Travelogue: Najd

Last week, the Saudi police forces clashed with wanted terrorists, they captured two terrorists, and lost some policemen. (Link)

What am I talking about? I’m just giving hints…

While the whole world (well… almost) was planning for the new year's eve, I headed with friends to Najd (Saudi Arabia), and there were no signs of celebrating 2006, and to be fair.. I didn’t observe anything related to the Georgian Calendar.

Day 1:

• Back from work, packing in 20 minutes.
• Arriving to Al-Zilfi at night.
• Sipping shots of Arabian coffee with “Gudoo3”*, or shall I call it “Gulf Tapas”.
• The ‘Welcome Supper’.
• Drinking Tea and ‘Asfar’*
• Chitchats
• Sleep

Day2:

• Breakfast. It consisted of bread, ‘qishta’ (gaimar), honey, ‘fool’, lentils, something like “Tamriyya”*, ‘Mgalgal’*, Milk & Tea.
• Chitchats.
• Drove to Al-Jway, a desert place north-west of Zilfi, where we passed through “Hajrat Al-Jway”*.
• Later on, we stopped near the dunes to have a 1-hour-picnic.
• Headed to Alaga (“E3liga”)* and visited an elder relative of a friend.
• Chitchats with the old man. Who talked about his memories of Kuwait, in the second & third decades of the last century.
• Visited the southwestern side of Zilfi, where Kuwaitis own some ranchs (Al-Nisf, Al-Bader, Al-Sayer & Al-Roumi). The only Kuwaiti ranchs far from where we were are Al-Ghannam’s (the west-centre of Zilfi) and Al-Shaya's (west on the road to Al-Qassim).
• Heading to ‘Rawdhat Al-Sbila”*. Where we had lunch and a short picnic until the sunset.
• Back to Zilfi.
• Dinner.
• Chitchats until midnight in a freezing weather next to the fire. It was around 5-7 Celsius.
• Sleep.

Day3:

• Breakfast.
• Visiting “El-Mu6al El-Gharbi”* for a photos session.
• Lunch at a friend’s relative place. (a Kuwaiti living in Zilfi).
• Heading to Al-Bkairiyya (West of Braida – Al-Qaseem).
• Tea & coffee chitchats with another friend’s relative.
• Shopping at Al-Bkairiyya’s market.
• Heading to Al-Badaye’ (El-Bidayi3), around 25kms south of Bkairiyya. To visit another friends’ relative, and to have some tea, coffee & ‘Asfar’* chitchats.
  
• Back to Bkairiyya.
• Dinner.
• Tea, coffee, ‘7abag’* and Hibiscus chitchats.
• Sleep.

Day4:

• Breakfast.
• Heading back to Zilfi.
• Shopping for “Sowayegh”* at Zilfi’s market.
• Visiting a house & a farm.
• Heading back to Kuwait.
• Stopping near Al-Dhana’s* dunes. (Photo session).
• Arriving to Kuwait.
• Back home, just 1 hour before New Year’s eve to celebrate with the family.
• Reading around 6 webpages of missed blogs entries in Safat.
• Sleep.

Happy New Year

Day5:

• Today.

Photos from the trip.
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• “Gedoo3”: it was dates in the old time, but now it’s anything sweet to have with Arabian coffee. If you visit “Diwaniyyas” you will know it.
• “Asfar”: it means yellow in Arabic, and it’s how Najdis call the ginger & saffron hot drink.
• “Tamriyya”: Mashed dates with some butter/oil and spices, it varies depending on the place/country/region you have it in.
• “Mgalgal”: A baby-camel stew, that I swore never to taste it.
• “Hajra”: plural “Hjar”, a tiny village in the midst of desert, the population varies from tens to hundreds. The only thing “Hjar” share is mosques. Schools, police stations and clinics are not always available.
• “Alaga”: pronounced “e3lega”, the northwest centre of Zilfi, where you can find old houses & farms.
• “Rawdhat Al-Sbila”: A side of the desert east of Zilfi, it becomes green in spring time due the rain floods in winter that goes down from “Twaig” hills/mini mountains east of Zilfi. “Al-Sbila" is known from “Al-Sbila Battle”, when Saudi loyalists (led by AbdulAziz Ibn Saud) fought the Rebel Wahhabis (led by Faisal Al-Duweesh) in 1929.
• “El-Mutal El-Gharbi”: a “Mutal” is a high land overlooking an urban or rural area. This one was a towering sea of dunes overlooking Zilfi from the west.
• “7abag”: are dried mint leaves from Hayel ("7ayil"), boiled to make an aromatic drink.
• “Sowayegh”: singular “Sogha” are gifts that you bring home after travel, for relatives and friends.
• “Al-Dhana”: Pronuced “Ed-hana”, is a desert north of Najd, with endless sea of dunes.