Moving to Abha - Things to do !

Hey,

I am also from the UK- and a 24 year old male. Inshallah I should be moving to Abha after Eid Holidays they say - and I shall be working at KKU too.

I can't find much information about the place. What there is to do, place to live etc.

If you have any information, please message me.

Thanks.

Anybody?

Well Abha happens to be a very beautiful place. Probably in the top 3 most beautiful places in KSA.
The greenery there is just absolutely fantastic and you will have a pleasant experince with the people there as well since most of them are very kind but unfortunately Abha isn't a very happening place.

It's not like the big cities, it's a small town relatively but you will find some decent malls to shop around, very touristy spots to hangout with your family and friends.

I don't know about sports clubs but I think there are a few gym in that city. In summary, a very nature centeric place, no cocerete blocks all over the place!

iusman975 wrote:

Well Abha happens to be a very beautiful place. Probably in the top 3 most beautiful places in KSA.
The greenery there is just absolutely fantastic and you will have a pleasant experince with the people there as well since most of them are very kind but unfortunately Abha isn't a very happening place.

It's not like the big cities, it's a small town relatively but you will find some decent malls to shop around, very touristy spots to hangout with your family and friends.

I don't know about sports clubs but I think there are a few gym in that city. In summary, a very nature centeric place, no cocerete blocks all over the place!

Thank you very much

I'm hoping someone who lives in Abha currently, or who has lived in Abha previously can help us out here.

Does anybody know about:
gyms
sports clubs
shopping centres
local amenities .. in Abha

Thanks

Hi Hujja,

Are you in Abha now? I was offered a post to teach at KKU. I am in London now and will wait for confirmation from the uni. How is it it there? how is the campus? how are the students? what are the hours of work? Please any information would be grateful.
Thank you

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

Hi Hujja,

Are you in Abha now? I was offered a post to teach at KKU. I am in London now and will wait for confirmation from the uni. How is it it there? how is the campus? how are the students? what are the hours of work? Please any information would be grateful.
Thank you

Well, we were supposed to be in Abha, but we are actually staying at a hotel in Khamis Mushait. This is only my second day here and we haven't done any teaching and from today we have holidays until 12th October!

The weather is nice and hot, around 30 degrees, so not too hot. The campus we are at is pretty small and is between Abha and Khamis Shumait. We have been told that the students are good and willing to learn, but I can't comment because I haven't taught any yet.

We have spoken to the English teachers who are here already and they said they were working 25+ teaching hours every week! We have now received new timetables and scheduled to teach around 15-18 hours per week.

If you need any more information feel free to send me a private message.

Hope that helps,

Hujja

Thank you Hujja
Please let me know when you start teaching as to how are the students etc. How do you find Abha or Khamis Mushait? any good? Did you fly from UK directly to Abha? how long did the procedure take (papers etc and what did it involve?)

Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatuLah,

I live and work in Abha....at KKU.

So....let's see if I can situate these concerns for us...LOL

gyms: there a few gyms in Abha, two that I know of that have pools.
sports clubs: I know I two. I actually study martial arts at one of them.
shopping centers: Many malls, and shops
local amenities: at your finger tips....LOL...you can pretty much find whatever you need between Abha, and Khamis.

Let me know whats specifics you need..

Hey Hujja if you can kindly tell me about *** and how they are as a recruitment company and how is life in KKU and in ABHA in genral considering to move out there. Or anyone that can answer that those questions that would be really awesome

Asalaamu alaikum,

Abha in general is nice. Cool weather, simple life, easy work. Idk anything about **** but I have been living in Abha for about 2 years now.

Its fairly conservative (from an Islamic perspective), but the people are very hospitable. Living for the most part is cheap, depending on your standards and size of family. There are many parks, even more restaurants, and there's a nice little beach about 1-2hrs away.

Honestly...your activity or lack there of, will solely depend on whether or not you'll be coming with family. For single men, other than joining a gym, or finding other expats to chill with, your activity would be limited to park hopping, site seeing..and I guess traveling (only speaking from what my co-workers do)...for single women....IDK..lol

My wife has a few friends here, of which some are single...I guess they join up and go to the malls or parks. You'll find women in groups all over Abha...especially in the parks, restaurants, and malls. From what I know...there arent many spots for women to chill (like gyms and such)...there is one pool though...alternates day for women and men, but I think its only for gov. employees..so it depends on who you sponsor is.

