AlUla. Saudi Arabia’s hidden gem.

This is Al-Ula, a unique region of Saudi Arabia. Due to the fact that the country was closed to tourists for a long time, these fantastic landscapes, similar to Utah and Arizona, have been seen by few. And interestingly, they're quite different from the rest of Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, though, since 2019, the country has started issuing tourist visas, and today, we have a chance to show this incredible place to you. So, we find ourselves in Al-Ula now. It is not a city, but a historic region. It has tons of interesting stuff, and it's where they are building tourism from the ground up. It is meant to become the postcard of Saudi Arabia that will become its main attraction and gem. This is why they're holding a Winter in Tantora Festival. It's the second time it's been held here, spanning over three months and attracting tourists from all over the world, who, of course, come to see this unique region of the country that wasn't originally accessible to the public. While it's the buses that usually take care of the visitors, I will roam with Laura and Amjad, the Ministry of Tourism representatives who will help me with filming, because, as you might have guessed, you need a pass for that, too. Let's go, then. Al-Ula has left an indelible impression on me from the first day. Just so you know, this region is the size of Belgium, or Maryland for you Americans. Here, erosion and time are the main architects, shaping these sandstone rocks into the most surprising forms, making them look like art installations. And Elephant Mount may be the most well-known. As for my favorite, it is this immense bottle-shaped hole in the rocks. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even a basic drive turns into a total delight here. And three days in, I was drop-dead in love with this place, just like I fell in love with Utah and Arizona two years ago. But beautiful landscapes are not enough for tourists to start flowing in. You also need quite serious infrastructure. Let's see what they've built to support the festival. As for accommodation, apart from existing hotels, the organizers have raised Bedouin tents that vary from the ones with swimming pools to slightly more budget tents, although I'm sure that emotions from living in the desert are guaranteed in both cases. I, on the other hand, had it even better, staying in a trailer park located in a super-picturesque valley. These usually standard trailers here in the middle of a desert make it look like a Mars mission. Very futuristic, to say the least. To be clear, these aren't standard trailers. They're manufactured by an American company, Airstream, that has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Inside, it's a fully-fledged hotel with an air con, fridge, stove, bathroom, and two beds. Oh yeah, you get a terrace, too. And each morning, officials bring you breakfast. It's a fancy life in a desert, with many comforts. Food-wise, there are also pop-up restaurants that serve people throughout the time of the festival. The positioning of these restaurants is simply on another level. What's incredible is that the walls of these restaurants still carry the rock drawings that are probably thousands of years old. At times, restaurants were so well-placed into the surroundings that I couldn't help but question how they managed it all. This is a road to one of them. To get food, you sometimes need to navigate through some narrow rocks, but it's definitely worth it in the end. This is just, wow, guys. Everything is top-notch here, to say the least. Long bars, lots of waiters, chefs from across the world, and the views, of course. Undoubtedly, though, the Mariah building, that translates from Arabic as mirror, and was built specifically for the festival, takes the main stage. Designed by Italian architects, it became part of the Guinness World Record books in 2020. That's the largest fully-mirrored building in the world, and acts as a 500-person concert hall. Apparently, it has been raised in just three months, but its main feature is how harmoniously it fits into the local landscapes. And everything that happens next to the cube becomes an extremely photogenic process. Filming it is perfect movie material. All right, then, time to jump into an SUV and show you some other local attractions. Desert X Exhibition, for example, also runs throughout the three months of the festival and displays 14 installations by artists from around the globe. It used to be held near Coachella Music Festival, but now it's been moved to Saudi Arabia, since this desert used to serve as a trading route for spices, incense, and textile between Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This now quickly brings us to a very important subject. I've been quite often comparing SA to Dubai in this episode, and as you may know, Dubai isn't necessarily rich in history. Well, this is where Saudi Arabia steps in, having not only intensely rich history, but also objects that are over 6,000 years old. Some of them are located in Al Ula. The total number of the monuments in this area is unknown, as the excavations are not completed yet, and even the discovered ones are sometimes only reachable by air. Excavations only began a half a year ago, but there were already around 600 monuments at the time. And here comes the crazy part. More than 22,000 new spots were discovered since the start of excavations. This place is soaking in history. Of course, it would have been impossible to see it all in just three days, but I still managed to capture some. Let's begin with Open Library, a place whose rocks carry thousands of inscriptions in the ancient Dadenite language. Locals call it the ancient Twitter, as the writings are arranged in subjects like politics, religion, and general social stuff about life. How old are these signs? 