# Travelog: my trip to Saudi Arabia



## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

lets do this
i know this is LONG over due. my trip to saudi was in may. while there, i also visited turkey. i already uploaded my Turkey travelog on here. however, facebook decided to pull all my pictures from there. if you're interested, i can post you the album links...but i'm not posting those 500+ pictures again.

now, if you're expecting the awesomeness that turkey was, you may not get that here. why? saudi is my home. me visiting saudi after 12 years, i was not going there for sight seeing. it was a bit of a religious trip, and visiting old friends, family etc. plus, saudi doesn't offer you as much variety as turkey simply because...well, turkey is just odd that way... 


anyways, i figured i'd do this as there isn't much known about saudi, and frankly speaking, i dont know what justice i can do to it. even though i was born there, even though i stayed there for 12 years, i still consider myself as an outsider as there still is much for me to learn about saudi. i am, by no means an expert. if you have any questions, i will try to address them to the best of my ability, and as bias free as possible. 

this is going to be a long one...so just bare with me c:


heading to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul from YYZ.







turkish airline was awesome. awesome food. they had a few different menus to offer you. i picked the one that gave you meat - medium well filet mignon. slightly cramped seats, but oh well...






13 (i think) hour flight and i'm finally in Istanbul. this airport is massive. going from one end of the airport to the other, with well over 600 doors can be a lil hectic. more so if you find out about your door 30 minutes before take off.






those 30 minutes some how turned into 2 hours- go figure.












enroute to Riyadh







if memory serves correctly, i left saudi arabia with a population of about 18 million. i come back to 11 years later and the population has grown to well over 28 million. 

this is the aerial view of Riyadh, the capital. again, if memory serves me right , those purple lights represent furnished apartments to help people who are in between houses, or here for a longer stay.






if you think the picture is blurry, thats actually dust.








thought the time system at some traffic lights was insanely long. unlike the traffic system in canada (Ontario, Quebec and PEI at least) where they let 2 on coming sides go at a time, in saudi they let one side go at a time.

also, you make us wait any longer than 45 seconds at a traffic light, and we start getting pissed and looking for the closest tim hortons or igloo to pee on (not really...), imagine waiting 150 seconds....







a HUGE contrast to the mosques in turkey you saw before. the mosques in turkey, in order to be big, are TALL and reach for the sky. however, they are not as wide, thus they cant have that many people inside them. 

to contrast that, Saudi mosques are fairly small in height. however, they take up a lot of land as they are really wide.

another thing to contrast with Turkish mosques, Saudi mosques have very minimal designs, and they focus on a lot of whites, with some greens and blues and reds. but they keep decorations to a minimal. Saudi mosques are a bit more minimal and thus elegant looking.

turkish mosques on the other hand are fairly grand, and very elaborative with lots of gold, blues, aquas, reds, greens, whites etc. the Turkish mosques definately are more excessive, thus making them more grand. 

another major difference, in Turkey, if you look at the blue mosque as an example, the first thing you'll notice is the several different domes and minaraths. Saudi mosques usually just have one mosque and one minarath.







i found this fascinating. nitrogen gas in tires to keep the tires 'cool' and keep them from exploding. fact or myth? i'm no grease monkey, but from what little i do know, air has a lot of moisture in it; moisture is bad due to corrosion and rust; oxygen is not friends with tires and can eat away at tires slowly...so in theory, i guess nitrogen can save you some money in the long run...but to keep tires cool and keep them from exploding while you drive around in the desert? 

thats what that mechanic sold us....











and this is the machine that is used to pump nitrogen...dont ask why i'm fascinated with this...











arabic calendars are funny. the black dates are dates following the georgian calendar. the blue and the red dates are following the lunar calendar.





yeah, if you have a fancy car, do that car a favor and just admire it with your eyes...dont drive it around in Saudi. the driving conditions are really weird, hardly any car there went without a dent. insurance is a fairly new concept here as well. and if i remember correctly, you have 30 dollars a year for insurance here, vs the few hundred/thousand dollars we pay a year here....











i was visiting some of my old areas i was born and raised on, when i heard a tiny lil 'meow' coming from a lil sewer. i followed it down to a lil man-hole that had a big enough hole to allow small kittens to fall through. i saw two small kittens in face deep water, trying to swim to the best of their ability. i also saw their mom looking downwards, refusing to get its tail wet. stupid mother of a cat!!!

