Camel Macchiato

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You know, warm, forthy camel milk straight from the source ain't so bad. I bet it would even go well with coffee. A Saudi Starbucks original!

Starting in Houston, our group had been teased with the prospect of a visit to Shaybah, a major oil drilling development in the Rub' al-Khali (or Empty Quarter), an area of dramatic, towering red sand dunes. A desert's desert. But, alas, a tease was all it was. But, thankfully, our Aramco guide, sensing our disappointment, organized a venture into the desert just outside of Dhahran where we got to meet a camel herder. While perhaps not as spectacular, this visit was the first time on the trip that I felt: yes, I am in Saudi. It was also the moment I began to see just what a muddle of tradition and modernity the country really is.

To get to the herder's base of operations, we had to abandon our bus near a ramshackle village (a clutch of corrugated metal huts that must be oven-like in the summer) just off the 20th century highway. We piled into SUVs that could tackle the sand and roared into nothingness, back to the pre-industrial age. Soon we were greeted with the bellows of dark camels and the hearty hospitality of our host.

While my colleagues took turns riding (or, better, tormenting) one of the camels, I escaped to the far side of one of the nearby dunes. It was utterly silent there. No sounds of cars or trucks. Not even of camels. I had a hard time imagining the American world of Dhahran just over the horizon, or the sprawling cities of Jeddah and Riyadh that were next on our itinerary. I was alone in a Saudi desert for the first and last time of the journey.

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Comments

[Lisa]

Camel Macchiato - hilarious! Beautiful desert photos, looking forward to more. Are you using a laptop? Happy Islamic New Year! Lisa W.