Saudi_Cacher

ِCleveland Way - National Trail

2008-08-24T19:47:00.008+03:00

الدروب البرية في بريطانيا (ناشنال تريلز)هي طرق طويلة للمشاة وتتميز بجمالها الطبيعي كما أنها تحظى بالدعم والعناية من قبل مؤسسة حكومية تسمى بريطانيا الطبيعية. هناك العديد من هذه الدروب ومنها كليفلاند و ي الذي قمت بالمشي في جزء صغير منه مع أبنائي حمد وريما. فكرة تحديد دروب طبيعية وتخصيص ميزانية وموظفين للعناية بها هي فكرة جميلة وتستحق أن نطبقها في بلدنا بالسعوية ولكن يحتاج ذلك بالطبع الى وعي بيئي بقيمة الطبيعة والمحافظة عليها وإيجاد المردود الإقتصادي العائد من ربط تلك الدروب بالخدمات والفنادق الريفية الصغيرة التي تمر عبرها كما هو الحال هنا في بريطانيا.

إخترت كليفلاند وي لقربه من مكان إقامتنا على ساحل يوركشاير وقد بدأنا الرحلة من رافينزكار وهي قرية صغيرة منسية تطل على شاطئ جميل يسمى بشاطئ روبن هوود، على إسم الشخصية المشهورة. قمت بإنزال تفاصيل الخط الذي سنمشي عليه من الموقع الخاص بذلك على جوالي ثم بدأنا من على قمة الجبل الموازي لبحر الشمال متجهين جنوبا بمحاذاة الشاطئ .. بعد نصف ساعة من المشي تقريبا توقفنا عند بقايا محطة رادار قديمة إستعملها الجيش لكشف الطائرات والسفن الألمانية أثناء الحرب العالمية الثانية. تناولنا غدائنا وأكملنا المشوار جنوبا ثم إنعطفنا يمينا باتجاه الغرب وسط الحقول الخضراء على طريق مخصص للخيول. بدأ الطرق في الإنحدار والغوص وسط غابة كثيفة واجهنا خلالها بعض الصعوبة في النزول كونه طينيا خاصة بعد الأمطار الغزيرة التي شهدناها في الأيام الماضية

كنت أحمل معي حقيبة صغيرة أضع بها جهاز الجي بي إس، كاميرا وجوال مع علبة ماء بينما تحمل ريما صندوق الغداء. بدأنا في الإنعطاف شمالا عائدين على درب سهل المشي عليه وقابلنا بعض المشاة الآخرين. بعد ساعتين وربع تقريبا وصلنا الى نقطة البداية، قطعنا خلالها 7كم توقفنا فيها من أجل إلتقاط الصور. إتجهنا بعدها الى كنز مخبئ بالقرب من موقف السيارة حيث نزلنا له بصعوبة وسط أشجار المور البنفسجية وبالرغم من إتساخ ملابسنا بالطين إلا أن المنظر كان جائزة قيمة لم نتوقعها.

طول الطريق هو 177كم فقط وقطعه بالكامل يحتاج الى عدة أيام.

UK geocaching mega event

2008-08-14T01:56:00.004+03:00

Geocaching events are part of the world of geocaching .. you could actually log a find or rather attend by going to one of those. The first event in the gulf was held in the UAE last year in October and one or two followed since then. A more recent one is scheduled end of this month in Doha, Qatar.

Being in the UK, I could not afford to miss the opportunity to attend the first UK mega event held on Aug.2^nd at Harrogate, not so far from Scarborough - the small town I was staying in-. I’ve talked to Flydad earlier to see if we could team up and go to the event. That talk turned to reality as he, his son CJ and I drove together to the site. When we arrived at the hotel and headed to sign the log we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the lady keeping the log recognized flydad as the owner of one of the caches she found in Iceland. We spent the rest of the afternoon bagging nearby caches which were easy to find and probably didn’t need a GPS as you simply follow the crowds. I think I was the only cacher from the Gulf, if not from the middle-east.

We have cached together a day earlier at Robin Hood’s bay and visited my children at their boarding school in Ampleforth. We then went on to the Yorkshire gliding club at Sutton Bank where flydad took off in one of the glider planes while we watched him soar like a bird.

First cache in the Moors

2008-07-28T02:20:00.006+03:00

The North Yorkshire Moors is a vast expanse of moorland characterized by low growing vegetation and uncultivated hills. I have seen pictures of the Moors but to actually walk through it on a beautiful sunny afternoon like I did today with my daughter was very special.

Two caches brought us from Whitby down south on our way to Pickering. We took a short detour from A169 to Goathland and walked from there for about 3km. The smell in the air was fresh and the scenery was very different from the dusty and hot weather that I left back in Dammam.

First cache in the UK

2008-07-23T01:19:00.003+03:00

I’ve been in the UK for few days now and finding my first geocache is long overdue. In fact I turned on my Colorado 300 the minute I checked in our hotel next to Hydepark but unfortunately it was not showing any direction. Later I realized I had to calibrate the compass after the many lat./long. it traveled.

The cache was close to the Diana Memorial fountain so that was a good detour to take. My three sons get the credit for finding our first cache in the UK and it was fun feeding the squirrels and pigeons afterwards.

Paperless geocaching

2008-06-25T14:35:00.004+03:00

Yesterday I bought the Colorado 300 and paid SR1650 for it. The salesman at DarMoja knows little about the device and tells me it’s not known here except possibly among expat community. I already own some GPSr but the idea of paperless geocaching is very tempting. So far I managed to do without the –less in paperless by printing cache pages and carry them with me. I suppose you could still print pages –or notes- especially if you’re in the gulf area where the number of caches is still not that large. However, there were situations where I wished I had the cache page on my GPS screen .. now I do.

I read few months ago about some software issues in the Colorado that are yet to be resolved. It seems those are not fixed yet .. unless my version is old. For instance, I found that when I try to connect the unit to my notebook, it will not operate as a GPS, instead it will stay in connection mode with no possibility of the GPS running. The same happened with the 12-v adapter cable trying to charge the unit in my car. I’m not sure if this is also a software-related fault.

Update -

There is a utility in Garmin that checks for the operating software on your unit to make sure it’s current –thanks to flydad for alerting me to this-. I found an interesting post that helped power my Colorado 300 from the car while driving (without relying on the batteries). To do it, go to System – Interface and use Garmin Spanner .. Now if you connect the unit, it will ask if you like to go to mass storage. Say no .. that way, the unit will not go in connect mode when a USB cable is hooked to it.

Dhubb in Bahrain

2008-05-18T23:58:00.003+03:00

While on a maintenance visit to check on one of my caches in Bahrain (GC17PJG) which was reported missing, I came face to face with a large Dhubb guarding the site. I was amazed with the shear size and speed of this giant lizard as it moved. There was a time when these lizards were kept as pets for some while considered gourmet food for others. These creatures are strong and it’s thought that when a dhubb clamps its jaw on something, it’s hard to make it let go.

الفضلات في الصحراء تقتل ..

2008-05-02T16:04:00.006+03:00

بينما كنت أتصفح النت وجدت هذا الموقع لطفل في الحادية عشر من عمره من جنوب أفريقيا بدأ حملة في الإمارات العربية من أجل وقف رمي الفضلات في البر خاصة وأنها قد تقتل الجمال التي تأكل منها. لا يبدوا الحال مختلفا كثيرا عن الوضع عندنا في السعودية

بعض المقتطفات من الموقع

لا تترك أي فضلات بعد مغادرتك للبر، إجمع ما تبقى وخذه معك. مد يد العون بأخذ ما قد تجده من فضلات. فكر قبل أن تشتري حاجياتك بنوع المخلفات الممكنة. لا تتوقع أن يقوم عمال البلدية بمهمة التنظيف في البر وأخيرا كن مثالا جيدا للآخرين

Maintenance check

2008-04-03T21:35:00.002+03:00

Today I went with the kids to replace the container for the Pipeline cache .. the last logger mentioned about the lid being broken. Sand was filling the old container so I replaced it with a new one. The area is nice and clean and makes for a good picnic spot not far from Dammam. I highly recommend the place for an easy afternoon out of the city.

The weather was cool though we were having the air-conditioning on when we left Dammam. In fact, it was a bit chilly by the time it got dark. I dropped a Unite for Diabetes TB that came originally from NY .. long way from home.

Martini .. anyone ?

