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00:00Arabia a land of extraordinary wonders it's epic out here where ancient
00:09civilizations there were rock inscriptions scattered all over this
00:13landscape meet rising modern cities I'm Clive Standen and I'm embarking on a
00:23journey across the Arabian Peninsula this place is unlike anywhere else I'm
00:28forging far and diving deep uncovering its best-kept secrets a little precarious
00:35meeting the people who call this place home and the pioneers preserving its
00:41natural treasures that is remarkable I want to show you the beautiful it's just
00:46a little untouched piece of paradise the surprising it's an unbelievable sight and
00:51the heartwarming what am I supposed to do exploring the secrets that make this land
00:56so captivating I really do feel like an archaeologist mom I'm never coming
01:02home Wow this is Arabia like you've never seen before come on there's plenty more
01:10to see
01:13my journey has led me to Saudi Arabia's remote Northwest to the desert region of Alula over
01:33two thousand years ago this was an important crossroads for a trade network dominated by great
01:39kingdoms I've explored its historic sites and the strategically important oasis but now I'm
01:47discovering another side of Alula one that goes beyond history safeguarded within miles of new fencing a
01:57huge area has been set aside all part of a groundbreaking conservation project
02:06Alula's landscapes are full of natural wonders this is sure ran a national park in the making and set to
02:16reveal its wild wonders so I'm off to see you Seth who's a senior reintroduction specialist at Sharon nature reserve he's gonna
02:25introduce me some of his team gonna take me a bit of a safari today I'm really excited because as with anything in the wild you don't know what you might see
02:33Youssef hey
02:37Great to finally meet you nice to meet you let's go let's get cracking you driving yeah
02:46Sharon National Park covers a 596 square mile network of valleys canyons deserts and mountains
02:56Established in 2020 the rewilding projects underway here are already showing signs of success
03:03and what kind of wildlife are we hoping to see today sand gazelles and Arabian oryx oryx I'm excited
03:13yeah and what is at the top of the food chain what is the dream to reintroduce yeah we our target is
03:20uh reintroduce the Arabian leopard back to the wild just imagining having an Arabian leopard just roaming
03:27this terrain Wow it really would be special yeah over the past century increases in human and camel
03:37populations and the damage caused by hunting and grazing has threatened the delicate balance of the
03:43ecosystem here a concerted effort was needed to protect it this is a landscape like no other
03:51beautiful beautiful how does one even begin to start rewilding an area of this magnitude the first
03:57thing is the establishment of the reserves and another five nature reserves and from there we had
04:03to come up with the plans to restore the areas by plantation and also the reintroduction of the native
04:09species and so we're talking literally five years ago there was nothing really here very much just a
04:16desert landscape and already we can see all this around us what's the dream how long do you think
04:21it's going to take until we can really see this lush landscape back and thriving it takes time also it's
04:27reliant on drains and also on the weather but we are coming to a time that we can see a big change maybe
04:36in 10 years you will see a big difference in sherehan since the park was fenced off plant life has been
04:44slowly recovering but the real success story is with the oryx which in the 1970s was declared
04:51extinct on the arabian peninsula youssef has managed to track down a herd of this shy and elusive creature
05:03wow
05:07turn a rough count it's like there's almost 20. yeah that's a good number and they're traveling with their
05:13young as well there's definitely a few babies there yeah seeing a herd like this it's a good indication
05:20that these of us are like going successfully in this project the release of captive bred oryx has
05:28seen a population of over 300 become established in sherehan how does it feel to be responsible for
05:35bringing species back into the wild you you cannot imagine like it's a lot big responsibility maybe
05:41a couple of years time we'll be coming back and we'll be looking at arabian leopards definitely yeah
05:45yeah yeah man what you're doing is important work thank you thank you and also it's a pleasure to have
05:51you here thank you i'm a big advocate for the rewilding movement i think it's really important but with
06:03this starting in such a barren landscape when there's nothing here seems almost impossible but it's not
06:10they're doing it i've seen it with my own eyes it's working it really is quite incredible
