We planned to visit Abha during Eid-ul-Adha and Hajj holidays. Riyadh weather is traditionally dry and dusty and this plan definitely brought a happy mood to the kids. We were three families commuting on three different vehicles for this trip. We had a meeting the night before we left and decided to leave just after the midnight so we can travel some distance in the night time and reach Abha before the sunset. The distance from Riyadh to Abha is over 1000 KM and the route passes by Al Kharj, Hawta Bani Tamim, Al Aflaj, Alsulayyil, Wadi Addawasir and Khamis Mashait. The peak season for Abha is generally summer vacation when many families from all over the kingdom head towards places like this to spend some quality time. Now this was end of October, and the weather was becoming a little cold in the evenings in Riyadh. We checked the temperatures of Abha and it was in the range of 11 to 14 in the nights. Therefore, we had the jackets and other winter clothes in our baggage for the trip.
Tip: When I checked the route on my GPS, it was suggesting me to go on Makkah road to Taif and from there to Abha. This was a route over 1350 KM. I had to force my GPS to go on Route 10 which is just over 1000 KM.
We packed our baggages and were ready leave by 1 AM, Thursday morning. The weather was perfect for travel and the visibility was very good. We started our journey to Al Kharj. There is a an exit 16 KM before Al Kharj (GPS 24.269266,47.180228) for Dilam that leads to Route 10 (King Fahad Road), which leads to Abha. Passing through Dilam, you will encounter some traffic signals.
The road in general is very good with two lanes on both sides. There are some places when you will experience road bumps and traffic signals. Some of these are so sudden that it is very hard to adjust the speed.
The next significant place was Hawta Bani Tamim, 170 KM from Riyadh. Then came Al Aflaj (Also famous for Layla) 300 KM from Riyadh. We stopped there for Fajr prayer, had some tea and continued. It was too windy and the weather was cold. We continued our journey to Al Sulayyil.
The sun was popping out and there was nothing noteworthy on the road. It was quiet and calm everywhere and we continued our journey. We saw many date palm trees near Al Sulayyil and it reminded of the traditional Arabian oasis.
There are road signs warning about the passing by camels. The road is good but there is no divider or side barriers. Therefore, you can expect the animals on the road at any time of the day, although very rare.
We reached Wadi Addawaser and stopped for some time. We rented a hotel for a couple of hours, had our breakfast and had a quick nap for almost an hour. The journey continues. In Wadi Addawaser, there are many U-turns on the road and there are speed bumps with every U-turn. There are some traffic lights too. Drive carefully and observe speed limits. There are a couple of round abouts before you eventually leave Wadi Addawaser. After this point, there is no place of interest except the scenes around the road. There are some mountains that make the scenes beautiful. When approaching tathleeth, the track passes through a mountain range. This was beautiful and we stopped on a place to take some snaps.
After passing by Subaykhah, there is a diversion for Khamis Mushait/Abha (GPS 18.788221,43.187728). There are road signs significantly placed for the motorists. Khamis Mushait is around 90 KM from there. We reached Khamis Mushait by 3 PM and passed through following the road signs for Abha. The same King Fahad road passes through Khamis Mushait and leads to Abha.
We reached Abha before 4 PM and looked for the hotel/furnished apartments. This was not peak season so there were a plenty of options available. The rates of apartments were very low to our surprise as we expected them to be costly. After arranging the apartments, we went out to see the place and arrange for some food etc.
The weather was excellent and we could feel the clouds around us. It was almost Maghrib prayer time and the sun was setting quickly.
Continue to Part 2.......
