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Published: November 10th 2022
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Jeddah
Mosque at dusk My last blog focused mainly on the issues of travelling around Saudi Arabia, when you don't have your own transport, with a few first impressions thrown in for good measure. What it didn't tell about was the people, which is by all accounts probably the most interesting and important part of travelling. The people! Sights can be impressive and awe-inspiring, but it's mostly the little encounters along the way that stay in ones mind. The interactions, both good and bad. I can't say we had any bad experiences here in Saudi Arabia. The people have been incredibly hospitable and friendly, both the locals, as well as all the migrant workers. To be honest, I hadn't expected anything else. I sort of took for granted that we would be treated the way we were treated. Why? Because it is the norm in many countries around here. A guest is, more often than not, treated as a King.
So what were those encounters? There were the small gestures, coffee bought on the train to Ha'il, by a young couple sitting across from us. The taxi driver that took us from the hotel in Ha'il to the bus station, who refused to be
Jeddah
Sculpture park paid, the Kashmiri professor in Al Ula, who saved us, when we arrived there in the middle of the day, with my phone dead, the bus station closed, and all shops and restaurants closed as well. There we were standing, my mother and I, in the heat, trying to find some place that was open, so I could charge my phone, and see where our booked accommodation was located. He opened his car window, and in perfect English asked if we needed help. I could charge my phone in his office, and after that he brought us to our apartment, which as I think I mentioned in my previous blog, was on the outskirts of the outskirts of town, so nowhere near where the kind man was heading to.
The family in Baljurashi, that saw my mum and I walking to our hotel, stopped, and asked where we were heading. Before we knew it we were in their car and they dropped us of at the hotel. Yezid, who was called by the receptionist in the hotel, who didn't speak English, to translate a question. And subsequently helped us find a driver to take us around the area, who
Jeddah
Sunset showed us a project he was working on, and who basically just helped us out in any way he could. The countless free rides we got from taxi drivers and random strangers who saw us walking. We noticed that walking around in Saudi Arabia is not really done much, and if you are a foreigner doing so, a local will invariably stop his car, ask where you are heading, and offer a ride. Also, lest we forget, the many dinner and lunch invitations by random Saudi's.
I probably have forgotten to mention many more instances of hospitality during our first three weeks here. It just happens on such a regular basis, that it's impossible to remember every kind gesture. Arabian hospitality saturates this country. But as I said, it is not just the locals who are hospitable, the migrant workers are equally so. Everyone is friendly and helpful. And, in all honesty, that is the truth for most of the places I have travelled.
Travelling opens the eyes and the mind, and frees you from the fear of the stranger. When you travel, you realise the world, by and large, is populated by good people, not bad. It
Jeddah
Bus station is an unfortunate thing, that the tiny percentage of bad people, are the ones who get the most attention, and skew our view of humanity. Their screams, their hate, their anger, and their actions overwhelm everything else. It's their voice we hear in the news, and online, and if you never leave and encounter the other, this is what you believe. That the world is an angry, scary place, where those you don't know are out to get you. Out here, in the Arabian desert, the land often portrayed as harbouring, or at least spawning, countless terrorists, you realise how wrong that perception is. Sure Osama bin Laden came from here, as did several others like him, but Anders Breivik was Norwegian, that doesn't make every Norwegian a mass murderer.
Back to Saudi Arabia, a country full of charming friendly folk, with one foot stuck in the past, and one in the future. Where the young are hoping for change, where there are plenty who drink illegally, so we were told by a young man who made his own wine (and enjoyed his vodka straight!), smoke pot, and do all the things that are forbidden, but are oh so
Jeddah to Taif
Vegetable plots tempting - ah, the youth, they are the same everywhere... These are the children of fathers who might have several wives and many children. Whose mothers are still fully covered in public, but whose sisters might not be anymore. Who want one wife and no more then 2 children themselves. Who want to dance and travel, and see the world. An arch conservative country that is peeping and creaking, only time will tell which way it will go.
A country of natural contrast too. The southern mountains stretching towards the border with Yemen, with cool weather, mist and forests, and dramatic valleys and canyons. With tower topped hills, and stone villages clinging to mountain sides. With cheeky baboons that sit on the bonnet of your car, if you happen to park near them, but also with sweeping sand dunes, green oasis, rocky escarpments of different colours, end endless stretches of nothingness. With dreamy desert castles of brown and white, like a gingerbread house.
Where some people speak English, but many do not, and you end up saying 'choo, choo..' while miming a train (to much hilarity of the drivers), to explain to a taxi driver that you want
to go to the train station. And at the same time, end up on an Uber ride with an old pharmacist who studied in Hobart, Tasmania, and speaks perfect English! This is also a country, where you will not be stared at. They are far too polite for that. A place where Osama takes you into the desert to see a beautiful rock formation, not to blow you up or kill you. Yes, one of our drivers was called Osama, it is a very normal name here.
A nation where not all are rich, there are too many Saudi's for the oil wealth to go round, many work long hard days, just as us. And counter to my first impression, there are quite a few who do take the bus! I stand corrected.
My time with my mum is up now. She is returning home, while I will explore more of this extraordinary country. I'm glad she could see it with me.
I'm going to 'choo, choo' my way to the Persian Gulf now...
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Baboons!
What a lovely trip to experience with your Mum. Thanks for sharing a little-known part of the world (to me anyway) - your photos are fabulous Ralf. And I had no idea there was a species of baboons native to KSA! Safe travels, Cheers, Ren :)