Government Affairs provides the Explore Saudi Arabia program, a joyful and fun part of its range of services, to the KAUST community. Part of the program aims to reveal hidden regions of Saudi Arabia to community members.
Government Affairs recently coordinated a three-day tour in Abha, which included visiting the Al Soudah Season, a cultural festival. There, our explorers enjoyed practicing yoga on top of a mountain. After an hour of meditation, they headed to Al Muftaha to visit an art exhibition. This was followed by a stroll in the green mountains and dinner admiring a view of the area’s breathtaking scenery. Many more activities took place on the tour; below is an overview of the trip’s highlights.
On the first full day of their expedition, the explorers visited Abo Sarah Heritage Palace, where they had the opportunity to go back in time and visit an old house furnished with items from over a century ago. A group of people even went horseback riding at Red Rock before heading to the Al Soudah Season Festival. In the evening, the group took the region’s cable cars up to 3,000 meters in altitude to visit Rijal Alma’a Flowerman Festival, and they also enjoyed dinner with a backdrop of the stunning scenery.
On the second and last day of the trip, the group headed to Althulatha’s old souq, where handcrafted souvenirs from the region were on display. The explorers then made a stop at the Fatimah Museum—the first museum for women’s heritage in Aseer—where artwork by women is displayed on the walls. The visit was followed by a demonstration of female artists’ skills. Before heading back to Jeddah, the travelers had lunch at the Algorah nature reserve after a short hike in the surrounding natural beauty of the area.
Below are quotes from some of the people who took part in the trip:
“I would like to recommend Explore Saudi Arabia for preparing this wonderful trip. I thank Government Affairs for arranging these trips across the Kingdom. Those trips are helping…people at KAUST to be exposed to the richness [of] Saudi heritage and Saudi culture. I would like you to continue doing trips of this sort. I appreciated the wonderful trip that got organized…in Abha and the wonderful effort of the entire team [in] making this very joyful event that will leave us with great memories [from] our stay here in Saudi Arabia.”
—Mootaz Elnozahy (Dean, CEMSE Faculty)
“We just spent two and a half days in Aseer region, including Abha. I didn’t know this region—this was my first time. The things we experienced so far exceed our expectations from the cultur[al aspect], the artistic tradition, the natural scener[y] and the nature activities were fantastic. I really enjoyed the visit to Al Soudah, as I got to know this region much better. Al Soudah is an old city in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and I believe more people should visit it. I am really happy about this trip and I am grateful [to] Government Affairs for organizing it. Thank you.”
—Tony F. Chan, KAUST President
“It was a really nice trip. It was really good for everybody, I think. I mean not just from one perspective—Saudis and non-Saudis all seemed to have enjoyed the trip. Definitely I am going to be in the next trip!”
—Rob Anderson, head of Research Compliance
“It was amazing, it was stunning. I knew it was beautiful, but I did not expect that level of beauty. It was like a VIP trip all the way [a]long. We have all the privileges of seeing things that nobody can see and it was extremely smooth and extremely pleasant.”
—Stefan Arold, professor of Bioscience
Everyone at KAUST is welcome to join the “Explore Saudi Arabia” trips throughout the year, and we guarantee pure enjoyment and discoveries from the trips!