The Search for Elephant Rock (Al Ula)

Today I realised that I love travelling, not for the sake of going to some place or seeing something but just for the sake of travelling itself. I love the packing and unpacking, the journeys and the just stopping and taking it all ins. I love the way it makes you see things in perspective, that all that really matters are having good company, food, a clean bed and a toilet!

Yesterday, we travelled through three provinces in Saudi Arabia. Hail, Tabuk and Medina. The landscape changed every so often making us feel as if we were entering different levels of a video game. The views were really out of this world. I think back to how amazed we were by the four Jebels in Hofuf earlier this year and now here we were completely awestruck in a land of a thousand Jebels. It was so surreal that I wouldn't have been surprised to see a diplodocus emerge from the blanket of Palms below the magnificent rock formations.

The kids were excited about our search for Elephant Rock in Al Ula and when we started to be swallowed up by windy roads they didn't waste any time in spotting the animals they could see in the rock. Turtles and camels and horses and sheep but no Elephants.

We turned a corner and wow. This rock really was something! Elephant Rock. Yes, it really was an Elephant made from rock! While taking in the stunning sight we spotted a gap in the rock that looked like a jar and realised that this must be Jar Rock, so off we went. Haris and I climbed to the top and managed to take a superb snap of our car and the girls at the bottom. The girls were hunting for gems since I told them these were magical rocks with gems to be found everywhere. I planted a few misshapen marbles on my way from the car and so they were not disappointed and I could hear squeals of excitement at their precious finds getting quieter as I grew higher into the unknown.

The drive to our apartment was so beautiful that it didn't even seem necessary to go sightseeing, just driving through was enough. But all the same we spent some time today exploring the ancient tombs of Hegra, relaxing at the modern and quirky winter park for lunch and enjoying some bumpy off roading around the magnificent scenery before crashing out shattered but happy and feeling truly blessed.