Tabuk - A big suburbia with few attractions

 


Tabuk is not the most attractive city in Saudi Arabia, that's for sure. It is spread-out and crisscrossed by wide roads that enclose low-rise neighbourhoods, and the whole city is just one big suburbia. There are a few attractions though, but the real reason to visit Tabuk is to explore the wider area.




Tabuk was a main station of the Hejaz railway that ran from Damascus to Medina, built by the Ottomans. Its buildings remained in Tabuk, and a museum was built next to it, but it's still not open like so many tourist places in Saudi Arabia. The friendly guard let me in one of the exhibitions though.










































Officially it is known as Masjid al-Tawba, but locals did not know it by this name. They called in Masjid al-Rasul, the "Prophet's Mosque", since Mohamed stopped and prayed here. 










The Ottomans also built a little fort, which was still being renovated. Again, a friendly guard let me in despite that it was still closed for the public.






















Apart from these few attractions, Tabuk is just an extensive, pedestrian unfriendly suburbia.







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