We took a guided bus tour from Jeddah to Taif. Taif is the “mountain resort” town of Saudi Arabia (alt. 1682 meters / 5214 ft). It was about a 3-hour drive from Jeddah. You can get there faster, but not by bus. We also made a couple of extra stops trying to get the air-conditioning to work. Actually, by the time we got there, we didn’t need it. Taif is measurably cooler than Jeddah. We went up there to see the roses in bloom.
Then we went across town to where they grow and pick the roses.
We then went to have a very nice buffet lunch at the Meridian Hotel. The hotel used to be a Hilton, but changed hands a couple of years ago. The view of the city from the roof-top dining was quite nice.
Another famous sight in the city is the baboons. They almost infest the city and beg (quite aggressively!) on the 
roads. We went out to “Baboon Valley” where they breed and got caught in a quite spectacular downpour.
Our next stop for the trip was visiting an agricultural farm. The bees weren’t as active as they would have been 
because of the rain.
We got to go and pick our own tomatoes. They were excellent!
We visited the town’s vegetable market. It is mostly wholesale, but you can buy smaller quantities, too. Alonda
got half a case of tomatoes and made spaghetti sauce. We should have bought more!
Overall, a very nice trip!
Jim didn’t get photos, but it was interesting to see the farming on the way up to Taif. They have rock and dirt walls between the fields. You might think it was to hold water, but it is actually to cut the wind. Desert wind can kill a field in a hurry.
For the trip home, they gave us a police escort. This got us through all the checkpoints in a big hurry. It was downhill, too, so we went a little faster than going up!
The first big stop was at the factory where they distill the roses into perfume and rose water. The roses only bloom for about 70 days of the year.
Then we went across town to where they grow and pick the roses. We then went to have a very nice buffet lunch at the Meridian Hotel. The hotel used to be a Hilton, but changed hands a couple of years ago. The view of the city from the roof-top dining was quite nice. Another famous sight in the city is the baboons. They almost infest the city and beg (quite aggressively!) on the 
roads. We went out to “Baboon Valley” where they breed and got caught in a quite spectacular downpour.
Our next stop for the trip was visiting an agricultural farm. The bees weren’t as active as they would have been 
because of the rain. We got to go and pick our own tomatoes. They were excellent! We visited the town’s vegetable market. It is mostly wholesale, but you can buy smaller quantities, too. Alonda
got half a case of tomatoes and made spaghetti sauce. We should have bought more! Overall, a very nice trip!Jim didn’t get photos, but it was interesting to see the farming on the way up to Taif. They have rock and dirt walls between the fields. You might think it was to hold water, but it is actually to cut the wind. Desert wind can kill a field in a hurry.
For the trip home, they gave us a police escort. This got us through all the checkpoints in a big hurry. It was downhill, too, so we went a little faster than going up!