06:23arabia's best kept secrets presented by gulf air arabia's best kept secrets presented by gulf air
06:31i'm exploring alula in the remote northwest of saudi arabia in search of its best kept secrets
06:48far back in the time when cargoes and precious incense were transported across the endless desert
06:55it was the camels and those who rode them that were the lifeblood of this lucrative trade
07:01the people who mastered this harsh environment were skilled desert nomads known as the bedouin
07:15the last few days i've been learning all about the history and the archaeology of the area
07:19and what life would have been like back then all those hundreds of years ago but i figured the only
07:25way to get a real sense of this is to go and hang out with the people who lived and breathed this desert
07:31the bedouin in the modern world the bedouin no longer have to endure the hardships of their old
07:37desert lifestyle but i've been given a special invitation to sample their traditional hospitality
07:44caliph what is a daily activity for you how how do you start your day
08:04i would love to see your camels and maybe if you could
08:07teach me how to to ride them i would like that very much thank you it would be my honor to ride a camel
08:18first domesticated around 1000 bce camels were well adapted for transporting goods across the desert
08:28they can travel long distances go without water for 15 days
08:32and carry loads weighing well over 300 pounds
08:39behind one hand like this yes it takes a lot of skill to ride a camel
08:45acquired over a lifetime skill that i don't have what could possibly go wrong
08:52hold it hold it
08:53starting to regret asking for this ride but at least i'm amusing my hosts
09:08i think it's safe to say that camel riding isn't for me
09:13now how do you park this thing let's see if i can get him to go down ready
09:23i know you've had better riders my friend thank you so much
09:40the bedouin are famous for their hospitality
09:44and as the night draws in it's time to cozy up by the fireside
09:47i'm keen to sample one of the celebrated keystones of this incredible culture
09:56traditional saudi coffee here coffee is more than just a drink it's a symbol of hospitality and goodwill
10:07and now the crowd is starting to get warmed up
10:17this is how you really make coffee coffee brewed everyone is relaxed and i get to enjoy the warmth
10:31of the fire as i socialize with my new friends
10:37the bedouin enjoy sharing stories and poems with their guests
10:41they asked me if i had anything to contribute
10:44and for better or worse the thirst thing that pops into my head is
10:49so i'd like to share a poem it's a british poem by lewis carroll it's called the jabberwocky
10:56beware the jabberwock my son the claws that catch the jaws that bite
11:01beware the jub-jub bird and shun the front just bandy snatch
11:06i suspect it's a little bit lost in translation but there's no turning back now
11:11so rested he and has thou slain the jabberwock oh come to my arms my beamish boy
11:18oh fructuous day he chortled in his joy
11:24with the sights and sounds of my night with the bedouin filling all my senses
11:39it's time to head off to bed i've got something big planned for tomorrow
11:43arabia's best-kept secrets presented by gulf air
11:55arabia's best-kept secrets presented by gulf air
11:58i'm exploring alula in northwest saudi arabia a region steeped in ancient history and rich
12:15with stories of the past it's an early start out in the desert but you might say i've saved the best
12:24to last
12:36got up at the crack of dawn to be here floating up in the sky towards hegra
12:47hegra is the jewel in alula's crown
12:50it's a designated world heritage site spread over six square miles
12:56by around 50 bce this was a powerful city belonging to the kingdom of the nabateans
13:05echoes of alula's long and mysterious past are everywhere to be seen
13:09there is burial mounds there are tombs there are rock inscriptions scattered all over this landscape
13:20of the nabateans
13:28just look at this
13:31hegra contains over 130 monumental tombs
13:35dating back over 2 000 years
13:42most of the tombs lie outside the city's central hub
13:47their facades hewn out of the surrounding sandstone rock that dominates the landscape
13:53i'm meeting atif al balawi a local rawi an expert who's going to help bring this place to life for me
14:03the napathian believed of the other life and for that journey they have carved those tombs
14:09which is inside of the mountains to help them for that journey and i can see that these these
14:15stairs at the top there that they have any significance other than to to perch on to carve
14:20away it's believe it's the steps to heaven like led zeppelin say because they it's one of their
14:26beliefs the steps to the sky i'd imagine this would have been a really big hustling bustling nabatean
14:32market square yeah i can see the picture here that it's full with people going all around with
