These men were some of our wonderful hosts for the afternoon.

Today we took a short drive to Old Diriyah, to look around and to see the Turaif district, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, which is under restoration and it turns out not accessible to the public right now. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family and served as the capital of the first Saudi dynasty from 1744 to 1818. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriyah

But that was not the highlight of this trip: We had without doubt the most fantastic experience we have had so far in Saudi Arabia – I can’t believe how fortunate we were, and it was all due to the graciousness and genuine hospitality of a Saudi family who saw me photographing the gate to their property and invited us in. (At first I was afraid I had done something wrong, but when the head of the family himself came out and extended the invitation, we gladly accepted.) We had lunch with them, we were shown around the compound, we met much of the large extended family who all come for lunch every Saturday, we visited with their camels, we had the most delicious ginger tea sitting in the garden and chatting, and then we were escorted for a brief look at the restoration of the historic sites of Diriyah. We went back to their house, and I was invited to meet the women of the family, but by that time it was getting pretty late, and we had taken up their entire afternoon, so I asked to meet them when we return to visit, which we definitely will.

I took a lot of pictures today, with three cameras (!): the Sony RX100 II, the D800 and the D700 for a longer lens. Even with all these images, there is still much to see in Diriyah, and it’s only a 10 minute drive from our house, so no doubt we’ll be going back to call on our new friends as well as tour more of the town.