2008-03-16T12:57:00.006+03:00

On my last trip to Riyadh, my cousin AbuTalal showed me an antique rifle that his late father owned. He asked me to dig some info about it. All he knew is that it had a rich history passed from the original owner to my late uncle.

It measures a little less than a meter in length and comes with a very old strap made of cloth. I could read the words “Imperial Gun Royal Martini” in capital letters engraved on top. On the side of the metal, I could read the numbers 577/450 with some markings. I believe the numbers refer to the caliber. I did a quick search to learn that this rifle known as the Martini-Henry was used by the British and its colonial armies. It first entered service in 1871 and served throughout the British empire for 30 years. This puts its later usage at the beginning of World War I.

How it got into the hands of my uncle in the middle of Arabia is another story that is yet to be told. Arab irregulars who were with Lawrence of Arabia were known to have used them during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918. I have seen some references to the same rifle in some poems and writings. e.g., it was mentioned in a letter by Chalres Hubert who discovered the famous Tayma stele –now at the Louvre-. Hubert wrote of some Englishmen who visited Mohammaed Bin Rasheed, Emir of Hayel in 1884 and brought with them nine boxes of Martini rifles as a gift.

Tech Break: Ten things you didn't know about Google - Features

2008-02-26T07:20:00.000+03:00

Tech Break: Ten things you didn't know about Google - Features

Sand or Ice ?

2008-02-16T13:20:00.002+03:00

Last night we had a sandstorm that dumped sand in our city. Dammam airport was closed for 5 hours and the sand got into our houses and noses. The daily newspaper reports hundreds of cases being admitted to emergency rooms for treatment of respiratory complaints. On the other side of our planet, my friend flydad writes about a sleet/ice storm that hit Chicago .. what a difference this planet makes.

UAE versus Saudi geocachers

2008-02-04T01:12:00.000+03:00

Have you ever wondered about the hiding behavior of geocachers in this part of the world. If you run into a cache placed in either UAE or Saudi then there is a high probability that it will have 2 stars for difficulty. You can read more about it here.

Musandam Trip

2008-01-25T10:25:00.000+03:00

Land of Frankincense –leban- and fortresses; … that’s Oman. I’ve always wanted to go there and visit some of the off beaten paths. I have been to Dubai many times but this trip was out of the ordinary for me. The highlight was visiting Ras Musandam and view of the famous Strait of Hormouz.

It has been 7 months since flydad last visit to Saudi. He contacted me to tell me about his upcoming trip to Dubai/Oman and asked for some suggestions. We decided mid January would be good time for both of us and so we met one night in Dubai airport. I was accompanied by my newphew Mohammad, a new determined geocacher who is younger and more versatile.. just the qualities one needs for a hard to get cache.

Our first day spent was on the road to Hatta where we found 6 caches. The weather was warmer than in Dammam –not to nephew’s taste- but still cool. We logged Pin Head, memories of Dubai, Pay it forward, Six T, Creatures of D-night and valley view .. all in one afternoon. We had a nice lunch at the Hatta Fort Hotel and on our way back I managed to resurrect the old Road to Hatta cache. This is the same cache that got flydad and I in touch, a year ago.

The following morning we headed early to the east coast of the UAE. We first made an early stop by Camel Master farm where we had a nice breakfast prepared by his wife Camel Mistress. Camel milk in a variety of flavors was on the menu and the setting on a small dune top in front of a tent was absolutely wonderful. We wanted to stay longer but we had a long day ahead of us so we had to excuse ourselves and thanked our hosts. We continued east to Aldhaid and then headed north to Dibba passing Masafi after finding two caches, one of the them was tricky but Mohammad growing skills proved useful. We then headed south to Khor Fakkan and watched from a distance oil tankers lined up to enter the Gulf. A short turn west took us to the Omani exclave of Madha. We claimed a virtual cache there called surrounded and then continued further west to Nahwa to find the wadi bashing cache belonging to UAE. Some discrepancy between what Google maps say and what we saw on ground was noted by flydad regarding this unique exclave of UAE inside Omani inside UAE land.

We spent the night in Fujairah down south and left early morning to Ras AlKhaima. We reached the Omani boarder around noon time. Crossing the boarder was simple and took few minutes. After that we were rewarded with a scenic route that took us in a north easterly direction to the tip of Ras Musandam peninsula. The route was spectacular as we passed by beautiful sandy beaches nestled between the mountains. We made a stop at Bukha; a small village famous for its castle and claimed a cache there. Continuing further north to Ras Shaykh Masoud, we claimed another cache named Smugglers watch, right at the tip of the peninsula overlooking the famous Strait of Hormouz. Almost 25% of the world’s oil passed through this waterway in the last decades. I managed to hide my own cache on a stone wall facing east towards the Iranian Qeshm Island. Our hotel was only few kilometers down to the south east of the Ras Masoud at the entrance of Khasab town. We checked in at the Golden Tulip hotel and spent the night there. That afternoon was a little subdued after Mohammad lost his mobile at Ras Masoud but he wouldn’t let this upset the remaining day.

So the following morning we went to explore the sleepy town of Khasab and went further south on an off road trip that took us to an overlook of Khor Najd. The view down of the beach and fisherman’s dhows was absolutely stunning. We claimed another cache there and to our pleasant surprise we ran into a German couple who were also geocaching in the area. We left Khasab in the afternoon heading back to Dubai and claiming another cache on the way named Sheeba’s palace and hidden by Camel Master. Frankincense was part of the goodies found in this cache and what a better conclusion to a trip that started with memories of Leban and ended with one.

Bahrain caches

2007-12-25T18:26:00.000+03:00

I visited Bahrain three weeks ago with family and found 4 caches in one day and managed to hide one of my own .. it was a real treat. We started our search early morning by bagging one in the ancient graveyard of Sitra. I thought the vicinity was a nice easy and accessible place to hide the first GeoPost cache in the Gulf. I first learned about this special cache from geocaching online and so I decided to make one myself. Next we moved south to find two caches not far apart. A great place for Barby was on a small mound .. I spotted the cache from below and pointed it to my son. After logging it we moved to mammalian protuberance. This was a long overdue cache for me and found by my wife.

The fourth was a special one and neatly stashed in Bahrain Fort. My wife and I arrived at sunset. It was a cool November evening with the Fort lit from the ground up .. great photo opportunities. Google Earth placed the cache on the northern perimeter of the castle which fooled me since it was further inside. We searched in the wrong place for about 15 minutes before I realized from the difficulty rating and the style of the setter and his previous hides that this should not be too complicated.

It then occurred to me that we may be searching in the wrong place and indeed we were. The place inward was even more fascinating at night time and we found the cache inside a window just like it was described. I dropped a Saudi coin and left with a great sense of satisfaction.

Geocaching and walking

2007-12-25T16:27:00.000+03:00

As a geocacher, walking is part of the game. I’m overweight and I don’t exercise but I try to walk specially with my younger brother who is more athletic and fit than I am. We started to walk on a regular basis .. not much, may be 1.5 to 2.5 km around my house in Dammam. One day he said let’s go for a longer walk – longer to me was like 3 to 4 km - so I said Ok. We walked for 5km to the Sheraton Hotel in Dammam. It felt good and I said why stop here and we continued for another 5km to the corniche. That was a total of 10km .. it was a great accomplishment for me; but not to my brother. Next time he said let’s go for a longer walk and on Ramadan eve, we set out to walk to Al-Khobar. We made the 19km walk in about 3.5hours without break. Now he wants to go further .. Bahrian is on his agenda but I doubt it.

أول إجتماع لهواة الجيوكاشنج في الإمارات

2007-10-19T19:56:00.000+03:00

تم اليوم تجمع لمزاولي رياضة الجيوكاشنج في جبل حفيت قرب العين .. هذا هو أول تجمع لمحبي هذه اللعبة في المنطقة. هنا الصفحة الخاصة بهذا الحدث. كنت أنوي الحضور لكن بسبب التوقيت والذي يوافق عشية أول أيام الدراسة لم أستطع الحضور.

Two Kingdoms Connected

2007-10-10T19:23:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I went to Bahrain to collect my Aramex shipment containing some travel bugs, nanos and other geocaching accessories that I ordered earlier from Groundspeak. On the way, I decided it was about time to hide a cross-boarder cache on the causeway itself. It would be a special multicache with one part on the Saudi soil and the other part on the Bahrain side.

Being in Ramdan and around noon time, there was little traffic as I drove past the Bahraini customs. After paying the insurance I made a stop on the south eastern side of the artificial island. I stashed the tiny magnetic nano and marked its coordinates. This will be the final stage of this multi cache.

