Entering The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Middle East » Saudi Arabia » Jeddah
February 27th 2022

Published: March 2nd 2022

It was back in 2008 when we had our first experience in the Middle East. We came through Dubai for a few days on our way as we traveled west towards the United States at the end of many months. Since that time, we’ve have the good fortune to visit Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. The Middle East has a stark beauty and a unique culture that continues to call us back. We have always felt that by... Read Full Entry

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Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

D MJ Binkley

Photographers, divers, writers, foodies, chefs and music enthusiasts. Travelers' Century Club Members: 12/2023. MJ 107 and Dave 104. We appreciate your feedback and if you like our stories we would appreciate it if you follow our blog. We live on North Hutchinson Island, Florida. If you are in Florida please send us a private message as we would love to meet you. Two retired nurses who are passionate about traveling the world. Our love of travel, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures will hopefully take us to wonderful plac... full info

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Sunset over Jeddah

Sunset over Jeddah

Sunset over Jeddah

From the roof of Centro Saheen Hotel

A waterfront city

A waterfront city

A waterfront city

Jeddah

Colorful Sculptures

Colorful Sculptures

Colorful Sculptures

Delightful red fish

Delightful red fish

Delightful red fish

Bicycle Sculpture

Bicycle Sculpture

Bicycle Sculpture

Along the city streets

One of many sculptures

One of many sculptures

One of many sculptures

Jeddah

Distinctive architecture

Distinctive architecture

Distinctive architecture

Tayebat Museum

Woodworking Craftsman

Woodworking Craftsman

Woodworking Craftsman

This shop restores architecture. This will help create a window.

Knives from the past

Knives from the past

Knives from the past

Colorful color throughout time

Colorful color throughout time

Colorful color throughout time

Dresses at the Museum

Dresses at the Museum

Dresses at the Museum

Enjoying the architecture

Enjoying the architecture

Enjoying the architecture

Museum

They want to make this city interesting

They want to make this city interesting

They want to make this city interesting

Part of sculpture project

Extremely large lobsters

Extremely large lobsters

Extremely large lobsters

At the fish market

Our meal at the Fish Market

Our meal at the Fish Market

Our meal at the Fish Market

One platter of several

Cell phone usage

Cell phone usage

Cell phone usage

It is the same all around the world

Up close view of architecture.

Up close view of architecture.

Up close view of architecture.

This was near our hotel in Jeddah.

Simple beauty

Simple beauty

A heavy load

A heavy load

A hard working young man

Old Town Streets

Old Town Streets

Old Town Streets

Jeddah

Grilling corn in the souqs

Grilling corn in the souqs

Grilling corn in the souqs

Street food abounds

2nd March 2022

Home and Away
Bob Carlsen

We share the same travel philosophy...
Plan well in advance...book when it looks like the country is open for good with non restrictions...only buy refundable tickets...have several plans in place over the next year or so.

3rd March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Travel philosophy
It has changed with COVID but we hope things are returning to more normal. MJ

3rd March 2022

AndrewHL
Andrew Lisowski

Enjoying your Saudi Arabia blog. Saudi Arabia has certainly been an unusual country to previously attempt to visit as a tourist. A colleague of mine had made trips there, but only in a work related capacity. It was almost impossible, as I understand, for women to visit.

3rd March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Entering Saudi
It is not hard for women or men anymore. As you can see we are having a wonderful time.

3rd March 2022

bvchef
Brendan Vermillion

Citizens of the World
Never has a more true sentence been written. I am so glad you are traveling again, and am enjoying your blog. I am happy that you have beat the throngs of tourists, and are able to enjoy a small, more private tour.

3rd March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Citizens of the World
Our education continues... our soul is enriched with knowledge and friendship. We are glad to be here in the infancy of tourism. A small group is great.

3rd March 2022

starship VT
starship - VT

Fascinating Read!
Hello Binkleys, I really enjoyed reading about the start of your fascinating trip to Saudi Arabia! I hadn't even realized that the country was not open to tourists until somewhat recently! Thanks for the very useful information too. All your photos were marvelous!

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Fascinating read
Thank you for following along and commenting. This is a wonderful place to visit. Another blog will come soon. You should add it to your list.

3rd March 2022

Trish Pearce
non-member comment

Looking forward to reading more about your travels in this country. We haven't ventured very yet after the pandemic. Hopefully to change that later thus year. Fingers crossed ?

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Arabian Travel
Everyone has to feel comfortable before they leave home as the world has changed. We are enjoying our adventure.

3rd March 2022

Claudia Clark
non-member comment

Mmm
That market lunch had my taste buds quivering! Thanks for sharing your travel experiences-

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Mmmm
Lunch at the fish market was a real treat. This has been a unique trip.

3rd March 2022

Mercante
Mercante

Finally!
Here is a great blog about Saudi Arabia ;-)

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Finally
Thank you for your kind words. We hope you will enjoy our next one also.

3rd March 2022

Waddads Travel
Lori & Susan

Wow!
Wow, how incredible to be visiting Saudi Arabia! I think it would be a very interesting country to visit. I also love travelling in the middle east. And how wonderful to be travelling again. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Wow!
Saudi Arabia is a good place to visit. Tourism is in its infancy. The people are welcoming and love to talk with visitors.

4th March 2022

John Poulton
non-member comment

Interesting adventure
This is rather off the beaten track and I'm sure you've had an exciting experience.

4th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Interesting adventure
Indeed this is off the beaten track. After the past couple of years were were searching for something unique and we found it.

5th March 2022

DaveandIssy
Dave and Issy Sheehan

The Kingdom
What an experience, which I suspect very few western tourists before you have had the pleasure of having. Very much looking forward to more stories.

