How Saudi Arabia’s mountains offer an authenticity rarely found elsewhere in the kingdom

Indeed, so much of Abha, the capital of the southwestern province of Asir, seems a world away – and two dozen degrees cooler – from the scorching desert that dominates Western notions of the kingdom.

I am here as a tourist – and Saudi Arabia hopes for many more. The government is spending nearly US$1 trillion to make attractive what, just over a decade ago, was one of the most tourist-averse countries on earth.

If you have read anything about tourism in Saudi Arabia, you have probably seen mention of Vision 2030. The all-out diversification plan to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on oil includes Neom, the sci-fi-esque desert metropolis with plans for an artificial moon and flying cars, and the Red Sea Project, which intends to turn a 92-island archipelago off the country’s pristine Red Sea coast into a network of 50 luxury hotels and about 1,000 residential units.