anyways, i saw a few wooden crates/skids lying around. didn't care if i was doing property damage, i started breaking those just to create a bridge for the kittens to walk on to safety, but they were too weak to do so. i tried lifting the covers, and they were sealed shut for some stupid reason.

as i was making a lot of noise, i started attracting a lot of people, mainly kids. though i dont speak their language (i speak urdu and english, no arabic ), they understood what i was trying to do. they were skinny enough to sqeeze between the tiny holes in the pipe system and managed to pull one out. it was weak, and shaking. 

we lost the other one, as it drowned... 

then a man came up to us saying he heard the kittens the day before as well, but decided to ignore em (ASS HOLE!!! )

however, as the kid was coming out of the pipe, we heard a VERY weak meow again. so he went back in and managed to save the other one too!!!!

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

and yes, i'm glad i spent that 1600 dollars for the ticket to come here. even if i dont do anything in these two countries for the next two weeks, saving those kitties was more than enough

and aside from kitties not liking water, kitties are still better than dogs!






i didn't bother taking step by step pics as saving their lives was more appropriate. but my dad said '2 chefs in a kitchen leads to a disaster...' so he was free to take pics

anyways, this is when i was breaking those wooden crates and dumping em in that man-hole, and trying to figure out how to save their lives


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## Stealthdjentstic (Jan 15, 2013)

You see any woman while you were outside?


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

this one was the only piece that was broken, and we could open with ease. so this kid was the skinniest of us all, so he jumped in. this was taken AFTER he saved the kitten, which is lying right behind him:






and here is the not-so-furry kitty

i'm guessing its about a week old judging by how its fur still hasn't grown. didn't take pics of the other one, but it was black and white






a 10 year old me used to play basket ball here. the net was a little under that light. you can still see the holes...

those few months of basket ball never did me any good in gym class...oh well...











Majdi. he was my land lord/gates keep from '94 to '98. cant believe he actually remembered me, and he was the one to recognize me first






left hand side, second from the top in building 10, Askan. things really dont change.
















smelly cat
smelly cat
it is your fault. 

this cat was filthy. had some yellow stuff all over its face. and had a tendency of sleeping at the exact same spot at least 20 hours out of the day.
















university city. one of the many universities they are building there. this thing goes on for miles- as far as the eye can see.






something as big as the Prince Edward Island, imagine a university that big.











this i thought was kinda cool. sure, saudi arabia may have gender segregated areas/restaurants and what not. however, they also have areas dedicated for families.







why on earth does saudi arabia need ear muffs?! and they are far easier to find in saudi than they are in Canada! 

yes, i've heard the temperature goes down to -2 Celsius every now and then...


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

Stealthdjentstic said:


> You see any woman while you were outside?



of course
i just didn't take pictures of them


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

hello furry friend i named Rupert.





rupert and i became best of friends; even if it was for just 2 seconds. rupert flew away....







somethings really dont change. i was born here decades ago.






more pictures of this building later.











'meem' should translate into 'M' not 'Z'
'ye' should translate into 'y' not V






an entire college dedicated to the continuing education for women. that has to be 'oppression'.

far from it actually. women are encouraged to study in saudi.






buildings here look like floating space ship out of star trek






the unofficial name is the 'ufo building'






oh yes, century 21 is here too! now where is remax?!






Near-beer! since saudi is an islamic country, alcohol is frowned upon here. you can find it, but its hard to come by. as a result, you have a lot of random drinks that are non-alcoholic, or 'near-beer' and such






grammar nazis, have at it
i think the word here was supposed to be be 'unique'? 

oh babblefish/google translations, you are so funny; stop it!






Barbie is all covered up here too





if you haven't had water out of a clay cup/jug, you are missing out! seriously, go find something made of clay (chemical free) that can store water, and try it.






having been in customer service related jobs for the last 7 years, i thought i knew what customer service was - until i returned here. store owners/clerks have no problem sending you to their competition, so long as you are happy. even if it costs them a sale or ten; bottom line is, so long as the customer is happy. service is given here voluntarily, and people dont do that for tips either. 

imagine not being harassed by the 'dead sea salt' girls in the malls; instead, they recommend something at the bay or some other place just for the sake of it. hard to imagine right?