On the way back and after clearing Saudi customs, I turned to the tower building on the south western side of the island. I found a nice green area off the parking lot and decided to look for a hiding place. There it was; a line of trees with some picnic tables beneath. I wrote down the coordinates for the nano on a small piece of paper and rolled it into a tiny silver capsule. Fortunately this cylinder comes with a ring so I tied a string to it and tied the other end to a tree trunk. I made sure the string is not too long so it will not fall and expose the capsule and is not too short so that it can be handled with ease. This is the first part of this multi cache.

Although the two stages are only one kilometer apart, they’re in two separate countries. This tiny cache signifies the small world we live in spite of the apparent distances that keep us apart.

Geocaching in Tirhal magazine

2007-08-14T20:44:00.000+03:00

In an interview with Tirhal magazine, I talked about geocaching as it relates to tourism, specially here in Saudi.. I believe it’s the first in Arabic. The magazine is a publication of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and I hope to see more media coverage of the sport and get new geocachers introduced to the game. Here is the article.

يوم حار

2007-07-19T19:49:00.000+03:00

إنطلقنا في يوم حار من شهر يوليو بعد الظهر الى الدحول القريبة من طريق القصيم السريع حيث توقفنا أولا قرب دحل بالقرب من طريق صلبوخ القديم ولكن للأسف كان سلمنا قصيرا فلم نستطع أن ننزل بواسطته فغادرنا المكان على أمل العودة مرة أخرى .. ثم اتجهنا الى دحل ضيق المدخل لايبعد كثيرا عن الدحل الأول باتجاه الشرق منه و فوجئنا بوجود ثعبان داخل فوهته فتركناه وقضينا أمسيتنا في مدخل الوادي والذي خبأت كنزي في أحد تلاله الصخرية. دهشنا من فارق درجة الحرارة الكبير بين النهار والليل في ذاك المكان.

في الغد إتجهنا إلى الدحل القريب من الخاتلة ولم نحضر السلم هذه المرة لكنها كانت فرصة لإخفاء كنز بمدخل الدحل الذي اتخذه الحمام ملجأ له من حرارة الصحراء. أكملنا مسيرنا تجاه الحسي وقرى الصفرات والبير ثم قضينا ليلتنا في أحد الشعاب بوادي عبيثران بعد أن صادفنا أحد الرعاة. في الصباح تحركنا تجاه الرغبة مرورا بخشم الحصان ثم القصب التي إنعطفنا شمالا بعدها تجاه الداهنة، أحد الهجر القديمة، وقضينا القيلولة تحت بعض أشجار النخيل المهملة وأخفيت كنزا هناك . بعد العصرعدنا جنوبا وتوقفنا عند الصوح تحت جبال طويق لنشاهد بعض التشكيلات الغريبة للصخور وإخفاء كنز بها .. لم يكن الجو الحار يسمح لنا بإعداد غداء بالرغم من التجهيزات الكثيرة التي قام بإعدادها أبوطلال والتي جعلتنا نبدوا كالحجاج في سفرهم لكننا قررنا أخيرا أن نتوقف في شقراء لنأكل في بيتزا هت.

في طريق العودة توقفنا قبل المغرب في جبل الفهدة وسط النفود بين القصب وثرمداء لإعداد الشاي ثم قفلنا راجعين للرياض التي وصلناها بعد منتصف الليل

Sadous - Underground

2007-07-18T18:35:00.000+03:00

I read about this dahl in Mekshat site .. cousin AbuTalal has mentioned it to me earlier so we decided to visit. It’s close to Edge of the World but can’t get to it from there so we had two routes to choose from, either from Huraymla or Sadous .. we chose the latter. It turned out to be a good choice.

I checked the route on google earth and I could see a dirt track that leaves Sadous and goes west all the way to the Dahl. We left Riyadh in the afternoon heat and upon arriving at Sadous we took the wrong turn that lead us north west to the dam. We came down south to look for the track that I saw on Google. Fortunately I had some points along the track jotted down so we connected with the first point and off we went. The road was smoother than I expected. It was about 20km from the village to the dahl.

The opening was just like I saw in the pictures on the northern side of the dahl. I grabbed my cache and took some spare batteries for our flashlights before entering. Cousin Hamad was already inside.
A short ladder resting on a pile of rocks was placed at the entrance which opens to a large chamber –more than 12 meters in diameter- where large piles of fallen rocks gather at one end. We walked around the boulders and found ourselves in front of a long tunnel with well defined semicircular section. The air was very humid and at this point we were sweating like a leaky faucet.

We continued our walk slowly but steadily into the tunnel. The floor was very soft and moist and at some places the soil was black. Other than for the bats, this was a friendly dahl. After 90m or so, we came to a stop at the end of the tunnel where the only way to continue was to go crawling. I spotted a hiding place before the end of the tunnel and stashed my cache there. I later realized that it might not have been the best place considering the soft floor and the possibility it could wash away with any flooding. We left just in time before sunset and made a stop on our way back to eat the watermelon that AbuTalal brought.

Resurrecting Dirab

2007-07-16T12:29:00.001+03:00

Being in Riyadh I went to fix the Dirab cache that was muggled, according to the recent logs on the cache page. At the site, I noticed the old container thrown away many meters down from its hiding place .. judging from the place, it was probably force of nature - washed down from the recent rain we had three months ago - I replaced the container and off we went to the other location at Rock & Sand which connects wadi Alawasat with Makkah Road. It was late in the afternoon when I placed my cache there and the views on the red dunes was superb.

Cacher from Canada

2007-06-20T21:40:00.000+03:00

Pierre was on a mission .. he came all the way from Canada to bag The Garage (GCPMYN), beside other work off course. He dropped by at my place and had Arabic coffee with dates.
I took some notes on cache hides they have in Canada .. may be will try them here.

Thirty years later

2007-05-21T11:23:00.001+03:00

When I placed “The road to Hatta” many years ago (now archived), I didn’t expect that it will introduce me to Flydad, a very enthusiastic geocacher, with many exciting hobbies. He showed interest in an article I wrote on 4D geocaching and that was the start of email correspondence between the two of us. One day, he called to let me know that he will be visiting the area and I was so delighted. An arrangement was made and there he was, at the airport in Riyadh.

On our first day, we left around noon time with cousin AbuTalal and visited the area north west of Riyadh where we stopped by Sadus and Acacia valley before finally reaching the edge of the Tuwaiq escarpment at the edge of the edge of the world. Flydad was bold enough to walk down to the edge so close to the cliff. He suggested adding another star for the terrain rating because of the close proximity of the cache to the cliff.

We came back through the wadi and headed to the car graveyard. AbuTalal was taking a nap while we were searching. From a distance of about 8 meters, Flydad was able to spot the cache and point to it. He was very pleased to be the first to find the cache (his FTF in Saudi). We then finished our day at Barger-Marat and drove up the Kumait Mountain for the view of the ancient village below. A local gentleman approached us when he saw Barger’s book I was holding in my hands and offered to explain some history about the area. He invited us to join him for dinner at his house but we graciously declined. We made a short stop near a water pond just before sunset; perfect setting. We arrived at Riyadh late in the evening and had Shawarma sandwiches for dinner.

On the second day we went west of Riyadh to Tuwaiq escarpment and found X-marks the spot and the Prize, before reaching the Chameleon. It took us about 12 minutes of search before AbuTalal finally uncovers the chameleon from its hide. On our way back we found the Zenda and came to stop for a drink but the weather suddenly changed to what appeared to be a thunder storm. That night we had some Mutabbaq and Foul at AbuTalal house.

On the third day, we decided to stay in town and do some Travel Bug and log maintenance. We exchanged gift items; Flydad offered me geocoins including a beautiful one from the National Reconnaissance Office while I offered him a signed copy of my Geocaching book. We couldn’t resist the temptation to go out that day just for a short time to find the nearby Airport and the Hotel caches. He found both in no time. Later that night, we visited the sky bridge at Kingdom Tower. At lunch, Flydad was surprised to see an item that he hasn’t seen since 31 years ago; Sohat bottled water.

We left for Dammam on our fourth day. Flydad being a glider pilot, we talked about flying, geocaching and traveling; among other exotic topics. Time passed so quickly. Four caches were waiting to be found in or near Dammam and one of them is a FTF (Pipeline, Saihat, Tarut Fort and The Garage). We spent the evening in my brother house chatting and listening to interesting travel stories. Flydad didn’t forget to place a hide near my house with my kids and even managed to convince them to keep the hide secret from me. When I asked my children for hints, they said “What cache, dad?!”. The next morning Flydad left home to Bahrain en route to the US.

