The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 187th day I departed from Medina for AlUla, the number 1 tourist destination in Saudi Arabia. I went by North West Bus from the bus office which is south of Mount Uhud in Medina. The 330 km journey took 5 hours. When I arrived in AlUla, I looked for accommodation which turned out to be very expensive. The cheapest I found for 1 room was 300 Saudi Rials ($80) From AlUla city center, I walked 20 minutes to the southern parking lot of AlUla Old City. From there there are free golf carts that take visitors to AlUla Old Town. AlUla is an old city that developed along with the booming incense trade in the past. Its position was on the Incense Route which connected India, Hejaz, and East Africa, to the Levant and Europe. Since trade routes moved completely by sea, the city was slowly abandoned. The last residents moved to the new city of AlUla in the 1980s. Now this old town is being rehabilitated as a tourist destination because apart from its historical value, the surrounding scenery is very beautiful with sandstone cliffs in various shapes. The road next to the old town is filled with cafes and souvenir shops. I tried walking to AlUla Oasis, the city's water source in the past. Unfortunately at night it was too dark so I could only see the silhouettes of palm trees around the oasis. I went back to Old Town and enjoyed traditional Arabic music. Tomorrow I would tour Hegra, the ancient city of the Nabataeans from 2000 years ago. It is AlUla's main attraction. ___ Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!): Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan Stage 5 Route - Afghanistan (DONE!): Kunduz - Samangan - Mazar-i-Sharif - Balkh - Kabul - Bamiyan - Band-e Amir - Yakawlang - Lal - Chagcharan - Herat - Mashhad, Iran Stage 6 Route - Iran (DONE): Mashhad - Tehran - Isfahan - Persepolis - Shiraz - Ahvaz - Shalamcheh Border - Shushtar - Shush - Bandar Abbas - Sharjah, UAE Stage 7 Route - Arabian Peninsula: Sharjah - Dubai - Abu Dhabi - Riyadh - Jeddah - Madinah - AlUla - Hegra - Tabuk - Haql - Aqaba, Jordan *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. --- Chapters: 00:00 Prologue 02:49 Bus Ride to AlUla 05:42 AlUla, Saudi Arabia 10:52 AlUla Old Town 18:07 AlUla Oasis 21:50 AlUla City Center