We had mixed emotions heading into a week-long break at the end of October.  On the one hand, it was nice to have a bit of a break after the grind of the start of the school year.  However, as we are expecting our happy addition at the end of December, we did not feel that comfortable traveling long distances or by plane.  We decided to go to the oasis town of Al-Hofuf.  Al-Ahsa is the name of the governate as well as the name of the oasis.  Al-Hofuf is the name of the city but Al-Hofuf also goes by Al-Ahsa.  Very confusing!

The easy option would have been to spend a few days in Bahrain.  It is a nice break from living in Saudi and we can be at the hotel in about two hours (including the border crossing) . The problem is that Bahrain can get a bit expensive, and we wanted to go somewhere that we haven’t been before.

Overnight trip to Hofuf

We decided that for our first sojourn in Saudi Arabia, we would not want to travel too far by car.  Perhaps surprisingly, there are some interesting places to visit in Saudi Arabia, but many of them require quite a bit of driving.  We decided that a three hour drive is the maximum that we would go for an overnight trip.  This led us to the oasis town of Hofuf.

The drive down wasn’t bad.  The only highlight of note is that we had to pass through Abqaiq to get to Hofuf. (Site of the recent drone attack) On a side note, some have asked us about our safety considering current geo-political events.  Our day-to-day life has changed very little.  We do not live in a high-priority target area, and while we keep one eye on the news, we don’t really think about it too much.

It was nice to see the landscape change.  As we got closer to Al-Ahsa we started to see many more rock formations.  Also in the city of Hofuf itself, it was so nice to see green again, albeit covered in a layer of dust.  The oasis has over 2 million palm trees that produce 100 thousand tons of dates every year.

The Hotel – Al-Ahsa InterContinental

There were a number of potential places to stay, but because we are IHG Rewards Platinum members, we decided to stay at the Al Ahsa InterContinental.  The InterContinental Brand is one that we prefer because we always get a high level of service.  We knew that even if Hofuf turned out to be a bust, we would get a nice stay away!  Luckily, Hofuf was a nice trip away too.

We got a standard room, which was just fine for us (especially if we are not using points!).  Simon slept on his Shrunks travel air mattress.  That thing really comes in handy!

The hotel itself was nice but a bit dated, and a little ‘Saudi-chic’ (think yellow gold everywhere) We ate both dinner and breakfast at the hotel.  Both were of high quality (but a bit on the pricey side). The service was impeccable as you would expect.

Things to do

We keep feeling like our living habits are not conducive to the Middle East.  What I mean by that is the culture here is one of sleepy days and eventful evenings.  Looking at the climate, this makes a lot of sense.  However, when you are traveling with small kids, it seems like we have the exact opposite schedule.  In this region, people (even families) start going out at 8 or 9 p.m.  We are settling down to bed at that time!

This seems especially true when we go to souqs.  Hofuf has quite a nice souq called the Qaisariah Souq, but again many things were closed at 2 pm.  The 9th century Ottoman fort, Ibrahim Palace was also closed due to renovations, but we got to walk around the outside.

Al Qarah Mountain

One of the highlights of a trip to Al Ahsa is Al Qarah Mountain. Located 15km outside of the city, it can easily be reached by car in about 30 minutes.  The mountain boasts an entire cave complex that has been caused by water and wind erosion.

Saudi Arabia has put a bit of money into this site, especially now as tourism is allowed in the country.  There is a Welcome Center complex before you enter the caves with a few shops and a cafe.  It is a bit artificial, but much to be expected for a site for tourists.

Stangely you might see this cave also called Judas’ Cave.  Apparently the legend is that this was the supposed cave that Judas used after he betrayed Jesus.  Obviously, that is just a legend, but an interesting one nonetheless.

We loved running around the caves and exploring, and it made for very cool temperatures despite going during the heat of the day.

Overall Impressions

Al-Ahsa was a nice overnight trip for our first Saudi excursion.  It was nice to see the oasis and have a change in scenery.  It would make a good stop for anyone wanting to take advantage of the new Saudi tourist visa!