I’m amazed with the energy and enthusiasm Flydad has … I had difficulty keeping up with him on many times. His visit is simply unforgettable. He has seen so many changes (physical and social) taking place in kingdom since his last visit some 30+ years ago.

Abu Jifan

2007-05-05T08:48:00.000+03:00

The name Abu Jifan refers to the wadi and the nearby wells but is famous for the stop over that King Abdulaziz made here while en route to reclaim Riyadh in 1902. The fort is under renovation today and one can see the wells; some of which with stone lining and still have water.

My cousin and I made an attempt to visit and bag the nearby cache. We came in from the south .. drove to AlKharj and headed west parallel to the old railway to Haradh and then went up north across some farms and then to the open wadi. We reached the escarpment and tried to drive up the steep and narrow track to the west mentioned in Ionis Thompson book but we couldn’t. The track was too dangerous to manoeuvre. Instead, we followed the pylons and parked our car at the closest point possible. We climbed up the escarpment and walked for about 1km. It was getting late and I had to go back to Riyadh for a meeting that evening so we abandoned our journey.

I later learned the fort was accessible from the north but too many fences there and so the easiest way was to go west to Hardah and then come back east following the power line.

A month later we returned from the south as before but took the wadi that is closest to the mountain range (wadi Sudayrah). By mere chance we found a track that goes up the mountains in two stages.. not very easy but doable in 4WD car. Once above the plateau, the track leads to the fort and is quite a scenic drive. We found the cache after some search and then went on to check out the fort. It is going through renovation work and looks to be close to completion. We then drove by some of the wells and headed back from where we came but made a short detour to hide our own cache.

After the descent into Sudayrah wadi we came to a nice picnic spot and so we stopped for a cup of tea and some healthy bread. After sunset we drove back to the tarmac but to our horror we got stuck few meters from the tarmac in a very muddy area .. we thought we were going to be there for the night. To our pleasant surprise and with little driving skills and a lot of luck we managed to get out of the mud. It was a trip to be remembered.

P.S.
In her book, Ionis Thompson mentioned that you need a permission from the department of antiquities to enter the fort but we did not. The only people who were there, besides the shepherds, were the construction workers doing the renovation and they will open the gate for you. We entered with no permits as did many other people we saw there.

وادي المياه

2007-04-12T01:20:00.000+03:00

وصلتني دعوة من مدرسة أحمد للقيام برحلة الى وادي المياه يقوم بتنظيمها الأستاذ الفاضل فيصل الزامل. كان موعد الرحلة الثامنة صباحا ولكننا انطلقنا متأخرين قليلا .. عندما أخبرني فيصل عن برنامج الرحلة ومسارها كنت متأكدا تقريبا أننا سنكون محظوظين لو استطعنا تغطية البرنامج في يوم واحد. تحركنا قرابة التاسعة صباحا في ست سيارات .. القافلة تتكون من الطلبة وبعض أولياء الأمور مع المدرسين. اتجهنا غربا على طريق الرياض السريع وحين وصولنا عريعرة انحرفنا شمالا باتجاه حنيذ

توقفنا للبحث عن الفقع ولكننا لم نجد شيئا ثم أكملنا مشوارنا لنقف في مكان آخر من أجل مشاهدة بعض الأدوات التي استعملها الإنسان القديم في حياته اليومية. تناولنا طعام الغداء، الإفطار لبعضنا، تحت شجرة كبيرة خارج حنيذ. بعد أن تعدينا الصرار ب سبعة كم تقريبا، اتجهنا غربا لمسافة كيلومترين تقريبا لنجد جبلا له مدخل جانبي دخلناه زحفا على أرجلنا ليصل الى ثقب في وسط الجبل يتدلى منه سلالم خشبية وكأنه مخبأ ما. قمت بإخفاء كنز هنا في رحلة لاحقة إصطحبت فيها عائلتي.

أكملنا مسيرنا لنتجه الى كهف الماستادون لنشاهد بقايا عظام الحيوانات القديمة ومنها الماموث ولكننا أضعنا مرشدنا وأخيرا عدنا مساء الى المدرسة. في رحلة لاحقة اصطحبت فيها عائلتي استطعنا أن نصل الى الكهف ونخبأ كنزنا بقربها. بدأت تلك الرحلة مبكرا قبل طلوع الشمس (الخامسة والنصف صباحا) حيث استطعنا أن نمر على الأماكن التي لم نتكمن من الوقوف بها مع رحلة المدرسة حيث تجولنا في الصرار ونطاع ومليجة وحتى النعيرية. توقفنا في مكان به بعض الأشجار المتحجرة عدة كيلومترات جنوب النعيرية

شكرا للأخ فيصل على تنظيمه لتلك الرحلة .. للمزيد عن جبل السفينة، راجع التقرير هنا

Jebel Baloum

2007-03-28T17:00:00.000+03:00

Although belonging to Tuwaiq mountain range, Jebel Baloum stands alone with a peak of 1045m (see Ionis Thompson’s book). The main mountain is surrounded by smaller ones and can be spotted from quite a distance (15km or so).

I have been to Jebel Baloum twice before through Nissah, to the south of Riyadh, but my cousin Hamad and I wanted to visit the Jebel from the east, i.e., through Wadi (valley) Al Howtah. The place has no shortage of caches and the last time we were there we bagged two caches: Tuwaiqcache and Fifth well.

The latter cache is hidden above some old wells sunk into the ground not far from the main mountain. We also bagged part of Adam’s apple.. probably the most demanding and challenging cache in Arabia. Baloum is the Arabic word equivalent to Adam’s apple.

On my third trip to the Jebel, I woke up one early morning and left Riyadh with AbuTalal & Hamad. The weather was dusty at some places but cleared later. We arrived at Howatah and continued through Na’am, the famous garden of palm trees. By 10:30 we were at Hariq and were running low on fuel but all gas stations were closed because of Friday prayer. We went up north to check the dam and it was empty. At 12:30 we filled up and proceeded through Howtah valley on a dirt road. The track was good and lead us out of the Wadi.

The landscape is beautiful. A sense of serenity and tranquility surrounds the area. The whole site looks like a piece from another planet like Mars … not that I lived there but good for making a movie here. As we left the valley we noted a natural arch on our left. It’s a rock feature at the tip of Khashm Makrouq and is known to geocachers as the flying arch. We approached the arch and bagged our cache in no time .. easy one.

We then continued on a northerly direction to Baloum and had to cross some sand ridges before stopping near the old wells on the eastern side.. It was almost 4:00 p.m.. While AbuTalal was preparing our meal, cousin Hamad and I went up the nearby Jebel to bag Adam’s apple. It was one of the difficult and dangerous hikes we took. Our trip up and down lasted for about an hour but there was actually more to go as we discovered later.

Hiding a Geocache

2007-03-28T12:26:00.000+03:00

I found this nice informative article written by a blogger on hiding caches.
Take a look here.

أول كتاب باللغة العربية عن الجيوكاشنج First book in Arabic on Geocaching

2007-03-01T13:10:00.000+03:00

صدر حديثا عن الدار العربية العلوم أول كتاب باللغة العربية يتحدث عن الجيوكاشنج بلغة بسيطة. الكتاب موجود في المكتبات السعودية وهو متوفر عبر مكتبة النيل والفرات هنا

Al-Tenhat and Wadi Ash Shawki

2007-03-01T08:29:00.000+03:00

Following our trip from the Summan desert (see below), we arrived at Rowdat Al-Tenhat which is a large park-like area covered with lush green plants. It is a popular picnic spot for campers and was very crowded at the time we were there .. almost like an amusement park.

We stopped to take some pictures while my cousin AbuTalal collected some flowers of which he will later make herbal tea. We then continued to Wadi Ash Shawki and spent the night on its bank. Dinner was served around the camp fire at around 9:30 p.m. We woke up before sunset and prepared our breakfast .. Arabic coffee and dates. Herbal tea was prepared by AbuTalal from the flowers he collected earlier.

At around 8:30 we drove along the wadi. Ash Shawki is one of the main wadis that flows in the Tenhat at the base of the Dhana dunes. The trip was unforgettable as we pass by hundreds of sheep and camels grazing through the fertile valley. Occasionally we make stops to examine the landscape or check out some exotic plant. AbuTalal was keen to locate naturally grown mushroom or faga, known to grow sporadically after the rainy season but cousin Hamad and I were eager to locate good hiding place for a cache. Unlike him, we found what we were looking for (GC113B1).

