Madain Saleh

Most people probably know about Petra, the ancient Nabatean city in Jordan. The tombs sculpted out of the sandstone are world famous (cp. Indiana Jones :-)  ). The Nabatean city of Madain Saleh about 300 km north of Medinah is less known but at least as fascinating as Petra. Even without the ruins, the area would be worth a trip: Fascinating landscape with sand dunes, sandstone rocks of all colours, the oasis of Al Ula with its huge palm groves and the remains of the Hijaz Railway with several old steam engines left there in the middle of the desert and the old railway stations built by German engineers at the beginning of the last century. The railway was destroyed in World War I (cp. Lawrence of Arabia)