Ummmmmmm....oh yea...KKU

Your experience here depends on 2 things...1..which campus you'll be working on, and....2. which campus you'll be working on...LOL

If you're on the main campus (where I am)....life is sweet and easy...go to class, lounge, sip coffee...simple...work loads like 18 hrs of teaching. On the other campus, for preparatory leveled students, from what I hear (a coworker or mine used to work there), its unorganized, chaotic and a bit stressful. He said its like night and day. He, somehow, got transferred here.

Let me know if this helps any...and if you have any other questions...just let me know....OH...BTW.

My names Abdullah, or Abu Yusuf....I typed my username in Arabic and it gave me those ?????? that I'm stuck with..lol. but yea, just message me if anything.

Hope all works out

Hujja....

I noticed you were looking for a sports club....you wouldn't happen to practice any form martial arts would you

Hey man thank you so much for your feedback very insightful, If I have any further questions I will definitely message you Abdullah. Thank you again very much

Yeah no problem...If anything just hit me

Thanks for this info, Abdullah! I am currently in Dammam with ****, but they want to shift me to Abha. I know it's beautiful there, but I am worried about the war zones in Yemen, since Abha is bear the Yemen border.

Are you and your family still there? If so, ease message me. It would be great to know some people going in. I will also be teaching at kku... I am a single woman, and would appreciate meeting some kindred spirits... I heard there isn't much of an expat community there.

***

??? ???? wrote:

Asalaamu alaikum,

Abha in general is nice. Cool weather, simple life, easy work. Idk anything about *****but I have been living in Abha for about 2 years now.

Its fairly conservative (from an Islamic perspective), but the people are very hospitable. Living for the most part is cheap, depending on your standards and size of family. There are many parks, even more restaurants, and there's a nice little beach about 1-2hrs away.

Honestly...your activity or lack there of, will solely depend on whether or not you'll be coming with family. For single men, other than joining a gym, or finding other expats to chill with, your activity would be limited to park hopping, site seeing..and I guess traveling (only speaking from what my co-workers do)...for single women....IDK..lol

My wife has a few friends here, of which some are single...I guess they join up and go to the malls or parks. You'll find women in groups all over Abha...especially in the parks, restaurants, and malls. From what I know...there arent many spots for women to chill (like gyms and such)...there is one pool though...alternates day for women and men, but I think its only for gov. employees..so it depends on who you sponsor is.

Ummmmmmm....oh yea...KKU

Your experience here depends on 2 things...1..which campus you'll be working on, and....2. which campus you'll be working on...LOL

If you're on the main campus (where I am)....life is sweet and easy...go to class, lounge, sip coffee...simple...work loads like 18 hrs of teaching. On the other campus, for preparatory leveled students, from what I hear (a coworker or mine used to work there), its unorganized, chaotic and a bit stressful. He said its like night and day. He, somehow, got transferred here.

Let me know if this helps any...and if you have any other questions...just let me know....OH...BTW.

My names Abdullah, or Abu Yusuf....I typed my username in Arabic and it gave me those ?????? that I'm stuck with..lol. but yea, just message me if anything.

Hope all works out

***quoting to make sure you get my message, i would like some feedback asap ad i need to make a decision soon... all of this is rather stressful o.O **Please see my comment above for details & thanks in advance!

Abha is safe it's like 200 miles from the border. Any missles shot toward it are shot out of the air by a patriot missle defense system that is along the border before they get close. If you were living in Jizan or along the border regions which I did you would be seeing and hearing the bombs during the morning and at night, but Abha is fine and safe. Not too much of an expat community there. Some, but no not a lot. For Saudi it may be one of the nicest cities there is and the weather is as good as Saudi gets assuming you like cold in winter and only warm in summer and mountains.  It ain't the pristine Rocky Mountains of the US and Canada though, so get that idea out of your head. Everywhere I went there was trash left by Saudis along trails, bags flying through trees. If you go off the beaten track further into the mountain areas without people it may be nicer though.