To the northwest of Riyadh is an expanse of desert plateau which lies in the Tuwaiq Mountains, on which a newly-developed attraction, the ‘Edge of the World’, is quite popular and worth a visit. The mere my knowledge of the name was fascinated, so I decided to venture the great desert without any hesitation, heading to the ‘Edge of the World’ to exploring its hidden charm.

The ‘Edge of the World’ is about more than 90 kilometers from the city. Humvee was chosen as our wheels as other normal vehicles would not be competent to perform well on the following trip. GPS satellite navigation system was another essential supporting for the adventure. We drove along the No. 535 City Road (King Khaled Road) away from Riyadh then turned into the wilderness. I looked around but failed to find any road signs except for a gravel-paved desert trail, winding and rugged, irregularly stretched, with floating sand all over around, not a real road but wheel prints accumulated over a long period. Neither could tents of Bedouin shepherds be seen any more on the boundless expanse of the virtually-uninhabited desert, nor traces of camels or flying eagles in the sky. Only shrubs and acacia trees were scattered around the desert, unyieldingly showing green vitality.

We kept moving on the rough and rugged trail, but overall, it was a gentle uphill slope. The driver slowed down the speed, managing to avoid the floating sand and gravel on the road so as not to sink into the sand or deep pits and to delay the trip. Sometimes, he had to stop to take his bearings when fork roads appeared ahead.  

Not a holiday that day, and there was no one but my chauffeur and me making a brave wandering around the desert. Without knowing what laid ahead, I felt like being thrown into a dangerous situation, isolated and helpless, and could no longer contain myself but repeatedly bothering the tour guide about when we could hit the destination. There was always the same response to my tension, the ‘Edge of the World’ is not far ahead. I tried to calm myself down, and to be honest, I had no choice but to stay inside the vehicle. Outside the window were either layers of loess sandstone or rolling dust that rose behind the car.  

A long path of the mountain road that we drove through was full of floating sand and broken stones all over. Our Humvee struggled to climb up the slope with chunks of gravel barring our way. Surrounding sceneries seemed like moonscape, rolling highlands stretching long and unbroken. It may be called, ‘rugged mountains extending in a slow undulating wave, hills upon hills.’  

After managing difficulties on the way, we finally came to a flat slope, the only parking spot. I got off the car and found myself standing on a height. To reach the ‘Edge of the World’, however, still requires a lot of efforts. At this time was high noon, the fierce sun hanging in the sky, however, road conditions ahead impeded vehicles to move forward. I had to walk up along a narrow winding path full of floating sand and broken stones. The path was not easy for walking at all, and sometimes a strong wind blew directly against my face and made me nearly lose my balance, so I had to arch my back to move forward with great care. 

‘Edge of the World’ is a wall of plateau cliff, but it would not impress you if you don’t lean out of the cliff to look down from the top. One more step forward will meet the end of the road, a bottomless chasm right under your nose. Straining eyes to look at the distance, you may find a boundless expanse of flat basin and the ruins of streamway that have dried up more than ten thousand years ago.  

At this side of the edge extends mesas with steep cliffs stretching over hundreds of miles and presents the grand and stunning spectacle, which has skillfully been carved by the great nature. Strata of the reddish-colored cliff look distinctly gradated in the sunshine, the structure of which is called sedimentary rock. Through continuous crustal movement which caused the rise of the seabed, this expanse of desert plateau was finally formed. And the flat top and rocks varied in shapes are the masterwork by arid climate and weathering. This is a natural classroom of geography and geology, because marine fossils that can be seen everywhere speak for the theory of the rise of seafloor.  

Between two giant rocks is a window-shaped ‘gap’ as if being cut off by a broadsword, so named ‘Rock-framed Window’. Standing in the middle of the window, I couldn’t help but hold my breath in the face of such desert plateaus of natural magnificence. None of words seemed appropriate to describe such a great scene, except for making you feel so insignificant.  

Until the scorching sun almost exhausted me, I had to reluctantly part with the ‘Edge of the World’ and drove on the return journey. The sun was just bending in the west and the sunset glow tinted the desert red. We kept waiting by the roadside until the sun finally disappeared from the horizon and eventually continued our journey back to the city.

Tang Yu Lap

Hantec Honorary Chairman