Al-Kharj Adventure

In one of our entries, we claimed we haven't traveled outside Riyadh. But it's more like not having traveled outside the Riyadh province.

People often mistake "Riyadh" being just the city. Actually, it's also the province. Just like having Tarlac the province and Tarlac the city in the Philippines, Riyadh is also one of the cities and municipalities (only they're called governorates) comprising Riyadh province. Just like the City of Manila is one of the cities comprising Metro Manila. Gets? Hope I did not confuse you. Anyway, having cleared that all up, I will then go to my point (lol)... I went outside Riyadh (the city) but still inside Riyadh (the province) last Eid vacation. See, I did not leave Riyadh at all. I went to Al-Kharj, one of the governorates of Riyadh Province.

A tower in Al-Kharj. Below this is a park.

Al-Kharj is a place 30-45 minute drive from Riyadh. It was funny though because it wasn't the destination I had in mind when we set forth on a road trip that morning. I thought we were going to the Edge of the World so when we took a turn to Al-Kharj, I was confused. Apparently, a friend of my father suggested we go to a meteorite crater in Al-Kharj. WUT?! The only meteorite site I know in Saudi Arabia is the Al Wahba crater which is far too far from Riyadh. It's nearer Taif and Makkah, which are cities 7 hours away by land! I haven't read that a meteor landed anywhere near Riyadh. Apart from the confusion, we got lost. The one serving as our tour guide was directing us from his memory of the place... 7 years ago! When we got to Al-Kharj, I had the weirdest sighting... no Filipinos in sight! We were cruising the main road hoping to see a kabayan so we can ask for directions but there was no kabayan in plain sight! It's so weird because it's probably the only place in the world where I've been to without seeing a Filipino, not even one, on the streets.

So, we asked the locals hoping they would know their city enough to know about a certain crater. The first few locals we asked didn't even know what we're talking about! We began doubting if the crater even exists. Lol. But, but... we did find one who directed us to take a right turn in the stop light, drive straight ahead, and we'll eventually see it. Well, how bad can that direction be? We can certainly spot a stop light and most roads in the desert are straight anyways. Also, if it's a meteorite crater, then it's huge right? So how can we possibly miss it?! RIGHT?! We were WRONG. First, the person who directed us didn't tell us which stoplight to turn to. There were like 3 in the main street alone. Second, there was a roundabout that leads to different directions so it wasn't exactly "straight ahead." Third, the crater was not really huge the way I imagined it. By the time we asked another person on the road, the father was threatening to bail out on the road trip. Of course he's being funny. We've lasted two hours going here and finding the place so why waste it? Besides, getting lost is half the fun. RIGHT?!

Well, we eventually found the place. How? I saw this:

An ice cream van!!!

When I saw an ice cream van a few meters below the road we were traversing, I shouted, "There, that's the place!" My brother asked, "How can you be so sure?!" I rolled my eyes and said, "DUH! An ice cream van!!! " You see, these ice cream vans manned mostly by Pakistanis, are present in parks and "touristy" places like the Red Sand. It was there that I first saw these vans. Also, why would an ice cream van park in the middle of the desert if there are no people around to buy? We saw a fenced area and indeed, there were some people entering a hole in the fence, like they were simply trespassing. We trespassed too (sorry!) to see a hole in the sand gaping at us like a huge well. So this is it:

The Eyes of Al-Seeh

This place is called the Uyoon ul Seeh or "Eyes of Al-Seeh" because there are two holes, almost 500 meters apart, caused by a meteor shower long ago. The two holes look like eyes from an aerial view and are located in the Al-Seeh village. That's just how far my research went. So let me ermn, tour you around.

This is the limited part I saw when I leaned.

The crater is small compared to other craters you've probably envisioned but it's big enough to make your jaw drop. There are no fences surrounding the crater so looking at the bottom by merely leaning is a no-no. When I stepped close to the edge and leaned just a little, I felt nauseous and scared. I felt like being sucked into oblivion if I stare longer. The hole has that vortex effect. So I stepped back immediately but I got a little bit braver to descend a few steps in a crevice.

Taking a closer look.

With the help of this thing (I have no idea) what it's called, I got to see the bottom... water as black as the pupils of our eyes. Black water only means one thing: the depth that lies beneath it is immeasurable. So I went up again pronto, afraid that my clumsiness would land me in the bottom of this crater... if I even land on something. Who knows how deep this is! I wouldn't want to know.

The area surrounding it has mud houses with graffiti on the walls. Wow, vandalism everywhere. Though most of them were in Arabic, I guess Filipinos also wrote on those walls. Okay, I am not guessing, I KNOW.

Eh sino ba naman ang may alam sa term na "kosa" at sino ba naman ang mahilig maglagay ng "h" sa halos lahat ng pangalan at salita?! :P (Please excuse my model. He's modeling like a ka-kosa, hehe.)

After a few minutes of loitering in the place and watching Indian and Pakitani men walk up to the edge (I was scared for their lives), we decided to go home. We did not visit the other eye because they're more or less the same... and besides, the ice cream vans were here on this eye. :P

Yes, I grabbed a cone.

Soft ice cream for SR2.

No, we did not go home yet. On to the next adventure!

§undrenched