks beautiful<3

Seikku said...

Awesome pictures as always. The size of your guest room.... unfair! :)

Layla said...

Deema- Thanks!
Seikku- Nice to see your comment pitkasta aikaa!Ya we have big apartments here in Saudi :)

Nikki said...

This was so wonderful. :) My parents are so scared of Saudi Arabia, masha'Allah you are so lucky to have a mother that can appreciate the beauty in different cultures and ways of life.

Hamlin said...

Awesome post..Moms are so much more powerful than they realize. How they are feeling on a particular day can have significant effects on the entire family. A Mom can and does influence so many things in her environment. And that can affect how she feels, and in turn how the other family members feel.

Explore said...

After seeing your house.. I want to move to Saudi!!! That kind of room is reserved for castles here in Scotland.

Layla said...

Nikki-thank you :)Show them how my mom loved it maybe they will change their minds!

Layla said...

Hamlin-thanks for the comment and welcome to my blog! You are absolutely right with your observations. The mother is the core and soul of the family :)

Layla said...

Explore-LOL do they also have bars on the windows ;)

Anonymous said...

What a lovely post. My mother didn't get the opportunity to visit me when I lived in Saudi but I'd like to think that she would have embraced it as much as your mother did...after all - us adventurous girls must take after some one, and who would that be if not our mothers? :)

Layla said...

You're right it must come from somewhere :)In my case it has to be both parents!

Anonymous said...

Looks great! Especially sleeping in the desert! weren't you afraid of the small animals (like snakes and scorpions)?

And I would soooooooo want to climb that red sand dune too! I love climbing, exercise- like long distance walks, challenging myself.

Layla said...

Alice-I was REALLY freaked out about all the creepy creepers and I sprayed some mosquito repellent all over my mattress (as if that helped)
We woke up full of bites from some crawlers eww!