Our drive along the wadi took us on a westerly direction before heading south to Roawdat Nourah (GC10ZWM) which we reached around noon time. I was concerned about our car fuel but my cousin who knew the area well kept assuring me we will be able to make it and sure we did. We arrived at Riyadh around 2 p.m. making this trip the longest we had so far.

Dahals in the Summan, an update

2007-02-25T23:17:00.000+03:00

I mentioned in a previous post of our failed attempt to find a cache in one of the many sinkholes (dahals) in the Summan desert plateau because of lack of proper gear. Well, I’m happy to report that this time we bagged the cache with ease. We left on a Thursday morning from Riyadh to Rumah on the Riyadh-Dammam highway. We first made a stop at SACO store and purchased a foldable ladder but were not sure if it will fit within the hole opening and had some doubts about its length. The drive was a scenic one and the desert was in full bloom after the rainy season.

We first made a stop at Dahal Shawiyah (GCE180) and descended quickly into the upper and lower chamber without looking at the cache description/pictures. That proved to be a mistake. Our search for the cache in the lower chamber did not turn into any find so after a while we quit and decided to leave and headed north to the Mines of Moria cache (GC8069).

Arriving on site, we lowered the ladder easily into the Dahal but it was a little short so we tied it with a rope hooked to our car. I was accompanied by two of my cousins and both were eager to go down. They used the rope to reach the top of the ladder and descended easily. After reaching the bottom, Abu Talal was a little hesitant to grab the cache box so that task went to the hard-headed regular geocacher, cousin Hamad.

We then took a tour of the nearby garden (Rawdat Ma’aqla) before leaving the area. The tarmac continues north to Al-Rafee'ah but we took a short cut across the Dhana dunes that cross it from east to south west along a line parallel to the newly constructed power line. I read about this road (about 64km) in mekshat website. The journey across the dunes was beautiful at this time of the year. Our trip did not stop here as we continued to Al-Tenhat but that is a subject of a new post coming soon.

Tarut Fort

2007-02-14T18:27:00.000+03:00

This is a trip that will take you back in time. I have been to this island many times before but nowadays I could hardly feel it’s an island. The narrow land bridge that used to separate the island of Tarut from the mainland is hardly visible. There is a newly constructed bridge to the south that connects Qatif to Darin. The central part of the island is famous for its Fort located at around N 26.34.240 E 50.03.828 .

"The fort is believed to have been built by the Portuguese in 1592 … It sits on a mound formed by successive layers of occupation, reaching back to the third millennium. The earliest references to the Land of Dilmun are nowadays taken to mean this part of the mainland of Saudi ..." Jon Carter reports in his book Desert Treks from Al-Khobar.

There is a rich history that surrounds this island and is interesting as you will see a different face of Saudi that you don't normally see in the big cities. It is somewhat reminiscent of Bahrain which is not surprising as the two places are close to each other. A drive through the narrow streets of the island is a pleasant one. In the old days I used to visit the famous dhow harbor at Darin, at the southern tip of the island, which until recently was site for traditional boat building. Qasr or Palace of Ibrahim was once standing here in testimony to the wealth of the people who lived in this island. Unfortunately it is now gone. Sanabis is a small fishing harbor to the north with old buildings around. I decided to hide my cache here but later I learned that this was not a good place to hide. So I moved it a little to the west but it was later washed ashore. So finally I moved it south where it rests in peace, for now at least.

إطلاق بقة السفر الخاصة بمرض السكري

2007-01-29T18:47:00.000+03:00

أطلق موقع الجيوكاشنج بقة السفر الخاصة بمرض السكري حيث قام بإطلاق عشرون ألف بقة ونشرها مجانا بين اللاعبين لإخفاءها في كنوز حول العالم من أجل زيادة الوعي بهذا المرض ومسبباته وطرق التعامل معه

ماذا تعنى بقة السفر ؟ (Travel Bug)

ببساطة هي بطاقة على شكل عروة معدنية لتعليق أي غرض آخر بها كما تحمل رقما خاصا يتم متابعتها به عن طريق موقع الجيوكاشنج. يتم وضع البقة في الكنز إما بواسطة صاحبه الذي أخفاه أو أحد الذين وجدوه. تصبح البقة بعدها نوع من المسافر المجاني أو الهيتشهايكر حيث تنتقل من كنز لآخر بناء على تعليمات صاحب البقة

لكل بقة تقريبا مهمة إقترحها صاحبها وعلى من يأخذها أن ينفذ جزءا من تلك المهمة أو يتركها في مكانها. يمكن طلب البقة من موقع الجيوكاشنج حيث تصل الى صاحبها في نسختين ليضع واحدة في الكنز الذي يريد ويحتفظ بالنسخة الأخرى كتذكار. سيكون هناك صفحة خاصة بالبقة على موقع الجيوكاشنج ليضع بها صاحبها تفاصيل المهمة التي يرغب أن تحققها البقة وأيضا ليطلع على تحركاتها بعد أن يجدها اللاعبون. مع الوقت تصبح هذه الصفحة كأحد المدونات التي تحكي قصة تلك البقة وهي تتنقل في أنحاء المعمورة. بعض البق له أهداف إجتماعية مثل تلك التي أطلقها حديثا موقع الجيوكاشنج الخاصة بمرض السكري. إستلمت واحدة منها وسأقوم بإخفائها في أحد الكنوز قريبا ..

وأخيرا قمت بوضع بقة السفر في كنز قلعة تاروت .. أرجوا أن يبقى هذا الكنز مدة أطول من مخبئيه السابقين، على الأقل حتى يلتقط البقه أحد اللاعبين.

Edge of the world; Un update.

2007-01-05T23:16:00.000+03:00

Last time I visited the place (October, 2006), I stashed a cache there but I forgot about at least two other caches that were hidden nearby. One of them is only few hundred meters from the one I hid. So I decided to go back again and visit the place with my cousin Hamad. Unlike our previous trips, this time we left early morning at around 8:00 a.m. We went up north on salboukh road and passed by Jubaila and Oyaynah before stopping at the eastern side of Mosaygra mountain. This place was chosen by historian Alsha’ye as the site of the battle field where the army of Khaled Bin AlWaleed defeated their enemies some 14 centuries ago.

Site of ancient battlefield

We continued through acacia valley and arrived at the escarpment edge but stopped 2km short of edge of the world. We climbed up and walked for about 1.2km to bag "U Cairn do it". We came back and drove to the edge to bag the old cache at edge of the world. We then retreated south east to the park ranger station and went on a westerly direction till we reached the famous Ohaysee opening. It was actually more than an opening since the highland gradually descends and suddenly we found ourselves on the valley floor on the west side heading to Dhruma. We returned back few kilometers to look for the military stash cache but could not find any traceable route so gave up on that one. On our way following the East-West pipeline to the tarmac road we stopped for our lunch; liver cooked to perfection followed by tea. We then continued to Marat and arrived just in time before sunset to replace the cache there which was reported to be missing. We finished our trip and returned to Riyadh by 7:15 p.m.

400 years old cache

2006-11-14T14:29:00.000+03:00

Ok .. geocaching might have started only few years ago but here is a story of cache that is 400 years old. The area is Summan, known for its sinkholes or Dahals.

One particular dahal known as Abu Marwah is located at N 26 26.964 E 47 13.323. This would be just like any other dahal except for one difference. An old cache was hidden here about four centuries ago. The story goes like this: A famous local poet known by the name of Rashed AlKhalawi hide his rifle, when he grew old, in this dahal. He talked to his son about it but only vaguely. In doing so, he described the cache in a short poem (no GPS coordinates). When the son grew up, he went to the place and recovered his father's rifle and replied to his father poem with one line where he mentioned this dahal as the hiding place.

I read the story in a local history book and so decided to visit the place. My cousin and I left Riyadh on a chilly morning in January and drove to Rumah, the old town north east of Riyadh. We then drove in a northerly direction and crossed the red dunes of Dhana and arrived at Shaw'yah, a very small settlement on the southern edge of the Summan.

Our dahal was nine kilometres north of Shaw'yah and it was bigger than we expected. The surface probably collapsed making a big hole of about 20m across. Concrete pillars were put on the perimeter to protect motorists from accidentally falling into it.

