Jan 7 - Pack up and leave our huge apartment. Switch the spare tire with the one I bought yesterday and hope for the best on that front. Our road toward Hail passes by the entrance for Elephant Rock and the Hegra tombs. Similar sandstone outcrops carry on for the first 150 km, providing a quality backdrop for our route. At one point, pass by what appears to be a military installation, with heliports and anti-aircraft missile emplacements. But it seems very odd, as the building infrastructure to the side is mostly brightly colored tents and trailers. In other words, it all looks very temporary and without regard to camouflage or safety against attack. I wonder if it is actually an elaborate film set.
We leave the sandstone formations and enter a vast flat, featureless plain. Stop in the largest town we’ve encountered today but most food places are closed. Buy a few snacks and head onward. Eventually get into some topography again, this time it is granite. According to maps, the granite intrusions are part of the Precambrian Arabian Shield.
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Into Ha’il, capital of Hail Province at about 16:30. Nothing very remarkable about it, just a city sprawling out over the desert without much concern about space. It must be about 10 km from south (where we enter) to north (where our hotel is). The room is a third the price of Al-’Ula, and is very simple. Plenty of food options out on the street, we eat at a local place a short walk away.
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It it cold here, probably the coldest we will experience this month. Tonight it gets down to about 2⁰ C.
