Abha

Que ver en Abha

What to do in Abha

Let's see what there is to see in Abha, a small town nestled in the mountains in the center of Saudi Arabia that is a good example of what this country is all about.

Beyond the National Park to the south of the city, there are supposedly enough attractions within the city itself to keep you busy for a day: the Asir Regional Museum, the Art Village, the historic center with its hedgehog-shaped adobe houses...

But the reality, as of November 2024, was very different.

My hotel is outside the city center, so I have to cross from the outskirts to the center to get to know these things; I decide to walk because the temperature is pleasant for walking... for Saudi Arabia (about 25 degrees Celsius).

As you walk along, you get a strange feeling, like abandonment... there is almost no traffic (not to mention people; in Saudi Arabia, only the poor walk) and there is no commercial activity to be seen.

This uneasy feeling grows as you move forward: all the buildings (even the most modern ones) are abandoned, as if the population had to flee the place in a hurry. It reminded me a lot of those zombie movies that leave cities devastated and deserted.

Sure enough, on my way to the museum, I come across graffiti confirming that the city has been attacked by zombies and that they have taken control...

Joking aside, I arrive at the museum, which is right next to the Sultan's Palace.

Closed. Not even a sign with any explanation. In fact, it also looks abandoned...

Since the palace is right next door, I walk around trying to find a good spot to take some photos.

Three bored police officers who were hanging around there stop me; I'm the only pedestrian within 5 km, so it wasn't very difficult to spot me... but anyway, people in Saudi Arabia are very friendly and they let me position myself to take a halfway decent photo.

Well, a bit of a disappointment, but we have to move on. Next up is Art Village, which should be good. It's supposed to be a typical neighborhood full of paintings, artists, charming little stalls, and things like that.

As I get closer, I see a huge hotel-shaped building... also abandoned. It's mind-boggling. How can you build something this big and then let it fall into ruin? It even has its own built-in mosque!

I try to sneak inside to see what's there. There are no fences, no security guards, no people. Just silence. Unfortunately, they have closed the main door, but I peek inside and once again get that feeling of “a hasty escape from the place”: everything you would expect to find in a hotel, but abandoned...

Come on, I'm already next to Art Village, you can start to see some cool graffiti.

And... the height of absurdity.

The so-called “village” is a perfectly normal market on several levels surrounded by a wall. And there's no one there! Even the girls working at the stalls take off their veils because there's no one to look at them...

Although I'm already annoyed, the historic center is nearby, so off I go.

Finally, we found something interesting.

From a distance, it looks like the houses have some strange scaffolding...

But you get closer and... Wow! They're like roof tiles!

Only about 6-7 buildings remain standing. You can tell that there used to be a café inside some of them, but they look abandoned and have been closed off with a flimsy fence. It gives the impression of being a “seasonal attraction” and when it's off-season they leave it abandoned, which is a real shame...

At the end of the alley, it seems that the best part is yet to come, as they have installed a brightly colored door to close off access to a small square surrounded by these curious “hedgehog buildings.”

Not far away, on a bench in the shade, there is a man dressed in street clothes looking at his cell phone. I don't know if he's a loiterer or the security guard they've put there.

Suddenly, the door opens and I see my chance to sneak in. I pretend to be adjusting the camera and go in... but only last five seconds, because the man quickly stands up and politely tells me I can't be there.

I try to reason with him to let me stay, using half English, half gestures, and half grunts, but he won't budge. I've noticed that this is very normal in Saudi Arabia. They respect everything that comes to them as an order from an authority figure as if their lives depended on it (which is probably the case).

Anyway, at least the day wasn't wasted...you have to smile even when things don't go well.

Well, there's not much else to see here; you can cover everything in a day's walk...

+ Some tips

1- The city is quite high above sea level, it is in the mountains, and the journey here by land, both uphill and downhill, is very beautiful, passing through some gorges and the occasional bridge built over the mountains that takes your breath away.

2- To get there, I took a VIP bus (a night bus). It was very comfortable (medium-sized reclining seats) and clean, but the air conditioning was excessively cold (the guy sitting next to me had to wrap himself up in the window curtains, haha).

We had to stop at a mosque halfway there at around 5:00 a.m. because it was time for morning prayers. It was very curious to see the Arabs rushing out of the bus to the mosque while the foreigners (people who looked like they were from Bangladesh, India, or wherever) didn't seem to care much about it.

To leave, I took a regular bus. The seats were horrible and the interior was a real pigsty. To top it all off, the police stopped it, asked everyone for their papers, and took three boys away (fortunately, they returned after an hour).

2- Uber works very well, although as in all of Saudi Arabia, any driver you meet on the street could be a taxi driver!

Bueno, esto es lo que yo creo que hay que ver en Abha, no mucho pero no estuvo mal !!

To learn more about Saudi Arabia: https://999millas.net/category/paises/arabia-saudi/

O su propia web de turismo: https://www.visitsaudi.com/en