We were invited to the desert by Kholoud and Fares Alessa for the day. You see a lot of desert on your travels around Riyadh so was not sure what to expect. Well what an amazing trip.
Our friends Bethan and Chris who also came with us did not have a 4 wheel drive and so you can imagine what happened.............. Yes they got stuck in the sand on the way. Stuck at the top or an enormous sand dune. Ali advised letting the air out of the tyres as he said this would help getting the car out and also make it easier for the car to manoeuvre on the sand. After a few pushing from us the car was free and with Ali driving took the car almost vertical down the dune. Sand is firm to walk and drive on, but when you stop or stand still the sand collapses around you. So should you be going to desert anytime soon let the air out of your tyres.
Well finally arrived at the spot where we were going to set up the camp. The local was in the middle of sand dunes on three sides. Our hosts set up camp and made tea with served with little sesame seed biscuits. This was followed by Arabic coffee which I don't like as it is made from cardamom seeds and dates.
The desert sand was a reddy orange in colour and for miles around just sand dunes. The horizon of the sand as it's meets the blue sky was truly beautiful. When away from our friends sitting on the dunes there is complete silence, not a sound, but your ears seem to be scanning for sound as there is always at anyone time a bird tweeting or some other sound, but in the desert there is nothing, absolutely no sound at all.
After a few hours we packed up and moved to a friend of Ali's Mr Ahmed who had his camel farm nearby. Ali had arranged with Mr Ahmed for us to have a ride on the camel. As you can see from the video the camel was not keen to do this. We later found out she was pregnant which was why she was grumpy.
Mr Ahmed made us feel very welcome and we sat with him in the Bedouin tent and had tea and dates. We were then asked if we would like to try some camel's milk. Keith had been told by many both Saudi and others that if you drink camels milk it will upset your stomach and just go right through you so you can imagine our reluctance to accept this. Our hosts said they would have some and so the workers and me in tow went to milk the camel. I was very lucky to have a go and was blown away by the sheer amount of milk that comes out and the pressure causing the milk to froth. Having got a huge bowl of milk we went back to the tent. We were told by Mr Ahmed that when a camel gives birth the milk in the first few weeks the milk is of the highest quality just like human breast milk and should not upset your stomach so not to offend our host Keith, Chris and me all had a taste of the cream which is eaten with the dates dragged through the cream. I had expected the cream and milk to taste acidic, if fact it was really nice just like cow's milk, but a little more creamy in taste. Then came the tasting of the milk! I had only a couple of mouthfuls the same as Chris whereas Keith had two bowls of the stuff and our host and other friends drinking three bowls. The whole time they were drinking they were teasing Keith about what was going to happen to him later. Well I can assure you nothing did happen whether it was due to the milk being of a good quality or so fresh we will never know.
As we were leaving we were sprayed by our host with oud. This is a Saudi tradition.
So it was now time for us to go to a Bedouin tent and for Kholoud, Ali and Fares to cook kabsah. A tradition Saudi dish of chicken and rice. Outside the town there are oasis of tents where Saudis can go with their families and camp. They spend the day there eating and drinking sometimes staying overnight.
The kabsah took about an hour and half to prepare and with ally making bread on the camp fire it was a very enjoyable experience. The kabsah was delicious and we all sat on the floor and ate from one high large dish in the middle of the floor, eating with your fingers the Saudi way. Bethan and I eat with a spoon and chris for the first time eat with his fingers and got a lot round it face. The art if eating with fingers is for the food to be moulded into a ball in the palm of you hand and then flicked into the mouth by the thumb underneath the food. An art in itself.