'hey' should translate into 'H' not J
'meem' should translate into 'M' and not Z

am i missing something here?






Marketing is so different in saudi than it is in the western world.

marketing in the western world may have a woman, maybe with a child, pushing for that 'sex appeal'. 

marketing in the eastern world works in a similar fashion, just reversed. its usually women that do shopping for groceries.


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## necronile (Jan 15, 2013)

Those residental building reminds me of neighbourhoods in Israel lol....
It was very nice of you to save the kittens


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

same building, roughly the same location, returning after at least 23 years

i may have gotten a few inches taller and gained a BIT of wait. my dad is clearly still the same.


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

necronile said:


> Those residental building reminds me of neighbourhoods in Israel lol....
> It was very nice of you to save the kittens



good eye

the buildings i was staying at were actually designed for the refugees coming from israel during the war. they abandoned the buildings for a few years, and by the time i moved in, they renovated the entire thing from the ground up


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

if you're skilled enough, and have a small enough flying device, you could fly right between that massive gap in between - grand theft auto style!





like i said, if you have a fancy car, leave it in the garage. this is a touch too common here. but at least they have the courtesy to leave their number behind.










again, call me weird, but i find it fascinating that they have garbage removal each and every day. in canada we get it once a week





en route to mecca


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

leaving riyadh for istunbul





....but who is watching the watchers?





at one point of its life, the King Khalid International Airport was one of the most beautiful airports around the world. how the greats have fallen. the lights have been turned down, a lot of construction going on within the airport, they have removed some great art work from the walls, have shut off the awesome fountain in side it as well






























arabian farms are designed in massive circles


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

i wonder how crop circles would look on these










you can still faintly see some valleys and such underneath the cloud of dust


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## Chickenhawk (Jan 15, 2013)

Such a beautiful part of the world. I didn't get to spend any amount of meaningful time in Saudi, but I spend a couple weeks in Qatar, and loved every minute of it.

I'd love to spend a couple weeks in Saudi. Pretty awesome how you revisited old photos.


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

there are more to come with videos and what not.

the pics up conclude part one of three. i only visited 3 cities, riyadh, mecca and medina. 

the videos i'll randomly upload as i go on


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## Mprinsje (Jan 15, 2013)

very interesting, keep it up!


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## HaloHat (Jan 15, 2013)

Beyond cool thread  Thank you for sharing it here and over in Carvinland 

I am glad to see in the later pictures - People! So many of the first photos had all these huge landscapes and buildings and roads... but no people 

Sad how different conturies religions, gov's and big biz can sow such ill will among us when actually we are all so much the same. There should be some incentive, because if you are a free person "mandatory" is a bad word, for people to visit and stay for a while [i dunno? at least 90 days?] in at least two other countries while in their youth [again I dunno? by age 23?] and I don't mean during a term of honorable military service. I mean in some educational "staying with the locals" kind of way. Perhaps doing some volunteer work but also just "living" and enjoying a culture we otherwise would possibley never "vacation" at.

Thats right, kumbaya my borther, kumbaya


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

HaloHat said:


> Beyond cool thread  Thank you for sharing it here and over in Carvinland
> 
> I am glad to see in the later pictures - People! So many of the first photos had all these huge landscapes and buildings and roads... but no people
> 
> ...



not to hijack my own thread, if thats possible, but you may enjoy a show called 'departures'. its these 3 young canadian kids (they started at 21 i think?) who are locals from my city. they got bored of their lives, decided to drop EVERYTHINg, their work, families, girl friends, etc and just travel the world. they initially had the plan to do it for one year. national geographic saw their videos, said  you three are going for more travel, and since you're bankrupt, heres money to travel! they got a few awards in the process too

heres the intro to season one


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

to keep it on topic, a bit about saudi arabia

lets start off with its economy
this land has no tax. NO TAX! you know how awesome it is to pick up a coke can at a convenience store, the clerk says '1 riyal' and thats exactly what you pay him? not 1.08, not 1.13, not a single amount over that. at the same time, no income tax either. if you earned 100 000 dollars a year, you get to keep it. you aren't taking home only 30 000 out of that 100 000. you earn it, you keep it. 

aside from there being no tax, the roads and infrastructure here is superb. the government fixes whatever is falling apart at no extra charge to its citizens. 