14:39caravans horses and camels full with a lot of product also a person who's shouting here's the
14:46caravans coming prepare the markets you're such a great story zeller thank you i can almost imagine
14:52what it would be like but what i can't imagine until i see it is what it would have looked like
14:56inside one of these teams do you think we might be lucky enough to see inside yes i'm so excited
15:03i feel like my all my childhood indiana jones dreams are coming true it's like stone masons
15:15markings everywhere yeah the napathian actually till today you can see the mark of their work
15:22on the tombs inside these are obviously the graves on the walls but they're all different sizes
15:27it's almost like the undertaker so to speak would measure you up before your tomb is ready and make
15:33sure that the right size for your height and these graves here would they have been sealed once the
15:38the body was encapsulated in it it will be sealed with the plaster on the edge of the grave is that
15:45the remnants we can see right there around them this white line yes the ones on the edge all of them
15:51are an evidence of this has been a body inside definitely how many bodies would fit into a into
15:59the the average size tomb here uh actually one of the latest discovery was in 2013 we found 80 skeleton
16:07inside and the grave was owned for a female the most expensive tombs there owned by women wow that's
16:17how definitely will tell us a lot that women's was having more money girl power hey yeah yeah we're on
16:22the spice trees she was the original spice girl yeah yeah definitely
16:32arabia's best kept secrets presented by gulf air arabia's best kept secrets presented by gulf air
16:40i'm in alula in northwest saudi arabia exploring the ruins of hegra lost city of the nabateans
16:57theirs was a kingdom born from the riches of ancient incense trade but the sun eventually set on their
17:04empire the romans took over 106 ce and new maritime trade routes through the red sea proved more
17:11profitable use of land routes declined and in time hegra was abandoned as darkness falls silence stretches
17:22out across the landscape and before i leave i'm going to be given the rare honor of a night tour
17:34and this one has an eerie feel to it and that would be why
17:45medusa arab always uses a snake since the united all of them use it as a curse so medusa since it
17:53has the snake simple probably that's why it was taken from the greek as an influence
17:58and used here to be a cursing part for this tomb well it's an effective deterrent that's for sure it's
18:04like an ancient cctv camera step in here at your own risk yeah fancier turning to stone
18:15there's some inscriptions up there napatin made sure to write their inscriptions in their tomb
18:22the name will ensure that it will go to the kids so you can consider it as a document paper for the ownership
18:34so this is the one we are allowed to enter really yeah you can enter this one it's our secret
18:46wow
18:51now i really do feel like an archaeologist
18:53these tombs now stand empty perhaps looted thousands of years ago
19:03but now in the quiet of this tomb it's easy to imagine standing in the presence of the people
19:11who made this place like echoes reaching out across time how do you feel exploring these
19:19tombs do you feel a strong connection to your ancestors here i grow up as a shepherd walking
19:25with the goats and sheeps this is gave us more valuable we learned more valuable things from
19:31our elders so when i go around and i see their tombs and how they carved them it's so amazing
19:37that they actually passed the life of desert to the life of cities then they just created their
19:45kingdom they knew a good thing when they saw it and they settled here and this is all telling you
19:50that this is a land full with potentials
19:53as i come to the end of my saudi arabian adventure i've been surprised to find such a rich past
20:04it's almost been like riding a camel through time
20:07as a storyteller myself the story i'd like to share is of warm and welcoming people
20:14who want to preserve their culture while embracing change since opening its doors just a few years ago
20:24saudi arabia is now championing its bedrock of history its ancient treasures finally emerging
20:32is now championing to be shared with the world
20:35is now championing to be shared with the world
20:36is now championing to be shared with the world
20:38is now championing to be shared with the world
20:39is now championing to be shared with the world
20:43is now championing to be shared with the world
20:45is now championing to be shared with the world
20:46is now championing to be shared with the world
20:47is now championing to be shared with the world
20:48is now championing to be shared with the world
20:49is now championing to be shared with the world
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