Blogs from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Middle East
Hofuf and the Al Qara Mountain Caves
Published: October 15th 2009Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Dammam » Hofuf
October 15th 2009
Today eight of us headed two hours south of Dhahran to a town called Hofuf. It's about an hour south of Abqaiq, which is another Saudi Aramco facility. We rented two large Suburbans and two drivers for the day. It was an amazing experience and yet another "I'm not in Kansas" moment for me. Hofuf used to be the capital of the Eastern Province (the area along the Persian Gulf) until 1953. At that point it was moved up to Dammam, which is a city I’ve visited on previous trips. The area is more broadly known as Al Hasa (that’s the region) and it is an oasis. That’s why you will see lots of palm trees in the photos. These palms are the kind that produce dates (the kind you eat, not the match.com type). Of ... read more
May 31st 2009
Last night I ate at a place called Heritage Village in Dammam, which looks like an Arabian castle. Keep in mind that there aren't tourists in Saudi, so this place survives on the locals; most were traditionally dressed. (Just what makes a building qualify as a “village” is another Saudi mystery I cannot solve.) The building is privately owned, which is pretty amazing in itself. It looks like an Arabian castle, complete with turrets and rooftop lookouts. You come in the door and there is a large three-story entry that includes a lake, swans (fake), and parrots (real). We were led into a waiting room and instructed to remove our shoes. The purpose of this room is to welcome people with Arabic coffee and dates. There are carpets on the floor and many Arabic artifacts around ... read more
May 15th 2009
I set a new record for travel to Saudi. I left on Wednesday and didn’t arrive until Friday! I got to Steineke Hall about 12:30 am this morning. Dave, who is an American but lives in Geneva missed his connection in Frankfort, Germany to Bahrain and he had to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and change planes for Bahrain. So we needed to wait about 30 to 45 minutes for Dave. Also, because Koen (pronounced “Coon”) hadn’t been to Saudi before, we needed to stop at the Saudi border on the Causeway (long bridge) to Saudi to have him finger-printed. Koen and I flew in together from Amsterdam; he lives in The Hague, Netherlands. Why it’s “The” Hague, I don’t know, but although we arrived at 10 pm, I didn’t get to Steineke Hall (my living ... read more
Dinner with Manir’s Family - A Bangladeshi Treat
Published: May 2nd 2009Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Dammam
May 2nd 2009
I need to divide this entry into different sections May 1 Part 1 - Aramco Exhibit: We are Family - Not Let me explain. Aramco has built a museum to showcase the history of the oil industry in Saudi. One assumes they spent a few barrels of oil to build this facility. One might also assume that they would want people to visit it. Not so much. Five of us piled into our rental car, which I think is a converted Yugo. We arrived at the exhibit at about 1:00 pm and found out that it is opened from 3 pm to 6 pm on Fridays (the weekend here). So we turned around and made it back through two of the Aramco security gates (“Why doesn’t your car have an Aramco sticker?” and agreed to meet ... read more
April 25th 2009
Today was a great day! I went to the city of Dammam for the very first time. There weren’t any Aramco buses that travel on Saturday (today is an Aramco holiday), so I chartered a van for six of us (Bob, Glyn, Adrian, Eric, Don and me). This was a great way to do it because it cost each of us less than $4 each way. Transportation is pretty inexpensive here. The van driver was going to wait for three hours for us to do our thing in Dammam, but we convinced him to come back and meet us at 12:30 pm for the ride back. Glyn had a map of Dammam which worked out well until we saw there were two sets of streets. From north to south the streets were labeled 12th Street, 11th ... read more
November 12th 2008
OK... I continue to try and add pics here.... but all attempts ahve failed. Quick update. Great train ride from Riyadh to Hofuf. Giant train station.... empty. Strange 'first class' lounge with free fresh arabic coffee and dates. Plasma tvs... internet access... and a Sony Playstation??. After 3.5 hours of driving across the worlds most uninspiring landscape we were there. Oh... Tom & Jerry Cartoons and Mr Bean played on the video in our train car to help pass the time.... and more dates were passed around. Balance of the day was spent trying to make the most out of our sightseeing schedule. Such a headache... as the places we wanted to see were either closed for renovation or inaccesible. Why did nobody tell me that before. Managed to visit some funky caves and a womens ... read more
Oil and Sand. Great Recipe to get rich!
Published: September 20th 2005Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Dammam » Hofuf
September 20th 2005
Oil and Sand. Great Recipe to get rich! Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Dammam » Hofuf By Yathi September 20th 2005 Yathi A really old trip. Though I'd put up the few pics I have left of it. Was carrying a shitty film cam which had me pulling my hair every now and then. Anyways here we go.... read more
