Ushaiqer heritage village
In between Buraydah and Diriyah on the outshirts of Riyadh, we stopped at the Ushaiqer heritage village. Only five families remain in thr village but the whole place has been transformed into a heritage centre, rebuilt to look what it might have looked like.
The old walls...
...and the original gate with a new access for commercil vehicles built to the right.
One of the main buildings, now part of a hotel. The village looks very empty but it is very popular at weekends and there are more than forty market stalls on the approach into the village with a waiting list for weekends but it was empty on the day that I visited.
One of the many alleys...
A whole kaleidoscope of photos around the village...
...covered alleys...
...a mosque, one of five in the village...
...windows overlooking a road...
...multiple exits from a small square...
...the other side of the square...
...another mosque...
a modern house in the same colours but out of keeping with the rest of the village. It is the gtekeepers house. The gates are still closed every night and opened at 6am.
Some of the doors are very intricately decorated.
A standard door and porch.
One of the larger houses in the village.
Another door...
one of the towers on the external wall around the village
The museum in the village...
and a few photos of all the stuff inside, like an Alladdin's Cave.
It was curated by a young Yemeni called Ibrahim who spoke good English and was a mine of information about the exhibits.
And a view of the village from the viewpoint above the community whch would also be our bush camp for our Christmas meal, a camp fire, and secret santa.
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