Under the Sea in Umluj

We have been back from our epic road trip for a couple of weeks now and still, I don't think I have quite recovered! We are all pretty tired. I think after so many months of being inside the house, a full 10 days being out and about really took it out of all of us! Maybe the switch to more wintry weather is also contributing. It is around 20 degrees now in the day time and around 15 in the evenings and as a Brit, I can't believe I'm saying this but it is chilly! Air con is no longer needed and if I want to enjoy the fresh air through open windows then I must wear a Cardy and socks! Still, we decided to get out at the weekend to enjoy the cool weather while it lasts. We drove to Khobar to go to Salt Al Bahar for lunch, a super cool restaurant on the sea front with a chilled vibe. It was a little cold but the sun was shining, the chill out tunes were thumping and the sea was that twinkling blue that makes Khobar so pretty. Yes, it was lush and in that moment I felt so grateful to be living here by the sea but my heart ached a little. As the bass dropped I was transported to a place that had filled my heart with awe and my eyes with wonder. A place that I never imagined existed except on the pages of travel brochures. A location that would seem almost out of place in Saudi Arabia, that is of course if I hadn't have witnessed for myself the vastly different scenes that sit across the country just waiting to surprise you.

We arrived in Umluj, a small coastal town in Tabuk on day 6 of our road trip. We had been hooked on the idea of this place after hearing about the 100's of islands with their white sands and blue shores. We pulled up at a marina on the outskirts on the way from Al Wajh looking for the boat we had booked in advance. The marina was busier than I expected and I realised that if we weren't so limited on time probably needn't have booked a boat in advance. The Marina was bustling but it was pretty with its little brightly coloured fishing boats bobbing around under the sun. The water was crystal clear and you could see the fish who called it home. We found our boat and captain and hopped on. The weather was beautiful with that warm Red Sea Sun.

The boat trip was wonderful. That initial hum of the engine, that breeze in your face, and seeing that white foam whoosh into a path behind you. I always loved the vastness of the ocean more than any other place on earth, that is until I found the vastness of the desert. The sea was a dark blue and beautifully deep. Eventually we noticed the water change to a sky blue and then a turquoise as we approached a large island covered in white sand. It really was beautiful. We set off again to another island surrounded by shallows in a stunning blue green and again, smooth white shore dipped in soothing waters. I thought it couldn't get much more beautiful and I had almost used up most of my phone storage taking photos that could never do it any justice at all. Suddenly we were dazzled by the sun hitting most stunning shade of baby blue that I have ever seen. The water was such an amazing colour that it would have been impossible to recreate it. We wasted no time in jumping in. It was shallow, perhaps a metre in depth and the sand underfoot was powdery and soft. The water was clearer than any swimming pool I had ever swam in and the light hit the bottom in patterns of sunshine to make the most magnetic work of art. It may have been cold, I couldn't tell you though, I was just so in awe. The last time I felt this free I was 21 years old and backpacking alone around South East Asia having left all my cares back in Blighty.

'Mum' I heard a murmur on the wind, 'MUM!'

My beautiful Umluj day dream was abruptly dispersed into the present in the usual way.

'Can we get an ice cream?'

I guess there are worse things to be interrupted for though and while Umluj might have had water that made even the beautiful, sparkling Khobar sea seem rather plain, it didn't have salted caramel ice cream did it now! So I guess its time to let go of the yearning; until next time Umluj because I will be back, God willing.