Blogs from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Middle East

No, this blog won't be about a Korean boy-band called K.S.A. I don't in fact know, if there is a Korean boy-band named like that. It wouldn't surprise me. The K.S.A. I am referring to is the abbreviation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A long time dream. One that seemed unattainable until three years ago, when suddenly this closed to tourist country went from unable to get a visa, to press a button on the internet and get an e-visa in ten seconds! Covid put a spanners in my plan to go there earlier, but here I am at last. Along with me on the first part of my trip is my mum. I would have liked to have Jenni with me, but she couldn't come. Not that my mum is not good enough, we ... read more

Lungo il viale principale di Aqaba, quasi all'altezza della colossale asta che sventola la bandiera della rivolta araba, si ritrova quotidianamente un gruppetto di anonimi taxi bianchi che sembra non curarsi minimamente del viavai di potenziali clenti, e i cui autisti oziano beatamente sulle rovine di un vecchio divano trascinato fin lì da chissadove. Dopo più di una settimana di indifferente frequentazione mi decido finalmente a chiedere la destinazione di quelle vetture, ancora dubbioso del fatto che ne abbiano veramente una. "Saudi" è la risposta annoiata di uno degli autisti. Saudi, eggià, l'Arabia Saudita è proprio qui a due passi, il confine si trova a poco meno di venti chilometri! Ed ecco quindi che una combinazione di noia (Giordania) e fortuna (il paese, da sempre chiuso al turismo individuale, ha da poco spalancato le sue porte ... read more

That turnaround was the worst ever in my whole career. Hard to manage timing, night departure and noon arrival, very difficult passengers profile. Well, that job is not always about nice and easy flights with pleasant layovers. Hope to never experiance that again. / Ten turnaround był najgorszym lotem w mojej dotychczasowej karierze. Począwszy od trudnej do pracy pory, nocny wylot i powrót w południe, kończąc na bardzo ciężkim typie pasażerów. Cóż, ta praca to nie tylko łatwe i przyjemne loty z fajnymi layoverami. Mam nadzieje nie powtórzyć tego doświadczenia nigdy więcej.... read more

"Madain Saleh (Al-Hijr) dates back to the Nabataeans Civilization considered as one of the very important archaeological site in Saudi Arabia that is called The Capital of the Monuments as it contains huge amount of diverse and multifaceted monuments." - madainsaleh.net We left Jeddah City at 3 am for a 10 hour ride to Al Ula, the closest town to Madain Saleh. I was quite at ease during the past first couple of hrs on the road until i was doomed to a very uncomfortable sleep since i decided not to sleep the night before it as i don't want to miss the trip. Although we made a couple of stops for a fuel refill and time for stretching and some sort of comfort. The scenery along the road was picture perfect and glad to take ... read more

JEDDAH 26 - 28.05.2010 Jeddah, the mysterious coastal town of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s rival. It’s intrigued us since the day we arrived. We had heard many stories about it from fellow expats who had been there or had lived there and it sounded like a pretty relaxed version of Riyadh, plus the added bonus of the mighty red sea. When in April we returned back to Riyadh from our dreamlike Goan holiday on the southern coast of India, Andrew and I both felt deflated and miserable. Looking down the barrel of a 10 week stretch in Riyadh was making us borderline suicidal and so I decided to rescue us from sure death by boredom and booked us on the cheapest flight to Jeddah. I’d promised myself that I would keep it a secret surprise for my ... read more