Pink Palaces and Baboons in Taif
Taif is a city in Saudi Arabia, tucked up on the slopes of the Al-Sarawat Mountains. It is in the Province of Mecca and being some 1700 metres above sea level, tends to be cooler in the summer than the rest of Saudi Arabia, which regularly gets above forty degrees centigrade with no breeze. This is why the Saudi Government leaves Riyadh and goes to Taif to escape the unrelenting heat of summer.
The city has its own airport so it is relatively easy to get to, or you can drive there from Riyadh quite easily. There are a number of excellent four-star hotels to choose from in the city and the choice of food is excellent.
Driving to Taif can be fun as reported by many travellers because of the baboons that live all along the escarpment going into Taif. They live there permanently and have learned to wait for passing travellers to throw them food.
Most entertainment and tourist facilities centre on the hotel complexes in Taif and it is not as cosmopolitan a city as Riyadh so do not expect people to be quite as flexible in attitude. Visitors are expected to abide by the strict dress code and other laws. The main advantage of taking a trip up to Taif is for the experience of driving through the desert, plus the refreshing and cooler air when you get to the mountain slopes.
The beautiful pink palaces and the windy roads that twist and turn on the cliff are a sight not to be missed.
Taif is not a city that I would recommend for a holiday but it is certainly worth visiting just for the experience, the cooler air, and to make the comparison between it and the more relaxed style of Riyadh.