When I found Taif on the programme as one of the places marked for us to visit, I was particularly excited. It was in Taif that the Prophet was rejected and pelted with stones after the death of his uncle, Abu Talib, who had given him protection against the polytheists.
Although, the Taif people later became Muslims, the history of Islam is never complete without a mention of this incident that took place some 10 years after the Prophet proclaimed prophet-hood and Islam. So, I was excited to visit this city.
The visitation was part of the events slated for the 250 guests from 10 African countries, including Nigeria, under the auspices of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government.
Dinner under the stars
At the end, we visited Taif Park and not the town itself. It is located a little above the foot of one of the huge mountains in the region, south-east of Mecca.
My disappointment disappeared when we approached our destination. In a desert country were green grasses are prized findings, the sight is stunning and fun with captivating scenic beauty rolled into one.
The Saudi people have not left their pastoral tradition in spite of oil revenue and modernity. The country-sides are replete with camels, lambs and piles of hay feeds for the animals. For instance, on the way to Taif from Mecca, you find towns and villages with dozens of camels grazing majestically on the brown and desert beaten grasses.
Traditional architecture on display
Also, the Mecca-Medina express way features scores of what look like modern day ranches for the Bedouins. As one travels into the hinterland, you find English language gradually fading from the signposts in shops and other structures requiring signage as against what you find in the city of Mecca and Medina where every signage is translated into English from Arabic.
I come from a town sandwiched in rocky mountains and I used to ask my father what it was that our fore parents saw in that location to choose it as a home. “Security and search for water,” he used to admonish me. In Taif, the sight of the gigantic mountain range made me to whisper some prayers of forgiveness to God for every complaint I ever made about my home town’s location. The mountains are phenomenal.
Part of the Taif height
The sizes of the ones in my hometown paled into a huge joke in my brain but the Saudis have managed to turn this to a beautiful tourist destination.
We drove in five buses into the Alkur Amusement Park run by the Taif Investment and Tourism Company. Taif is called the City of Roses because you can smell the fragrances of flowers from nearby orchards.
The park opens with the traditional mud wall finishing at the gate. Inside the park, there is a beautiful fountain, event arena, memorabilia shops and cable cars.
There is a mosque built in traditional architecture, a restaurant, water park and many other recreational facilities.
We took turns to have the cable car ride. There was eerie silence in the car as six of us rode. I looked round and what I saw was fear written on the faces of some of us. We were suspended above the ground and the speed of the car painfully slow. I broke the silence and asked them to speak up to kill the fear. Laughter followed.
At the other end of the 20 minutes ride of eight kilometres distance was another beauty waiting for us to behold.
The landscape from the skies is enchanting. The ride offers a visitor the chance to appreciate the limitless might of God and the sophistication of the human mind to merge nature with technology.
As you ascend, you see multiple layers of ridges of rocky mountains. In each layer, some complex and snaky roads criss-crossing to other parts of the country. In all, there are three roads in different layers each adding its own beauty to the visitor’s experience. With the heavy concrete work and delicate bridges, constructing the roads could only have cost billions of Riyals.
Snaky road
At the top of the mountain is cold as though you are in Europe. It is 6, 000 feet above sea level. There, you have a hotel and luxurious apartments scattered around, apparently homes of some super rich dudes. They are neighbours to the other end of the park.
They enjoy a cold weather in the same country where the average temperature is 40 degree Celsius, accompanied by the desert storm and wind. By the time we were riding back to base, I was practically shivering due to the weather condition.
There are monkeys in this awe inspiring topography. They used to come in their herds to commune with visitors, one of our amiable guides, Usman Abubakar said. But for today, they are not around.
The Water Park in Taif
The fun in Taif didn’t end with the cable car ride. The trip extended well into the night where the guests were treated to a dinner and beautiful rendition of the glorious Qur’an by a member of the Nigerian delegation (reading from the portion that deals with Muslims being brothers to one another). Drama, games and poems praising Africa were presented to the delight of the audience.
The game that elicited the most laughter from the crowd was the last-man-standing. Every participant (three from each of the 10 participating countries) passes a packet to the next person while a moderator recites a poem. At intervals, the moderator would say “stop!” Whoever is holding the packet at that time is eliminated from the game. Almost every time he yelled “stop!” the person holding it quickly shoves it into the next person’s hands while the next person rejects it out-rightly. Sometimes, the person holding it impulsively throws it away, making people to laugh heartily. Ghana won eventually. Those who participated in the game each got a prize.
Some of the delegates during the trip
At the Taif Park, I made to approach a woman in a shop to ask a few questions about the local jewelry and ornaments on display.
However, on a second thought, I decided to seek the advice of a colleague who speaks Arabic. He warned me not to dare it. It is a taboo to speak to another person’s wife here irrespective of your intention.
Ornaments on display
“The husband would just hit you with no question upon return,” he told me. I counted myself lucky.
It was a long night of fun and laughter, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Who says you have to be serious-faced all your life? The Taif Heights, as I like to call it, is a place you won’t regret visiting when next you hit the holy land.
At 10 pm, we headed back to the Marriot Makkah Hotel and within one hour, we were home and dry.
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