Maraya Social — AlUla, Saudi Arabia

AlUla, Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦

I am back in a new journal entry, and this time I am back to my home country, Saudi Arabia.  I take the chance to express my thrill and admiration for a lovely region in the north-west of my country, called AlUla.  AlUla has always been in my mind to visit.  However, it was for years put away due to the lack of infrastructure in terms of lodging and tourism.  This has changed in the recent years, when the country gave this region what it deserves.  A strong attention to its beauty and heritage sites, and a good allocation of financial and manpower resources to highlight it strongly on the map of great destinations to visit.

I planned my trip to AlUla as a gift to my wife for our anniversary.  It has been our custom to plan something for this special occasion.  We sometimes plan something light, like a night-out together, and at times we decide to go for a short trip around.  The plan this time was to travel to a place we were eager to visit for a long time.

The trip was very memorable for both of us.  We packed good activities in the two days we spent in AlUla.  We went to the heritage sites as part of the Hegra Tour.  We visited the beautiful mountains and heritage sites that take your breath away.  We also went to a place north of the city for a “Stargazing” night out, at Al Gharameel.  

In another day, we have spent time around the old city in a beautiful weather at that time of the year.  Another interesting thing we did was a helicopter tour for 30 minutes over the town and the heritage sites.  It was fascinating to have a falcon-eye view of the places we just visited the day before.

If you happen to have plans for AlUla, I encourage you to visit “Experience AlUla”, a great website that gets you every thing you need for a great and memorable trip.

AlUla is a destination of extraordinary human and natural heritage, encompassing more than 200,000 years of unexplored human history. Deep in the beautiful deserts of the northwestern region of the country, AlUla is home to countless historic treasures, including the Nabatean city of Hegra - Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, the tombs of Dadan - the stone-built capital of the Dadanite and Lihyanite Kingdoms, and the ancient ruins of AlUla Old Town - a prominent pitstop for pilgrims in the 12th century.
— Experience AlUla

Maraya Social — Pin📍

One thing that caught my attention while flying over AlUla was the “Maraya Social”, the world’s largest mirrored building.  For some reason I didn’t know about it ahead before my trip plans.  Thankfully, I was able to arrange a booking just a few hours before our flight.  We went there for a dinner early evening.  We were stunned by the reflections created from the mirrors and mountains around it.

Maraya is a stunning piece of art set in the desert canyon of Ashar Valley. Designed to blend into the surrounding landscape, it rises from the sand like a mirage. The state-of-the-art structure is covered in 9,740 mirrored panels reflecting AlUla's beauty, making it the largest mirrored building in the world, according to Guinness World Records.
— Experience AlUla

We only spent an hour in this beautiful place, but it was a memorable one indeed.  We wanted to spend the whole evening, but unfortunately we had a fight to catch.

Reflection is What Makes Experience Stick

The sight of mirrors reflecting the surrounding mountains, made the view a breathtaking one.  This is indeed what makes reflection unique as a physical experience as well as a mental and spiritual one that can feed the sole.  Pondering and reflecting about our own experiences is what makes them stick around.  Reflection makes them deeper and hopefully crisper and insightful.

This is what John Dewey, the American scholar, philosopher, and psychologist, noted when he said:

“We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.”
— John Dewey

And it is indeed true.  We can have as many experiences as we can think of.  But many of these experiences would come and go, vanishing over the years.  It is only those experiences that we ponder and reflect on that makes us learn and get insights.

For instance, when I started journaling about my trip while I was experiencing it, it made it more deeper for me.  I was able to live it twice, and to see that experience from different angle and in a different light.  I would find myself grabbing my journal, usually in the evening and after I have enjoyed a couple of trips or tours.  I would right for 15 or 30 minutes, and include the photos I took during these tours.  That journaling in and for itself was an enjoyable mental experience because it gave a space to reflect on the physical one.

Now, not all reflection can be healthy.  Pondering or overthinking about everyday situation in our life can be draining to the mind and the sole.  This is especially the case when these situations are painful or have exposed us to difficult interactions or people.  Reflection in these situations might not be the best thing to do.  Unless, we frame them in an open-minded and detached state, while we give the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.  Not always easy, but this is what makes reflection healthy in difficult or adverse circumstances.

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman

Reflection takes me to a book about thinking.  A book that shows how we, as humans, are actually wired to using two systems.  One is fast and intuitive, and the other is slow and deliberate.  Each system has its own uses and flows.  But when we reflect, we deliberately use the slower and more thoughtful system of thinking which helps us ponder, have insights, and usually leads us to making the right decisions.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.

Amazon

A few quotes that can get you excited to read the book:

“Odd as it may seem, I am my remembering self, and the experiencing self, who does my living, is like a stranger to me.”
― Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

“The confidence that individuals have in their beliefs depends mostly on the quality of the story they can tell about what they see, even if they see little.”
― Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

So, I can say reflection is like getting to know your strange self in a different light and from different angles.  And reflection allows us to tell great stories and narratives to our own selves no matter how little these experiences are!