This is the door of a restaurant in a brand new shopping complex built within sight of the UNESCO site. The last time we were in Diriyah, the whole area was under construction, but this time there were several shops and eateries open and a number of locals walking around and checking everything out.

Old Diriyah is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the original home of the Saudi royal family, a fascinating place to visit and only about a 10-minute drive from our house. We wanted to see if the UNESCO site was open yet as it had been undergoing restoration for several years. It was supposed to be finished in 2014, then April 2015, and now I think we’ll be lucky to see it before we leave Saudi Arabia in a year. But much work has been done, and the town seems to be reinventing itself in anticipation of a heavy flow of domestic tourists once the site is finished. I took this next series of pictures while walking around parts of the town (at the height of the afternoon heat, I must add!).

The emptiness of the DQ, posted earlier: