Edge of the World

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve always got a Saudi bucket list an arms length long. It’s really the only reason I keep coming back. Oh, and likely the money and the ridiculous amount of vacation time I get. That definitely helps. One of the things that time after time has remained on that list was to visit a place called the Edge of the World. Sounds cool as hell right?! Who wouldn’t want to go there? This magical place is about 180km north east of Riyadh in a place called the Acacia Valley. Given that it’s unbearably hot most of the year here it’s really best to go in the winter months. There’s like zero shade there, and since I nearly get heat stroke every time I’m outside when it’s hotter than 30C I knew I needed to go soon. As in should’ve probably done it a few months ago.

So a few weeks back myself and my new kiwi sidekick and an American I’ve grown very fond of joined up with Haya tours to go. We did a tour for 2 reasons- it’s far out and unless you go as a caravan with other people it can be a little dangerous in the event of a breakdown, kidnapping, or no cell phone coverage. The second reason was that I’ve been nursing a foot injury and this tour basically drove you to 2 different canyons and you didn’t have to walk much which suited me just fine. Last year before Pops and I walked 700km across Spain I had my first flare up of plantar fasciitis. Basically this meant that I had heel pain to my left foot quite bad in the morning. Ice, ibuprofen and stretching quickly resolved it and amazingly it didn’t bother me when I walked the Camino. That was good because on the Camino I had other things to deal with like blisters, healed blisters, new blisters, and the general aches and pains that go with walking that distance. After the Camino I continued to walk quite a bit as I visited Paris, Amsterdam, Seattle and spend time in Canada. Then in January I started going to the gym and was working out a lot. And around the beginning of February I started getting really bad heel pain. It was different than the plantar fasciitis though, and the longer it went on the more worried I was that I had a stress fracture. Since I’m a nurse I just gritted my teeth and tolerated it for as long as I could. I bought insoles. Then crazy old lady supportive walking shoes. I took ibuprofen around the clock and finally I went to the doctor who x-ray’d it and found a heel spur. So since then I’m having to limit my walking. I can’t stand for long periods of time. I’m grumpy because I’m restricted in what I can do. I’m going to physio to get shock wave therapy and I’ve now got professional orthotics. And it’s not really getting much better. Which is frustrating as hell. So long story short that’s why we took this tour.

We had my driver Joe drop us at the meeting point. There were maybe 10 other people on the tour split between 3 cars. By cars I mean 2 fancy SUV’s and us three with a french lady packed into a Toyota truck that looks like it normally transported camels and not people. The meeting location was conveniently located in a mall that had Tim Horton’s which made me pretty jazzed until we started driving and I promptly spilled my coffee all over the floor. Between our unfiltered language and my coffee fiasco I’m sure that french lady was questioning her mode of transport that day! So off we drove. We made it to the edge of Riyadh and then things started looking weird. There were paved walkways and tons of children’s playgrounds and no houses. There were decorative cement or stone designs along the road or at the center of the roundabouts but there really wasn’t much else around. We were confused. No kids at the play ground. No one walking the paved paths. On we drove.

We turned off the highway onto a dirt path. Driving past a police check point that was really more like a shack than a station. In the distance we could see cliffs  and hills. We arrived at the first cliff which is probably the place most people go. The cars park at the bottom of a hill and there’s an area that’s like a rock window with cliffs to both sides. Make sure to wear good walking shoes (and your orthotics if you’re an old lady like me.) The terrain is rocky and it’s super easy to slip. There are no guard rails or any safety features so don’t act like a jack ass up there as it’s a long way to the bottom. We spend maybe 10 minutes walking up pausing for selfie breaks. My kiwi sidekick is a professional duckface maker- her selfies are the bomb. You can walk out to the farthest part and the coolest part of the cliff but we decided not to. Mostly on account of laziness and that I’m a real klutz. If someone was going to slip and fall high chances it was going to be me. So we took more selfies and  we chatted about recent heartbreaks and dating and a bunch of other things that I’m sure our Yankee sidekick could’ve done without. Men are mildly entertained by girl talk until they are not. We climbed back into the Toyota tow truck and carried on to the next cliff.

The next stop was at another cliff maybe 10 minutes away. This cliff overlooked the ravine below. There are apparently fossils found there as this area was covered by water forever ago. While the rest of the group went on a fossil expedition we did what we do best- took selfies and chatted. After the rest of the group ohhh’d and ahhh’d over these fossils we got back in the truck and made our way towards the main road. We stopped off in spot with a bunch of trees and had a picnic in the shade. It would’ve been nice had it not been 37C and like a hundred flies buzzing around. It was nice in the shade but the flies were mega annoying. On the way back we passed a caravan of camels and stopped to take pictures.

Once we got to the main road we passed a town on the outskirts of the city. Friday prayer had just ended and the streets were filled with men- not a woman in sight. We passed a bunch of local vegetable markets that I would’ve loved to have stopped at to take pictures but I’m sure we would’ve cause quite the spectacle had we stopped. So back to Riyadh we went- past the empty walkways and apocalyptic play grounds back to civilization.

If you live in Riyadh and haven’t been to the Edge of the World you really, really should. It’s hella cool and makes a great day trip. But go soon or wait until like October when the temperatures start to trend back down. Bring the usual things- sunscreen, hat, gallons and gallons of water and good shoes. Keep any kiddos on a short leash to be safe. Also fun fact: camels come when you roll down the window and make kissing noise. Or at least this guy above did to me. I think he thought he might be getting lucky the way he trotted over. You’re welcome.