Stock Photo - Yanbu' al Bahr, also known simply as Yanbu, Yambo or Yenbo, is a major Red Sea port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia. It lies on the eastern coast of the Red Sea in the Hejaz. Ornate (yet decrepit) buildings flank the streets, traversed by bands of pilgrims and camel caravans (as pictured here). Yanbu was a staging point on the spice and incense route from Yemen to Egypt and the Mediterranean region and served as a supply and operational base for Arab and British forces fighting the Ottoman Empire during the World War I. The buildings in Yanbu are made from coral limestone, palm tree trunks and adobe. Beautifully carved wooden balconies and window shades are reminders of YanbuÆs eventful past. Some of the neglected houses are still upright today, others have partially collapsed and lie in rumble.