Wadi Beautiful

Wadi Disah - An unbelievable place, currently very much off the tourism map.

It’s an extremely fertile valley hidden away within a mountainous canyon area in #Tabuk province

The place has such striking beauty. You just would not image you’re in #SaudiArabia. It was incredible to be here.

#Saudi is a land of hidden secrets and buried treasures, and Wadi Disah felt like the definition of #paradise. Pink flowers and fresh mint grow among canyons of redish rock, which are full of black palm trees, flowing waters, and luscious grass.

It had an otherworldly quality to it, like something from a fairytale or a magical realm. The long drive into the Wadi exemplified this - it felt like you’re passing through some sort of threshold and leaving the world behind. You then enter what feels like a forgotten land, or a lost world - like something from Indians Jones or Jurassic Park, or a cutaway scene in a movie showing people in paradise, or something from another planet.

I’ve seen the beautiful red rocks like this before in Wadi Rum in #Jordan and in #AlUla, but the combination of the luscious and plentiful green grass, flowers and density of trees makes this place unique. It’s something very special to be preserved.

Wadi Disah is located about 2.5 hours drive from the southern centre of #NEOM (the Sharma area) or 1.5hrs from the port town of Duba at the southern edge of NEOM.

You need to go with a 4x4 or find a local guide to take you into the Wadi. Al-Disah town is just outside the Wadi and there are a few farms and campsites you can stay at.

The area sits within the Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Nature Reserve that was established in 2018 and rangers from Saudi Arabia’s Special Forces for Environmental Security have recently moved to the site to patrol and protect the area.

Charles Phillips, Oxford Researcher Middle East Specialist

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