A Hike in the desert…….

Whilst seeking out new contacts and my getting to know more people living here in Riyadh, a South African contact suggested I come along for a desert hike on Friday afternoon last, so I brought along two other co-workers and fellow Irishmen and followed instructions to a meeting point to get a lift to the desert, and off we went, with lots of water, some snacks in anticipation of the afternoon ahead.

After a 40 minute drive out of Riyadh with a group of other ex-pats, we turned off the highway into desert on an old track and into the openness of the Arabian Desert, after some time we came to clearing and met some others who were preparing a bar-b-q for after the hike….

We took off on a 5km hike down into a Canyon into a stunning landscape unlike anything I had experienced before, except maybe from an old cowboy movie or “Star Wars”. It was a fantastic hike and great to get out of the city for a few hours. I have attached some photos here to give an idea of the scene, a bit different from the green fields of home !

Thanks a lot to our experienced minders who knew the hike and were fantastic hosts, after we returned to base, the bar-b-q was at full blast and we enjoyed the sunset with a few burgers and an ice-cold Cola !!.....very welcome…

We got back late after dark, and we are looking forward to doing it all again soon, and by the way a fantastic way to meet new friends in Riyadh, including a man from my own “Parish” back home in Clonlara !! It’s a small world ……………..enjoy the photo's............