We went down a little to check it out and found plants growing. These sinkholes were valuable sources of water for old caravans travelling in the desert. Unlike the poet who hid his rifle, we decided to stash our cache few hundred meters to the east of the dahal.

We then continued north and found another set of dahls where a cache was hidden here. Unfortunately we had no gear to climb down and so took some pictures instead. On our way back, we came across a herd of camels and gave them the right of way.

We stopped for making tea on one of the beautiful dunes of dhana desert before calling it off for the day.

AlHasa

2006-11-09T00:28:00.000+03:00

إستمرارا لرحلتنا السابقة الى حنيذ، قررنا هذه المرة أن نتجه جنوبا الى الأحساء وواحتها العظيمة. إنطلقنا صباحا بعد أن أخذنا عدتنا معنا وتوقفنا أولا لنبحث عن الكنز المعروف ببوابة الأحساء والذي كنت قد خبأته سابقا. كان هناك جسم غريب وكأنه من عالم آخر يحرس البواية (انظر الصورة) لكنه لم يستطع أن يوقفنا عن الوصول الى الكنز وإيجاده.

الإنطباع السائد الذي كنت أحمله عن المنطقة الشرقية بأنها مملة وبدون أي تضاريس تلفت الإنتباه ليس صحيحا هنا في هذه الواحة القديمة فتشكيلات الصخور الجيرية تبرز واضحة قبل الوصول الى الأحساء. بعد العثور على الكنز من قبل عبدالله والتقاط بعض الصور اتجهنا غربا الى موقع الكنز الثاني والذي يقع في مدخل الأحساء للقادم من الرياض. لم يستطع أعضاء الفريق إيجاد الكنز بسهولة لأنه كان على قمة صخرة حيث لم يخطر في بالهم أن يقوموا ببعض التسلق. وجدناعشا فيه بعض البيض وسط الصخرة حيث اعتقد البعض أن الكنز مخبأ في ذلك العش.

بعدها أتجهنا الى قصر إبراهيم الشهير وتجولنا فيه بعد أن سمح لنا بعض الباكستانيين العاملين فيه بالدخول. القصر من الداخل يستحق الزيارة فعلا ويوجد به حمام على الطراز التركي ربما يكون الوحيد من نوعه في المنطقة. كما يوجد به مسجد القبة الذي تم بنائه في نهاية القرن العاشر الهجري.

مررنا بعد ذلك بسوق القيصرية أو مابقي منه للأسف بعد الحريق الذي أصابه،، أنظر الصورة وبمقدمتها لوحة الدفاع المدني بعدم التدخين

بعد ذلك انطلقنا الى القرى الشرقية لمشاهدة جبل قارة الذي تحف به أشجار النخيل من كل جهة. تجولنا داخل التجاوبف بالجبل وللأسف لم تكن نظيفة وغير مهيأة لإستقبال السياح بالرغم من الإمكانات الكبيرة التي يمكن إستغلالها هنا. بعد ذلك إنطلقنا شمالا الى مسجد جواثا وصلينا فيه. مرة أخرى لم يعجبنا وضع المكان وإهماله بالرغم من أنه من أوائل المساجد في الإسلام. وأخيرا إنطلقنا شمالا صوب قرية العيون وانحرفنا يمينا تجاه العقير لنقضي بقية المساء فوق أحد التلال الرملية حيث قمنا بإعداد العشاء على ضوء القمر وعدنا لبيوتنا قرابة الثانية عشر ليلا.

Edge of the world

2006-10-28T15:29:00.000+03:00

I first learned about this spectacular place in the guide book written by Ionis Thompson. I visited the place with cousin Hamad and nephew Fares in 1996, if I still remember correctly. We didn’t carry any GPSr with us at the time but it wasn’t that difficult to reach. The maps accompanying the book were clear enough.

Ten years later, I visited the place with cousin Abdulaziz. It was his first visit and the second for me. We left Riyadh around 12:30 p.m. and passed by the towns of Jubaylah & Oyaynah. Five kilometers before reaching Sadus, we took a left turn and headed west into the valley. This is the famous acacia wadi which is the main entrance from the west to the settlements on Wadi Hanifah in the ancient AlYamamah region.

Lieut. Col. Lewis Pelly, the political resident in the Persian gulf was one of the early westerners who passed though this wadi on his trip to Riyadh in 1865. He documented his trip in a report tilted “Journey to the Wahabee capital of Riyadh”.

The escarpment of Tuwaiq mountains opens up making room for traders and invaders to enter from the west. Many conquerors came through this valley including Khalid Bin AlWaleed some 1400 years ago and more recently Ibrahim Pasha who Destroyed Dir’iyah in 1818. The main gateway to the wadi is referred to as Ohaysee in historical records and locally is called “Sab Al Malaf” or seven turns. Today the only conqueror that passes through it is Yanbu east-west pipe line.

We stopped at a park ranger station to learn about the area. We then continued on a scenic drive through the wadi leading us to the escarpment. There are many vista points offering panoramic view of the plains below but the one that has been famous is the edge of the world. We stashed our cache there and took some pictures. On our way back we hid another stash in the middle of the valley. We stopped for few minutes to enjoy the place and drink our coffee before heading home. We reached Riyadh at 6:45 p.m.

Hanidh Rock Art

2006-10-26T19:15:00.000+03:00

كنت قد قرأت عن منطقة ثاج والهجر المحيطة بها كالصرار ونطاع وأعرف أنها كانت منطقة سكنتها حضارات قديمة. بعد إطلاعي على كتيب خاص بالرحلات البرية من المنطقة الشرقية لمؤلفه الإنجليزي جون كارتر قررت زيارة هجرة حنيذ ومشاهدة المكان الذي يحوي بعض الكتابات القديمة خاصة وأنه قد حدد الإحداثيات لها

كان صباحا باردا بعض الشئ عندما إنطلقنا في رحلتنا الشتوية لإكتشاف تلك المنطقة وهذه المرة كنا مستعدين بعض الشئ حيث قرر أعضاء الرحلة المرافقين وهم عبدالله، محمد وماجد أن نقوم بتحضير وجبة العشاء في البر لذا أخذنا معنا عدة الطبخ. لم ننس أخذ فطورنا معنا والتي قامت أم ماجد مشكورة بتحضيره وانطلقنا على طريق الرياض في العاشرة صباحا. بعد 65 كم تقريبا توقفنا لنجد الكنز الوحيد في الطريق وبسهولة. قمنا بتسجيل ملاحظاتنا في الدفتر الخاص بذلك ولم نأخذ شيئا من الكنز كما لم نترك شيئا. كان الكنز مخبأ بالقرب من صخرة فوق تلة صغيرة وللأسف تم العبث به لاحقا وقام صاحبه بإعادة إخفائه مرة أخرى ولكن في مكان مختلف لايبعد كثيرا عن المكان الأول

بعد إستراحة قصيرة وتناول الإفطار قرب الكنز إستمرينا في مواصلة الرحلة وعند وصولنا الى مفرق جودة إنحرفنا يمينا واتجهنا شمال. كنا تقريبا نسير بمحاذاة الحدود الشرقية للصمان وبعد 75كم وصلنا حنيذ. توقفنا في تلك الهجرة الصغيرة للتزود بالوقود ثم أخذنا الطريق البري غربا في داخل الصمان. عند المكان المحدد في كتيب الرحلات (6 كم عن حنيذ)، توقفنا لمشاهدة الكتابات والرسوم القديمة ووجدت أنه مكان مناسب لإخفاء كنز هنا إذ أن المكان يستحق الزيارة فعلا

بعد استراحة قصيرة واصلنا تقدمنا داخل الصمان حيث شاهدنا بعض الفياض الجميلة وأخيرا وصلنا الى الدحول المذكورة في الكتاب. إلتقطنا بعض الصور وعدنا محملين بالكثير من الذكريات الجميلة وطبعا لم ننس أن نتوقف مساء لتحضير وجبة العشاء التي أتقنها عبدالله. وصلنا بيوتنا قرابة الثانية عشر ليلا بعد رحلة ممتعة

Devil's Thumb

2006-10-26T18:17:00.000+03:00

I read about this peculiar rock formation from an old scout book published by Aramco, many years ago and handed over to me by a fellow worker, Gary Robinson. The thumb is about 160km from Dammam near the old town of Judah. On a clear day, it can be seen from a distance of tens of kilometers away. In spite of the many trips I took to Riyadh, I didn’t pay attention to this rock which sticks up like a sour thumb. The name of Devil’s thumb was given by Aramco scouting group in Dhahran. It must have been a favorite place for them to camp there.

