This is one of the gates of the old city that has been reconstructed, from the rear (more to come from the front, I just liked the contrasts and shadows here). The old city walls and gates were demolished in 1950, and with this Qasr Al Hokm project, some of them are being resurrected. We found this gate and a tower a few pictures back, but there is another, more spectacular, gate in the area that we simply couldn’t locate. With a bit of research this evening, we now know approximately where it is.

It’s quite frustrating trying to find places of interest in Riyadh – very little is written in English, and what I do find is inadequate. One website described the other gate, Al Thumairi, and had a picture of the muttawa (religious police) headquarters, which we were right in front of, but there was no gate anywhere near it. So it’s a matter of getting in the car and driving around in areas where we can’t read the signs and hopefully happening upon something interesting.

Maybe when we leave here, I’ll write a guidebook to Ar-Riyadh! ;-) Of course, it would only serve people who are living here because of work, since foreign tourism is prohibited except for Hajj pilgrims, but I would have loved to have had some kind of guide to the sights here. People told me when we first arrived that there was nothing to see or do in Riyadh, but that simply isn't the case. It's just a matter of knowing about it and finding it, neither an easy task.