 Tourists here also typically visit the old town, which dates back to the 12th century, once on a trading route for incense and now filled with restaurants and a marketplace. Incense is once again burning in the old town at Dar Tantora Hotel, which features cave rooms that recreate the past. The old town has looked like a castle. Guide Amal Aljohani, known here as a rawi, or storyteller, gives tours of the original restored mud brick homes. She points to progress in Saudi Arabia.