One day while coming back from Riyadh, it occurred to me that this must be a good place to hide a cache. So I took a turn off the highway at Judah and proceeded to the thumb. Since this was not planned, I used a traditional metallic container (Bustook, used to store honey or butter) for the cache, which I got from the nearest gas station.

I drove on hard desert tracks till I arrived at the thumb. The place below the rock is so visible and judging from the leftovers nearby, I decided the thumb was not the place to hide the cache. It was exposed at the bottom from all direction, so I opted to go to the nearby escarpment which I could see from a distance in the north. I reached the closest canyon and found a terrific hiding place and there I stashed my cache.

Cache before hiding
Cache after hiding
It’s a great place for camping, as there are many interesting rock formations and even some caves. Later I discovered that this odd looking rock formation was photographed decades ago by early Aramcons and it was a favorite thanksgiving camping spot.

Bahrain caches

2006-10-23T02:28:00.000+03:00

There is little geocaching activity on the island of Bahrain. It is a short drive from where I live in Dammam so I decided to give it a try. This time I was not accompanied by my cousin Hamad; instead I had the help of my own kids and what a help .. three caches were struck in one day.

The girls with their mother decided to go for shopping while the boys decided to go with me. We stopped at Costa coffee before heading to the center of the island. We started with Oil#1 well. The drive southward was a nice one on a cool December day. The cache was found in no time by my kids and we were the first to find it.

The cache is hidden near the first oil well in Bahrain. The rock formations remind me of the area around Dhahran in Saudi. In fact, the resemblance of the geology structure (salt dome) hinted to early explorers that they look further to the west, to Saudi territory. They struck gold there when they drilled through the famous Dammam#7 in Dhahran and the rest is history.

After that, we headed to the second cache which was very close by. The area nearby was full of campers. My younger son found the cache in no time. It was buried in the sand .. not a very good hiding place. I don’t expect this cache to last for a long time.

We then continued to the Tree of life. We stopped at the famous tree which was actually less than my expectation despite the publicity about it. The cache itself was hidden on a hill few hundred meters from the tree. We climbed to the top (easy climb) and did a thorough search ... we almost gave up but then it occurred to me that the cache could be on the flank and so went down a little and indeed there it was.

We returned that day to our hotel happy, knowing that we bagged three caches in one shot and hoping that we can do it again.

Camel trails; follow up

2006-10-23T02:15:00.000+03:00

For those who are wondering, here is an image of google earth showing relative locations of the four different trails through Tuwaiq mountain range that I talked about earlier. All four caches hidden are mutlicaches (except for #2) with first part hidden at the top and the second part stashed at the bottom. It takes few hours to bag each. All four caches are close to Riyadh center. A graded track (visible in the image) before the Giddiyyah descent turns right and leads to three of the trails. Trail#1 can be reached by another track to the left of the descent.

Camel trail #3

2006-10-19T02:31:00.000+03:00

من بين دروب القوافل الأربعة التي زرتها، ربما هذا هو أكثرها مشقة في النزول. صعوبة هذا الكاش كانت نجمتان ونصف، علما بأن صاحب الكاش قد نبه الى أن هذا الكنز غير مناسب للعوائل مع الأطفال كما أن اللاعب عليه أن يحضّر نفسه لأن يغيب عن سيارته لمدة ساعة ونصف على الأقل.

كان يوما حارا في أغسطس عندما قررت مع حمد أن نكشف هذا الكنز وهكذا غادرنا الرياض بعد الظهر بقليل. مررنا كالعادة على بندة بشارع التخصصي للتزود بالمشروبات الباردة وأخذ علبة الغداء والتى لم تزد عن صحن السلطة. كان معنا هذه المرة ثلاجة صغيرة في سيارتي اللاندروفر ملأناها بعلب الماء البارد، بعض البيرة وكثير من الحليب. نسيت أن أذكر أن حمد يعيش على الحليب والسجائر وأحيانا بعض السلطة عندما أكون معه. أما عني فأنا لاأدخن ولا أحب الحليب، لكن يجمعنا حب الجيوكاشنج.

بعد مشوار قصير وصلنا قمة الجبل حيث وجدنا الجزء الأول من الكنز بسهولة وأدخلنا مباشرة الإحداثيات الجديدة للجزء الأخير من الكنز في جهازي ثم بدءنا مشوار النزول والذي لم يكن سهلا أبدا. كان علينا أن ننزل ملاصقين لسفح الجبل إذ لم يكن هناك طريق غير ذلك سوى الهاوية العمودية تقريبا وكنت أحمل معي الكاميرا التي تلازمني دائما زائدا قوارير الماء، واضعا إياها في جيبي. على عكس درب القوافل رقم 1 و 4، لم أستطع أن أتبين ملامح درب للقوافل هنا، أثناء نزولنا. صاحب الكنز يبدو أكثر إقتناعا مني بأن هذا فعلا كان درب للقوافل ويرى أنه أكثر قدما من الآخرين وأن بعض أجزاءه قد اندثرت مع الزمن، ويوافقه حمد في ذلك.

في أسفل الجبل وصلنا الى موقع الكنز والذي وجده حمد بعد بحث قصير مخبأ في إبريق قهوة قريبا من صخرة كبيرة أسماها صاحب الكنز بصخرة الجبن لمشابهتها قطعة الجبن التي نراها عادة في أفلام الكرتون. بعد إستراحة قصيرة بدأنا الطلوع مرة أخرى ووصلنا أعلى الجبل ونحن منهكين من التعب. تناولنا مشروباتنا الباردة واستمتعنا بمنظر الشمس وهي تغرب تحتنا في الوادي ثم عدنا أدراجنا الى الرياض.

The Chameleon

2006-10-09T16:23:00.000+03:00

Not far from camel trail4 is this cache. It has one of the best views I’ve seen along the Tuwaiq escarpment. What makes this place a special one is the superb view you get for Faisal pinnacle. This is a landmark feature separated from the main mountain range. I have been to this place many years ago without a GPS but now it’s even more interesting with a cache hidden here. The drive is straightforward along the top of the mountain and is about 20km from the exit of Makkah highway just before the descent (Giddiyyah). We were rewarded with one of the best vista points overlooking a panoramic view of the pinnacle and the landscape below. The pictures to the left and below are just a sample of what to expect.

Another special thing about this cache is the way it’s hidden. This got to be one of those puzzles where you keep looking for the treasure and it is right below your feet. The cache is not only hidden between rocks but it is also a rock adding another dimension of difficulty to finding this treasure. The difficulty rating was 4* and we were lucky to find the cache in no time.

Camel trail #4:

2006-10-07T01:12:00.000+03:00

I remember walking through this trail few years ago with my cousin. We came here using Ionis Thompson’s book which did not include any GPS info at the time. The directions were clear enough for me and my partner to reach the exact trail and walk through it to the top. He was carrying a video camera and made a nice home video of it. The trail was only visible at some places. Near the top it was horizontal and easy to walk. In fact there is even a large flat space as you approach the top of the trail, probably some resting place for the caravans after a long climb.

We cooked our dinner at the base of the trail not far from the famous landmark named by Thompson as Faisal pinnacle. Two years later we came back to the top part of the trail to claim the first part of the cache. I then retreated to my home in Dammam. Few months later, I visited the place after securing the coordinates of the final leg and climbed the trail again. The cache was hidden near a cliff and so got us wondering where it was but my cousin finally got it. Actually his picture reaching out for the prize is the one on the cover page of the Today’s Cacher and is shown above.

Geocaching

2006-10-05T23:46:00.000+03:00

The sport where You are the search engine

فكرة الجيوكاشنج حديثة وبسيطة وممتعة، كما أنها تلائم جميع الأعمار وهي في نفس الوقت غير مكلفة ... تحتاج فقط الى جهاز(جي بي إس) ، سعره تقريبا مثل سعر الهاتف الجوال، وتصفح للإنترنت

يقوم أحدهم بإخفاء شئ ما (عادة يتخذ شكل علبة صغيرة تحوي قلم وورقة وربما هدية رمزية) في مكان ما، (يفضل أن يكون هذا المكان يستحق الزيارة) ..يقوم بعدها اللاعب بتسجيل إحداثيات المكان (خط الطول والعرض) ووضعها على الإنترنت ليطلع عليها الآخرون ثم يبدؤا عملية البحث عن تلك العلبة أو الكنز المخبأ .. عندما تجد الكنز تسجل أي ملاحظة في الورقة الموجودة مع الكنز وتأخذ الهدية الموجودة إذا أردت، على أن تضع شيئا رمزيا بدلا مما أخذته.