700 years before Christ, 2,700 years ago, at least. What's incredible is that just 10 years ago, none of these places were heritage sites. There were no tourists, and locals used these sites as playgrounds. Including the ancient city of Dadan, for example, that is even mentioned in the Bible. Nowadays, it's very hard to believe, but locals in general disregarded all these places as monuments of history. And it's only with the influx of tourism they realized how important this region really is. Today, this place is beginning to take shape as a true tourist spot, with further advances to come, of course. I think that it's only now that Saudi Arabia has begun to realize how many hidden gems it has. And the greatest gem there is, is the Madain Salae. This ancient necropolis has scattered across quite a large region, making hiking between the sites nearly impossible. For now, it's home for 138 rocky tombs, but numbers keep growing as more get discovered. You wouldn't be wrong in thinking there are similarities with Jordanian Petra, because both of these places are built by the same people, Nabataeans. Being over 2,000 years old, these monumental structures are cut out of sandstone. And since it isn't the most durable material, it's astonishing how they still remain intact. It's partly thanks to the climate, of course, and the fact that these places were fully abandoned. The tombs were built for burials. Hence, the facade served as a main identifier of the owner's status and wealth. Amongst these ably-made tombs lies the main attraction, the Qasr al-Farid, otherwise known as the Lonely Castle. It's the biggest tomb in the necropolis. Although it was never completed and probably never served its main purpose, it still looks utterly unreal, and its decorations look like something out of the fifth element. Madain Saleh is a unique heritage site that, until recently, was only accessible to a limited number of people, and there were even fewer who knew of its existence. One thing I am certain about is that it's the most impressive place in Saudi Arabia, and most likely one of the most impressive monuments in the world. To add to it, the Lonely Castle became an art object itself during the festival and part of a very unusual show. This place is magical, guys. There aren't many people around. Ambient music is playing in the background. I can't fly my drone any longer because the sky will be taken over by something else now. Oh, and try to guess what those lights are. I'm sure you guys figured it out that it's drones, 300 of them, all synchronized by special software that can form objects without the drones crashing into each other. Unfortunately, the camera just doesn't translate the grandness of it all, but believe me, it's very impressive. A couple of words about the evening program now. First, the lit up rocks start looking even more spectacular. Secondly, it's the restaurants where all the visitors gather. But the main action happens in the Mariah Hall, as the festival has a very tight concert schedule. Some of the top artists in the world perform on a weekly basis throughout the three months of the festival. This, by the way, is the list of those we already missed. Quite sad that I missed this guy, and these, and maybe these guys too. But these two are performing in five minutes, so let's go and check them out. First thing that needs to be mentioned is the space you have between the rows. I guess the number of spaces weren't the main criteria. As for the concert itself, first, Craig David went on stage to warm everybody up. Then he was followed by Lionel Richie, who blew up the stage and got everyone dancing. His top hits were in the mix, of course. The sight of both men and women dancing to the rhythms of music was absolutely unreal for Saudi Arabia just five or six years ago. But today, it unfolds right in front of me. This country is changing, and it's amazing. Best thing about it is that we can see it happening right in front of us. The last thing left now is to show you the Al Ula city that hides the reasoning behind the festival's name. Tantora is the sun clock situated in the old town, used by locals to register the change of seasons. As for winter, well, it's the most interesting time here. It's now the end of February, and it's probably the only period of time when the desert is blossoming. Despite being a desert, this place is full of life. There's water that gathers in the reservoirs between rocks and, surprisingly, fertile lands. Al Ula is the oasis where even fruits grow. It's also home to a unique old town, built 800 years ago, that functioned all the way until the 20th century. Today, it's fully conserved, and I was eager to see more of it. This, though, proved to be difficult, since the city is locked by police. But after Laura made a couple of calls, we were let in, let into the place that no one can really access. Laura, this is it? Yeah. This place is totally unique because it was left as is by its population that got moved to another city nearby. It's now more of a monument of the ancient life, hardly accessible by anyone. Although the Al Ula old town is now fully conserved, I doubt that these flimsy structures will last long. Maybe 10 or 50 years from now, it will deteriorate and collapse to the ground, serving as an end to a beautiful story that is Al Ula Old Town. The last family left the town in 1983, turning it into a ghost town ever since. It was an absolutely astonishing experience to stroll through the streets that have long forgotten the sounds of life, and I distantly felt that same feeling I had in Chernobyl. The last thing we'll delve into is entertainment. There are lots of activities during the festival, a polo tournament, for example, and more interestingly, this festival of air balloons that I unfortunately missed, but can at least share these official shots with you. One thing I didn't miss was a flight on retro planes that were brought in specifically for the festival. This guy flew in from the UK, while that passenger's C-45 is from the US. The pilot was German, though. I managed to snatch this biplane that was made in 1952, and it was used by the US Army for training purposes. Let's cut to the chase now and get to the skies. Here's what flying a World War II plane feels like. First, it's very loud. Secondly, you get to wear funny goggles. Third, you get to stick it between your legs. And finally, it's awesome. Love this, apart from the turns, because I almost crapped my pants. To summarize Alula, I am very impressed. You live your life not knowing much about this country, and then it suddenly opens up to you with all its unreal history. One question, though. Why have you been hiding it from us, guys?