5th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

The Kingdom
More stories will come soon. We’ve had some great experiences.

5th March 2022

Dancing Dave
David Hooper

Magic Bus
May the vibe of the Who's great hit carry you to many magical moments in the land of the Saudis. Nothing like a near empty bus to travel around in!

8th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Magic Bus
I worried about the carbon footprint for a while but realized they don't have any small buses in the country so I had to get over it. Our group interacted well with each other. There were several magical moments.

6th March 2022

alex waring
Alexander Waring

Amazing!
Wow, I don't think I've been so excited to read a blog before, lol! You are creating the footsteps of travel pioneers, and how exciting that must be! I never knew that Saudi Arabia only opened its doors to tourists in 2019, and what with the last two years, I imagine not many have visited. How exciting to discover such an untouched, yet deeply rich and historic culture. It's good to read firsthand views and experiences in a country where I imagine the lifestyle is somewhat distorted in the western mind. Enjoy every moment, and I look forward to reading more ?

8th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Amazing!
We appreciate your excitement and we shared that enthusiasm as we moved around the country. We did feel a bit like travel pioneers as we didn't see many westerners. Shortly after Saudi opened to tourist it had to shut down due to COVID. We are thrilled to have seen Saudi Arabia in the infancy of tourism. We will share misconceptions that we uncovered while visiting.

6th March 2022

Mumtraveller
Lynne Brown

Ever adventurous !
Interesting to read about your experiences, when I was living in Dubai for 6 years it wasn’t a place you would visit unless for work. So it’s opening up now ...that’s good . But I do wonder what is hidden behind the glitz. And I wonder if a single woman traveller is welcome ? You guys are really intrepid . I’ve sent you some info about Malta , I hope you got it.

8th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Ever adventurous!
We are not that intrepid as we went with a group rather than on our own as we usually do. Toward the end of the trip we decided we were happy to have done this with a group as it would have been too difficult for us to arrange everything. You can wonder what is behind the glitz in most countries so I imagine that is true in Saudi... but I get your point.

6th March 2022

Carol Knop
non-member comment

Saudi trip
I found this to be the most interesting of all of your travel blogs or FB posts, and I was surprised since I did not initially have any interest in Saudi Arabia. It was very educational both on how 'new ' the nation is, size of the king's family and modern changes.

8th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Saudi trip
I'm glad you enjoyed this. We enjoyed Saudi Arabia and more blogs will come. We learned a lot while away and look forward to sharing.

16th March 2022

graphix2go
Travels with Faith

You get to such interesting places.
I am not so ambitious anymore. I really enjoy reading about your travels. This year you visited places in Spain and Portugal that I have wanted to visit for a while and I think I probably will in the next year or two. And now you have visited Saudi Arabia which I cannot image I will visit as they have two things in abundance that I do not like -- desert and extreme heat. But it's fascinating to read your travel accounts and to travel along with you.

16th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Such interesting places
Thank you for your comments. Spain and Portugal were wonderful. If you don't like deserts you won't like Saudi but it was a great trip. You should give it some consideration. Thank you for following along with us. MJ

18th March 2022

Readingfcboi
Alan Atkinson

Saudi
Amazing you're both getting the opportunity to explore this unknown country. I had also heard that skilled workers were allowed into the country but with restrictions, so good to see this country is opening up to foreigners

19th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Saudi open
The Crown Prince is progressive and wants to encourage tourism. A beautiful country and wonderful experience. We had a great time. Thank you for commenting. Hope our paths cross again soon.

21st March 2022

Knives from the past

Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro

Saw those in Yemen
We started our blog when I went to Yemen. That must have been in 2006 or so. In Yemen I saw many such knives. From what I could understand they are still used, at least as decoration or for various ceremonies. /Ake

21st March 2022

Knives from the past

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Saw those in Yemen
They are really unique knives and they come in many sizes. I do think they are still used for various reasons.

25th March 2022

Jessica
non-member comment

Travel envy
Wow such an interesting trip, so looking forward to reading more. We travel the same as you always as independent travelers but I’d have to agree probably there and Iran I would opt for a tour group as well. I just love the Middle East and your descriptions definitely help transport your reader there!

25th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Travel Envy
Jessica thank you for reading and commenting. We hope to go to Iran soon. We will opt for a group tour there also. As you we prefer to travel independently.

29th March 2022

graphix2go
Travels with Faith

I think I would love it but ...
I have a most reluctant travel partner. He has managed to sabotage all my plans to visit Jordan and Egypt till now. Maybe I will travel solo next winter. Your travels in Saudi Arabia are so interesting. Really fascinating stuff. It's also great that you managed to visit at the dawn of tourism there.

29th March 2022

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

I think I would love it but....
I'm sorry your reluctant travel partner won't go to Jordan, Egypt or Saudi... they are marvelous... and safe. Safer than visiting the U.S. Thank you for reading along and commenting.

1st June 2022

A cat in old town

RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew

New Frontiers
I'm just catching up on all the blogs I didn't get to comment on while I had issues logging into TB... and enjoying re-reading your Arabian adventures :)

1st June 2022

A cat in old town

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

New Frontiers
I'm thrilled you've gotten your TB issues worked out. It is good seeing you back on. You were missed. Thanks for reading Saudi. It was a good trip and very interesting. I'm glad we went.

23rd October 2022

Soon to be the tallest building in the world

Bellini
Bellini

Trailblazer
I had no idea they changed their visa rules. Good on you for blazing a trail!

26th October 2022

Soon to be the tallest building in the world

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Trailblazer
We were happy to go before things develop too much for tourists. We hope you can get there soon.

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