بدأت الفكرة بكنز واحد في أمريكا منتصف عام 2000 ، واليوم يوجد هناك أكثر من ثلاثمائة ألف كنز تقريبا مخبأة في أكثر من مائتين بلد حول العالم، نصيبنا منها في السعودية 130 حتى تاريخ كتابة هذه الأسطر

هناك أشكال مختلفة يمكن أن يتخذها الكنز، فمثلا هناك الكنز المتعدد فبدلا من إعطاء إحداثية لكنز واحد، يمكن أن تكون الإحداثية المعطاة على الإنترنت بداية لسلسلة من الإحداثيات تؤدي في النهاية الى الكنز.. كما أن هناك الكنز اللغزحيث يتطلب الوصول الى الكنز حل لغز ما، بعد الحصول على الإحداثية وهكذا .. وباختصار هي رياضة يكون فيها اللاعب ماكينة البحث

هناك إمكانات غير محدودة لهذه اللعبة وهي قابلة للنمو والإستخدام بشكل مذهل في مجالات متعددة مثل التعليم والآثار والمحافظة على البيئة وفي ترويج السياحة والسفر ..وجدت كما خبأت كنوزا في سيريلانكا، جزر المالديف، بوكيت وشانجماي بتايلند والبحرين والإمارات وقطر فضلا عن السعودية، هنا مثال لكنز إفتراضي وضعته أثناء رحلتي الى سيرلانكا

كما سترى فإن الكنز مخبأ في معلم سياحي مشهور والمستفيد الأول من ذلك هو الجهة المسؤولة عن السياحة هناك، لاحظ من سجلات المشاركين الذين وجدوا الكنز أنهم قدموا من شمال أوروبا، وبعضهم زار المنطقة أكثر من مرة

أعتقد أن الإحساس بالمغامرة عند البحث وجمع المعلومات حول موقع الكنز والنشوة المصاحبة للملاحة قبيل الوصول له هو مايميز هذه الرياضة . حسب علمي فأنا السعودي الوحيد (مع قريبي) الذي يمارس هذه الهواية هنا في السعودية حيث أن الآخرين الذين يربطني معهم حب هذه اللعبة هم من الأجانب الذين يعيشون معنا حيث تتيح لهم هذه الهواية الإنطلاق والتعرف على أماكن جميلة من بلادي ،، من المدهش أنني تعرفت على بعض الأماكن الجميلة في بلادي عن طريق الكنوز التي خبأها هؤلاء الأجانب

هذه المدونة تسجل خواطري عن هذه اللعبة وسأحاول الكتابة بالعربي لكني أجد صعوبة في ذلك على لوحة المفاتيح لذا سأضطر للكتابة بالإنجليزي أحيانا كثيرة.

***.

شكرا للصديق العزيز عبدالله المغلوث على مقالته عن الجيوكاشنج والتي نشرت في جريدة الوطن للتعريف بهذه الرياضة ، تجدها هنا

Camel trails:

2006-10-05T18:43:00.000+03:00

The central region of Arabia is blessed with beautiful land features that are yet to be appreciated by Saudis. One such feature is the famous Tuwaiq mountain range to the west of the capital Riyadh. It extends hundreds of kilometers from north to south.

I heard stories about ancient camel trails cutting up through the escarpment but didn’t know where to start till I discovered Ionis Thompson book “desert treks from Riyadh” few years ago. In here book, she talked about different camel trails that follow natural watercourses with man-made retaining walls made of slabs of rocks.

The escarpment is about 40km west from downtown Riyadh and is easy to reach. The whole area is populated with many caches but there are at least four caches hidden in four different trails that have been identified and frequently visited by geocachers.

First camel trail (see pic above and to the side) is located left of the main (Makkah) road as you go west down the escarpment (Giddiyyah) and is the best preserved one. The lining of the trail with slabs of rocks and steps carved in stones signify a period of flourishing trade that took place in ancient Arabia.

Caravans of travellers from places as far as Yemen in south Arabia and pilgrims coming west from Makkah on the Red Sea moved up with camels full of loads on their backs.

All caches hidden in these trails are multicache with the first part stashed at the very top of the escarpment and the final part, as expected, smartly placed at the bottom. The four multicaches have been hidden by one of the very first geocachers in Arabia, our dear friend yet to meet, M&M.

I wrote an article on these caches which was published in the Fall 2005 issue of Today's Cacher magazine.

2006-08-09T13:09:00.000+03:00

Marat:

Thomas Barger was one of the early pioneers who came to Arabia in 1937 to explore for oil. He retired 32 years later as CEO of Aramco. I remember first reading about him in an article appearing in ArabNews that talked about a book published by his son. It is a collection of letters he wrote to his wife while living in Arabia some 67 years ago. Being fascinated with such material, I went right ahead to Jarir bookstore in AlKhobar to buy the book. I had to wait for several weeks before getting the book …. I was very pleased with what I got. You see .. I have this .. passion for material relating to the recent history of this land. It developed over the last several years.

So much for that .. I will talk more about the book later, but for now I will mention that there was a picture Barger took for the town of Marat in 1939. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say about it:

“The sand in the backcountry is the reddest I've ever seen; it practically glows in the red down. There are high, bold hills with real cliffs on them rising six to eight hundred feet above the plains on the westward faces. We did not pass through many towns, but one, Marat, was as picturesque as you could wish. The earth is a reddish clay, and just outside the town is a high jabal that we climbed. We took pictures of the town spread out below us with its red-turreted walls, green gardens scattered over the plain, and the great pool in which they gather rainwater by a system of ditches."

I wanted to go to the place and see if I could recognize the surroundings. Armed with the picture, I headed with my partner, Hamad, to the town of Marat to see if we could find the jabal from which the picture was taken. The mountain range in the background was our reference point.

To our pleasant surprise, not only we were able to find the jabal but also recognize many of the features in the picture which are still standing today. The pool mentioned in the manuscript is still visible today as it was 67 years ago (lower left portion). Remains of the watchtower can be seen in the center right portion. In front of the watch tower (adjacent to the pool) is an empty ground that is still empty today. If you look closely, you could even see one of the ditches –encircled- ( no, we didn't hide the cache there but it was tempting and worth looking into).

The mountain was referred to as Jabal Marat by Barger and is the famous Jabal Kumait. The view from the top is superb and is a good family fun – If you have the original picture, bring with you & try playing "Find the differences". I stashed the cache in one of the old mud buildings appearing in the picture .. we were glad to see the ruins still standing and I wish the municipality restore them and keep them maintained.

Here is an article I wrote for the Today's Cacher on the subject.

2006-08-07T18:43:00.000+03:00

Ok .. I must admit, I don’t like writing. I’m kind of .. lazy. Yeepp, I’m already feeling tired. But I still like to talk about this hobby of mine called geocaching. It is the sport where You are the search engine.

So far, I found 60 caches and hidden 24. Each cache has a story of its own. To talk about these stories and a little more, I created this blog. I will start with the most recent caches and work my way backward in time.

Cannibals:

I have heard and read about the cannibals or Solou cave near the little village of Barrah but never knew where it lies till I came across a post in Mekshat. It gave the coordinates of the cave and so I planned the trip with my partner and cousin Hamad. The story is interesting and and will work great for a Hollywood horror movie .. something like the Texas Chain saw massacre. It is spelled out in my cache listing.

As part of our normal routine, I checked out the general area and entered the coordinates in my new GPS unit that I bought recently. Thanks to google earth, I can now study the cache area and plan my route before jumping into my car. Since it was summer time, we head for our target in the afternoon after passing by Azizyyah store on Takhassisi road to stock on food, basically two salads and lots of cold beverages.

The cave is about 1hour drive from Riyadh heading north west. Driving was mainly on paved road except for the last 8km or so. The cave lies in the Aried mountain which stands out of the flat plains between Barrah/Raghabah on the east and Marat on the west. After some off road driving, we parked our car and walked for about 15minutes to reach the cave. It is hidden from the view and so I stashed my cache and left just in time before the cannibals return. :)

Naturally, we were not in the mood to eat but since meat was not on the menu, we decided to have our salads anyway. We finished our trip by enjoying the sunset over the red dunes to the west .. the atmosphere was absolutely beautiful .. the night was clear and calm, we spent the next 3 hours on the wadi floor, gazing at the stars and listening to the filtered voice of Fairouz and her music.