6 Weeks In Saudi Arabia So Far

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Well, I've been here now in Saudi Arabia for just over six weeks. It feels like such a short time ago that Jamara and I stepped off the plane here in Riyadh only to be dropped off at an empty villa at 10.30pm with no one to direct our questions to and no idea of where we were to go the following day or how we were to get there.

Over the last six weeks we've managed to take a trip into the desert to look at the beautiful red sands and amazing landscape that surrounds it. We've attended parties within the Australian and American Embassies. We've done LOADS of shopping in countless shopping malls over here. We've gotten into trouble off the Muttawa (religious police) for having our hair uncovered. We've gone desert diamond hunting, although I tired of that very quickly and found myself sleeping on the bus.

I went with one of my new friends, Marcia, to visit the camel souks last weekend. We drove through all of the holding areas dotted along side the main road. Camels were literally everywhere. We were required to continue moving quickly as through the souks as car loads of men were apparently beginning to follow us. The Saudi men behave like they've never seen a woman when they see western women out and about. It can be quite annoying having someone blatantly standing right in front of you and just staring.

So far during my time here I've been overcome with a vast array of emotions. I've suffered from home sickness, I've had regrets, I've been totally excited, in awe, amazed, shocked, frustrated, completely amused (how often do you drive on the freeway and see 2 camels laying down in the back of a ute?) and I've felt privileged. Not many people will ever get to experience what it is that I'm experiencing now. This country isn't a country that is easily accessed by tourists. It's a place that is so difficult to describe in words. There are just so many things I'd love to photograph here in order to show people so they understand what it's truly like here. Unfortunately, photography is banned in a lot of places. Censorship runs rife in this country. I do manage to sneak in a few pictures here and there.

Well that's it for now. I'm heading to a big party at Eskan, the US military compound, tomorrow night so I'm sure I'll have some tails to tell.

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