Ramboda Pass, Saudi Arabia

It’s funny how we the islanders of Paradise keep looking for things that remind us of home when we are overseas. Missing home may be, or just craving for a good rice and curry meal perhaps. Whichever it may be, we tend to look for things that remind us of home and draw comparisons.

And I found Ramboda Pass, driving through Saudi Arabia.

There were the hairpin bends (‘dangerous curves’) carved out of the mountains. There were road-signs indicating “falling rocks.” There were the roadside stalls and then there was the tunnel too..! But the stall sold fruits, not veggies. The mountains were dry brown, scattered with rock formations – not lush green tea bushes.

Nevertheless.

Oh, the monkeys were a bonus (I think they are a kind of baboons, they had pink butts). They reminded me of the ones in Ohiya (World’s End) Area with longish hair; this one was quite used to sit next to the vehicle and share our food.

The dried up ‘rivers’ like the one in the second picture overflow quite ruthlessly, creating ‘flash-floods’ when it rains in the mountains. Rest of the year, it remains a dangerous reminder.