Saudi Arabian Beauty Unrefined

Sheesh, have I fallen off the writing wagon!  So I will start by apologizing for all those looking for my latest posts. Well here I am ready and excited to post about how our lives have gone over the last month.  It seems since we've moved here I have been battling one injury or sickness after another which has stalled me out a bit.  In this blog post, I have posted pictures from THREE+ different trips so if it seems to jump around this is why :o)

Over the last month, we've experienced some new and wonderful things.  Michael took us to what the expats refer to as "monkey mountain" and also the "hanging village"or locally named Al Habalah.  Back in the United States, I'd seen baboons in zoo's and never did I imagine that I'd be able to be out amongst them and feed them in the wild.

Al Habalah AKA "The Hanging Village"

The "hanging village" is one of the most breath taking sites I have ever seen in my life.  And to think that if we had never lost our jobs and been in dire straights, we would never have had this chance to experience the beauty that we've found here.

Yes, we had to trespass... kind of...  It appears that the booth areas to approach the cliffs are now closed down for one reason or another.  However, there is a convenient area of the fence cut out that people still enter through.... Sooo we followed suite :-)

Here we are approaching booth-like areas for visitors to safely be near the edge of the cliffs and look over the "Hanging Village".

 On top of the ledge closest to us on the left there is an amusement area, shops and eatery.  Now, the highlight of this is that there are two cables that run from this area on the cliffs edge to the bottom of the ravine!!!!  We hear that their is a restaurant at the bottom (not yet confirmed) that are only accessible via the cable cars.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture here but you can kind of see an old building with several other little buildings next to it.  We are not sure if they are still used by anyone but it is neat to see them so far down.  I would imagine this isn't an easy walk!

 Here I am bravely holding my phone through the metal slats so I could get a picture of the scenery... 

 Even as the sun was setting on the hanging village it was still a breathtaking site.

 This is from our next visit.  We traveled around the cliff side and explored what all we could safely with the kids.

My sweetheart <3

 Our extremely.... brave? friend Zach climbed out along the right to the large indent in the ledge shown in this picture.  That makes my heart race just thinking about it!!!!

 Sitting here looking out over the miles and miles of divine beauty....  I hope I can remember this site forever.

I'd sure hate to fall here :oP

Heya baby... how you coin'

 He thinks I'm smiling HA!  Fooled him ;o)

 Exploring the countryside 

 I've got to figure out the mystery of the walls... They have built miles of random stone walls everywhere out here in Saudi.  In the city or rural country, walls!

Just a random village  

 I LOVE the mountain in the shadows... Almost a perfect "V" formed in it.  It was amazing to look at.

 Another pretty shot.

 A pretty building... I am thinking it is this village's mosque.

 The cool mountain shot with village

Here we are BACK at Al Habalah but this time we decided to take a little off road excursion as a family.  This is not by the hanging village area, we drove about a mile past that.

 The cliff side is lined with chain link fence for "safety".  People have cut huge holes in the fence so they can sit on the cliffs edges.

 WOWZA!!!!  

 This site was absolutely breathtaking.  I loved to try to look as far back as I could only to see more cliffs and ravines.

 It is photos like this that make me wonder just how many people have fallen.... Sick thought I know but when you see these cliffs you can't help but wonder!

 I felt high enough to touch the clouds... It was an amazing feeling.

 Daddy and Aivah on their adventure.

 I am very intrigued by the rock formations here.  Looking closer at these rocks they almost look volcanic?  I'd really like to research that.

 The kids loved walking around checking everything out.

 Beautiful

 Yeahhhh, I'll just stay back here...

 Mr. Brave...

 Babyyyy steps..... Slow and steady....

 Very nice little walkabout 

 Over 7,000 ft above sea level, in a desert, in the middle of no where and here I find a painted butterfly.

 Me and my bestie!

 I hated this area... They couldn't run the fence along the ground so there is a HUGE opening!  And of course Mike had to go take a look-see......

 But he did get an amazing picture

 My angels

 Love the rock formations!

 Ahhhh a flower for mommy <3

 However, there is a bit of a downside to visiting this area because there is a nearby village of poverty stricken people who seek out the visitors looking for money, food, etc.  The divine peace felt by the scenery is immediately grounded once a child with no shoes or a woman holding an infant comes seeking help.  The most heartbreaking part of all is that we can't possibly help them all.

Here is a sobering story for anyone with a heart. What was taking place in this particular picture was that a little boy approached us speaking to us in Arabic. Poverty is a big thing here so I figured he was asking for some money etc for his family. We didn't have any money so we gave him our bag of picnic food. He began pointing to his foot saying something and I nearly started crying when I seen how battered his little feet were. I told Jace and Collin (my 8 and 5 year olds) to give me their shoes (to see if they fit). Collin's shoes fit just perfect so we sent the little boy on his way with some shoes too.
I took a picture as Mike helped him get his new shoes on... Not to be sick or cruel but as a reminder of just how lucky we truly are. Even the homeless in the States have it better than the homeless here in Saudi Arabia. It is very sad to see such things happening in such a rich country.

Treasure the little things, my friends.  Treasure the beauty God blessed the world with.  Treasure the things you have that others don't... even the shoes on your feet.