Our trip to Hofuf yesterday took all day. Buses picked us up at 6AM from our hotel and I near panicked when I realized there was no coffee at the Reunion House (our main meeting house on camp near the Dining Hall). I high tailed it to the Dining Hall. Dang! Who gives little to-go coffee cups. Just a "snifter" of coffee in the morning!? I think not. Yikes.
The buses left for Hofuf and we were in for a huge, long drive through the stark desert. Man, it's desolate, but I love it. We arrived at the Camel Market and it was just AWWWESOME. I love animals, so I was in heaven. The camel market I remember was more of a "flea market" style, whereas this is more of a very large, run down and rustic stable. I had no idea camels were so expensive! Tens of thousands of dollars each! Some people say that Saudis think killing a camel is worse than killing a person. So, my fear that the animals were not being well cared for was extinguished. Baby camels everywhere. They were hosing off some of the adult camels.... it must be an important thing since the market is in the middle of nowhere and water is precious. Boy, I'm glad I'm current on my tetnus shot.... trash and rusty metal wires littered the ground.
The shoes everyone wore on the Hofuf trip probably need to be burned.
We then got on the bus and headed for the Hofuf Souks. The old Souk I remember that lined the main street burned down and is currently being rebuilt. The gold souk was tucked in a weird alley... Saudi men toting big machine guns were milling around. I think Khobar is the place to go to buy gold since not many people made purchases. According to my mom, the price of gold in Saudi has tripled and it not much of a bargain anymore. The 22k gold rings I got a long time ago for $40 each now run at about $120+ each. Still, I'd love to get another ring.... that's the one big purchase I want to make while I'm over here. Saudi gold is just so deliciously rich and yellow.
We then drove through the Date Farm area en route to the Potter's Cave. The date farms are amazing and gorgeous. Hofuf is a natural oasis and over 20,000 liters of water per minute have been coming out of its ground for hundreds of years. Over 40 varieties of dates are grown there. The trees are healthy, but everything here is dusty, dusty, dusty.
The Potter's Cave was kind of boring and more of a tourist attraction. I doubt any pottery is even made on site anymore. Still, it was quaint.
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