http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Saudi Arabia en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:52 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:52 UTC OK.... well actually we are no longer in Saudi.... and are now in Kuwait. But... as these pics are from Saudi I wanted them to come under the Saudi section here on Travelblog. The tour is over... and we are now on our way home. From Jeddah we went to Dubai... had two nights there... and then 1.5 days here in Kuwait. We fly out in 3 hours.Everything went by so fast. Jeddah was great... and so http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Jeddah/blog-348852.html Here in Abha.... and getting reading to set off for Najran tomorrow morning. Had a great day exploring old mudbrick villages and taking cable car rides down the edge of the escarpment. The city here is typically unattractive... but the sights in the area are great. All seem to be having a fun time... tough most have just sussed out that the tour is coming to an end soon. Just a few nights lef http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Abha/blog-346945.html Well... we are now about 500km south of Jeddah. Had a great time in the city.... and surely could have used another day there but without the group. It is the only city in the Kingdom that has somehow managed to retain some of the old architecture. Everywhere else in Arabia they knock the old down to build new. But Jeddah has kept a few gems.The heat and humidity were high there... being on http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Empty-Quarter/blog-346630.html OK... well I have tagged this as 'Jeddah'.. though we are not there yet. So much has happened since my last post... and there is so much to tell. Sorry... but this may be kind of random. Right now we are in Al Ula... a stunning little oasis town in the northwest.. and gateway to Mada'in Salah. Mada'in Salah was the southern capital of the Nabateans those who built Petra in Jordan... and so http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Jeddah/blog-345648.html at last....here are some pics. A bit of everything http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/blog-344814.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dammam/blog-344419.html Yes... we are in Saudi Arabia. Crap... I can't beleive it. This tour has been a long time in the works.... and I truly am finding it hard to believe that we are really here. WOW WOW WOW. I have had a tour to Saudi planned in my head for ages.... and finally got it rolling a year ago. All the planning and plotting... staring at the map... reading ... and now I am in Riyadh.Chilled in Dubai for http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-343327.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-267146.html this is my camera on hunting trip http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Barr%C4%AB/blog-250917.html Hi this is my camera on desert. http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Barr%C4%AB/blog-250916.html A view of The Kingdom Shopping CentreFour Seasons Hotel http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-245234.html We arrived at our accommodation about 2130 Riyadh time and have been settling in today. The flight was 6 hours of absolute comfort no Not business class the plane was only half full so we could sit together and spread ourselves out. The food was excellent included ice cream and a salad and the crew were always coming round with hotcold drinks soft and otherwise.... I met Pauline and Eil http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-242005.html Pretty http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dammam/blog-216283.html Adapting to the Arab custom of napping at midday Aramco had a two hour lunch break. Americans working outside the fence close enough to return home for lunch needed to pass through the single gate into our fenced community. In my dormitory was a nurse who had been in Dhahran during the early years. She told of the public executions that were staged just outside the gate at noon making those p http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dhahran/blog-211624.html In the Persian Gulf offshore from the village of Qatif is Tarut Island once occupied by Portuguese. The people occupying the island in the lsquo50s made their living primarily by fishing. Our tour began when we boarded the company launch from a dock in Qatif. The island is surrounded by a large area of very shallow water. As our launch slowed to a stop and dropped anchor the land was stil http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dhahran/blog-205858.html Oil and Sand. Great Recipe to get richnbspMiddle East raquonbspSaudi Arabia raquonbspDammam raquonbspHofuf By YathiSeptember 20th 2005YathiA 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. http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dammam/Hofuf/blog-159789.html Desert GardenRiyadh Saudi Arabia means gardens in Arabic and is where we call home. This is apropos as we adore our villa garden with koi pond and flowering trees. We even grow roses and vegetables though it waxes above 120 degrees fahrenheit. The city is punctuated by astounding architechure including the Kingdom Tower with a trangular cutout shape at the top. Each person has a diff http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Riyadh/blog-154802.html UntitledMiguel Abadie La verdad que no me quedo demasiado tiempo para pasear porque este fue un viaje de trabajo aunque algo pude ver y me resulto muy interesante lo que vi. No era cuestion tampoco de salir mucho en parte por la barrera del idioma aunque me sorprendio el porcentaje de gente que habla ingles y porque tenia cierto temor de encontrame con algun fanatico al que no le gustan los oc http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Jeddah/blog-147987.html Saudi Arabia did not want tourists. Foreigners were restricted to the area near the Persian Gulf where ARAMCOrsquos settlements and areas of operation were. Relatives of employees could visit for a limited time but others needed to be requested by ARAMCO for specific reasons. Christian clergy serving our community lived in Bahrain and were admitted as ldquoconsultantsrdquo on Fridays onl http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dhahran/blog-122859.html Saudi Arabia in 1953 It was August 1953. We left New York in an ARAMCO airplane a DC4 which landed at Goose Bay before continuing on a 17 hr. flight across the Atlantic. ARAMCO stands for the Arabian American Oil Company. With the exception of a few wives on their way to join their husbands the passengers mostly men were on their way to jobs in Saudi Arabia. I was one of four single http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Dhahran/blog-120100.html May God bless me...Umrah from 7 till 18 April 2006 http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/Mecca/blog-115787.html Riyadh JeddahBusy reforming in Riyadh and getting jiggy in Jeddah Saudi Arabians are in their own tentative way making the Gulf swing.Some BackgroundOut on the arid western edge of Riyadh in a neighborhood inhabited by the upper echelons of the royal family there are two buildings each in its own way as revealing of modern Saudi Arabia as the two totemic towers that dominate the city centr http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/blog-111397.html As part of working for a living I was able to visit Jeddah Riyadh and Halban. Riyadh is a bright new city in the middle of the country. By comparison Jeddah is a 'laid back' city on the red sea. I had seen a recommendation to visit the souq in Jeddah as one of the 1000 places to visit before you die I found it not nearly as interesting as those in Damascus or Tripoli. All of the interesting http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/blog-55756.html I was lucky enough to serve my country for four years in the US Army. After about 2 12 years of service we were called out for Operation Desert Shield. After a month of preparation I finally shipped to Saudi Arabia.The plane ride was unique starting with out LT passing out Valium for the flight. We were in full gear sitting in peasant class of a civilian airliner. Would have been a bad expe http://www.travelblog.org//Middle-East/Saudi-Arabia/blog-51582.html