Jubbah & Hail Escape from Riyadh - 2 Days / 1 Night

DAY 1 : RIYADH TO HA’IL by TRAIN ( 642 km )

This morning we depart for Riyadh’s railway station and board the fast-new train for Ha’il. The railway link was constructed very recently and allows us to reach Hail in just under 5 hours. As we continue to the North we reach the imposing Shammar mountain range before arriving in the city of Ha’il. Renowned for its hospitable people, Hail is traditionally the home of Saudi Arabia’s poets and writers. An interesting point about Hail, most of the early European explorers passed by this city during the 19th century (Charles Doughty, Lady Blunt, Charles Huber, Julius Euting…Lunch will be served on the train at your own expense (not included ). Upon arrival, we will transfer to our hotel. As it will be early in Hail in the early afternoon, we will visit the A’Arif Fort and the nearby heritage museum. Then we will have a walk at the traditional market where we will find the local delicacies. We will pass also by the Hail Regional Museum, and if it is open, we will drop there to admire its collection.

• Dinner and Overnight in Ha’il.
• Hotel : Al Ahsa Intercontinental l Hotel 5* or Similar.

DAY 2: HA’IL – JUBAH – HA’IL

Breakfast at the hotel. This morning we will start very early our journey to Jubbah that lies on an ancient lake. Several archaeological sites of human settlement from the Middle Paleolithic period were found around the margin of the paleolake. Jubbah is surrounded by large sandstone outcrops that are filled with ancient petroglyphs and inscriptions on the rock face. Jubbah benefited from past humid phases that turned the arid Arabian Peninsula into a savannah similar to what is found today in Africa. During the last humid period that took place from the 10th to the 6th millennium BCE, the African monsoon rains filled rivers and lakes where wildlife thrived. If the animals that used to live there became instinct because of the desertification that started during the 6th millennium BCE, some men fixed forever their presence in Jubbah thanks to carvings of aurochs, cheetahs, lions…Those drawings are still visible today in the sides of several sandstone outcrops located on the western side of the paleolake like the Jebel Umm Sanman. Jubbah and Shuwaymis, the other major carving site of Hail Province, were listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2015 for their numerous petroglyph panels and rich inscriptions. Lunch will be served en route before we head back to the train station to catch our return train to Riyadh. Arrive in Riyadh at 20h.