Next morning that generosity and kindness continued in the shape of Ahmed Barnawi. Ahmed is a leading light in the United Bikers Team in Jeddah, and elsewhere.
He came along with his trailer and took me and bike to the local Honda dealer to have a few repairs carried out.
Then I was given a tour of Jeddah’s Corniche, a long recreational stretch along the shore, with some interesting, if unexpected – that word again –sights.
It didn’t stop there; I was then given an excellent lunch, followed by a trip to meet some other members of the Team, and finally a shopping trip to find a replacement gas canister for my camping stove. What an introduction to Jeddah and Saudi Arabia!
On subsequent days, after getting my bike back, Ahmed suggested a short ride before going to the weekly Team meeting. This short ride turned out to be a 4,5 hour 200+ km round trip; that’s what they call a short ride here!
At the meeting, I met, amongst others, Mansoor, who suggested going out for some fish next evening.
This was a whole team affair, at a fish restaurant about 90km north of Jeddah; it was a great evening and a fantastic meal. I thought that hospitality in Sudan was beyond measure, but it is equalled by that in Saudi.
Life is not all a bed of roses, however and a painful tooth necessitated a visit to a dentist, who confirmed I had an abscess developing. The options were three days of antibiotics followed by an extraction, or a week of antibiotics followed by a wait of a week and then a root canal treatment. Either way, I was staying put for a few days, not that I was complaining with the hospitality mentioned above. All the same I chose the 3 days and extraction.
One thing I had been hearing all week was how cold it was going to be in the north of the country – my plan was to go north to Jordan and Lebanon before turning south and east towards Emirates, Oman and Iran. I decided it was time to get my leathers delivered, and while discussing the options with Zahoor, he informed me that his cousin was in fact coming to Jeddah from London at the end of the month. A phone call confirmed that he would be happy to bring my stuff; a stroke of luck indeed.
Having set Friday 13th as the date for my departure from Jeddah, allowing a couple of days to make sure the tooth was settled, I set out to visit Old Jeddah.
on my return, I gave the bike a once over and discovered that my oil pressure switch wasn’t working and that I had lost a rear indicator somewhere.
The only immediate repair option was to relocate one of the front indicators and use the spare rear stem to hold the headlight in place.
Zahoor’s cousin’s visit was proving very fortuitous, as I could order one on e-Bay, which he would then bring with him.
It was during this week that my plans were changed considerably. I was somewhat concerned about the likelihood of bad weather going through Iran and Turkey, and the comments mentioned above did nothing to allay my fears. I asked for opinions on the Iran Overland facebook forum and got a unanimous response; don’t go. The reports include references to 20cm of snow, muddy roads and freezing rain, with temperatures dropping well below zero. So I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and changed my plan.
The new plan is to go and see the south of Saudi – Al Bahah and Abha in the mountains and Jizan on the coast. Then, return to Jeddah along the coast and continue north to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon before taking a ferry to Turkey and hence Belfast.
Fri 13 Dec 2019
I set off on the 13th as planned, with the intention of making Al Bahir that day. However en- route up the mountains, which climbed 1,500 metres in about 5km, I decided it would be good to spend the night in the region of Ash Sharif, which was marked as a viewpoint on my map.
As I ascended, I would reach 2,435m eventually, the bike started to struggle a bit due to the altitude. Since there was no such thing as an altitude compensator in the 1970s, I stopped to adjust manually the carbs, and as I started he task, I heard the throaty roar of a big bike coming up the hill.
The rider pulled up in front of me and I met Turki, a member of the Jeddah Chapter of Harley riders.
After chatting for a while, I was invited to spend the night with him and the rest of the Chapter at the rest-house they were camping at for the weekend.
We continued uphill, reaching that 2,435m point, and then wound our way down a bit along narrow twisty roads – 20mph roads – to the rest-house.
A couple of early arrivals
Later in the afternoon we were joined by about a dozen other gleaming HDs and the same number of guys who had come up in cars. Small tents were pitched randomly around the house …
and an evening drinking Arab and ginger tea around a fire followed and the craic was mighty, even if it was rather chilly.
Sat 14 Dec 2019
After watching the big bikes file out and head off back towards Jeddah, I packed up and continues south. The road to Tiaf and the 50km or so after were pretty dull. Then I turned towards Maysaan and the mountains. These are nothing if not spectacular, even more so than those on the way up to Ash Sharif. Steep and rugged, with ruined hilltop villages scattered here and there; and running through the middle was this wonderful smooth twisty road.
Maysaan, when I finally reached it, wasn’t anything to write home about. I found something to eat, and headed on in a much cooler afternoon. I had put a fleece on earlier, but now had to don my waterproof jacket to keep out the strong cold wind. By the time I reached Al Baha, even my feet, in my winter boots, were cold, and it was getting dark.
I met up with Ali, the local United Bikers team manager. We visited a local viewpoint before finding my accommodation for the night.
After getting me organised, he headed off, promising to come back at 0800 to take me on a bit of a tour.
Sun 14 Dec 2019
0800 was clearly an Irish time, because Ali didn’t appear. I didn’t really mind as I had to tension the cam-chain which had started to rattle horribly on the way to the accommodation last night. I also had to top up with some oil.
Ali arrived and we headed off, stopping so I could get some breakfast. We were joined by another rider and headed off to Al Ain, a reconstructed hilltop village that is a UNESCO site. This was really quite impressive and well worth a visit. Some of the houses have two or more storeys, and one had six separate rooms.
Here I met Sultan and Reem, two French-speaking Riyadhis on a trip round the south. I also got a few additional places to visit since Reem had done her homework much better than I – Calvin and Suzie! 🙂
A long siesta followed lunch and for some reason I really was tired; I really enjoyed the snooze. I think it must have been the wind yesterday that took it out of me, because I was stiff. We then headed to a reservoir for a few hours where we were joined by yet more riders.
After some time trying to get stones to reach the water many metres below, the group decided it was time to go.
The general wish was to head to the coast and beach rather than back to Al Baha, where it apparently was cold and wet. This involved another 100-120km and of course then 180km back, so I opted out and headed back on my own.
On the way I was passed by two other Gold Wingers heading down to join the others, I presume. This riding is more than a pastime, it’s a way of life for these guys. Life seems to revolve around the bikes and the rides.
On the way back, that voltage warning light started flashing red again! It would intermittently flash red and then go to green again, so I decided it must be a loose connection. I made it back, after doing a few circles thanks to Google Maps, and the battery was fully charged still and charging, so my conclusion may well have been right; tomorrow I’ll see.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 