speaking of government, any islamic country is seen as a negative in the eyes of any western country due to its 'strict' government oppression. thats actually far from the reality. yes, there are rules that maybe a bit draconian at times, but they aren't really enforced onto people too heavily. the government usually has very little to do with its people, and likewise in reverse. both the government and its people exist seperatley with very little interaction 

healthcare is not free here. however, in the end, its still much cheaper than the canadian health care system. how/why? canada may have free health care that usually covers most sickness and disease out there, which is great. however, its medication is insanely pricey. medication in saudi is fairly cheap, as is its hospital costs

speaking of costs, its food prices are fairly cheap, regardless of inflation. inflation is fairly high in saudi, however, 12 years ago when i used to live in saudi, you could feed a family of five in less than 8 canadian dollars. now, the same food would cost about 15-20ish, which is still fairly cheap. 

gas is cheaper than water, which is kind of understandable. gas comes from there, water is foreign to those lands. more on this later

women- western world thinks women are put in horrible situations here. again, far from reality. if the western world treats women as the same men due to equality, women in the eastern world are treated like queens among normal men. for example, in western world, you see a woman struggling with her luggage in the airport, for the most part you let her struggle due to equality. you may have one or two people offer to help, but dont count on it. in the eastern world, if a woman is even seen lifting anything other than her purse, give it 5 minutes; she'll be surrounded by men yelling at her to not lift anything, and let them do the heavy lifting.


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## ilyti (Jan 15, 2013)

That's right, rock the Canada flag on your backpack!

Best parts of this were the note on the windshield, the Barbie and Country Corn Flakes.


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

here is one video regarding random dents on about 95% of the cars here


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## soliloquy (Jan 15, 2013)

and here is a small video of the massive university city they are building. when its made, i wonder what its staff and student population would be. from what i know, they are attracting profs from IVY universities around the world.


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## soliloquy (Jan 16, 2013)

a semi aerial view of the streets in saudi



when i was there, it had been raining quiet a lot in saudi. once every day, or every other day. its usually not that common in that part of the world



and this is my rant for the day. you all have had shawarmas. even Thor and Iron Man have had shawarmas...or 'shawarmas'. i get annoyed when something so simple is ruined by stuff that belongs in a chicken salad wrap rather than in a shawarma


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## phugoid (Jan 16, 2013)

soliloquy said:


> to keep it on topic, a bit about saudi arabia
> 
> lets start off with its economy
> this land has no tax. NO TAX! you know how awesome it is to pick up a coke can at a convenience store, the clerk says '1 riyal' and thats exactly what you pay him? not 1.08, not 1.13, not a single amount over that. at the same time, no income tax either. if you earned 100 000 dollars a year, you get to keep it. you aren't taking home only 30 000 out of that 100 000. you earn it, you keep it.
> ...



Nice pics. I'm the opposite of you; Canadian born and raised, and I've been living in the Gulf for almost a decade.

I've never been to Saudi myself, but I follow local news here and I run into a lot of people from the whole area. I appreciate the positive view that you're sharing, it's a good contrast to the Western cliches about this part of the world.

From what I've seen, Dubai is the best balance between East and West. The proof is that everybody is complaining about each other equally!


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## Webmaestro (Jan 16, 2013)

Awesome. Will have to show these to my girlfriend (she lived in Saudi a number of years).


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## Murdstone (Jan 16, 2013)

I'm having some serious deja vu, I could have sworn there was another travel log thread here for somewhere in the Middle East where the person in question also rescued kittens that fell somewhere and were at risk of dying. Weird.

Anyway, looks awesome. Thanks for sharing


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## soliloquy (Jan 16, 2013)

/\ there was a travelig i made when i went to turkey

This is the second travelig on ss.org

As for the cats, that was me
Fb deleted the pictures so im loading them again


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## Murdstone (Jan 16, 2013)

So you saved kittens in both Turkey and Saudi? 

It's like you're some sort of cat superhero.


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## soliloquy (Jan 16, 2013)

Murdstone said:


> So you saved kittens in both Turkey and Saudi?
> 
> It's like you're some sort of cat superhero.



no, i posted the saudi pics twice.
though, when i was in turkey, there were TONS of cats all over. and i like cats.

but the other weird thing is that the temperament of people towards animals is vastly different in these two countries. in Saudi, animals, regardless of what they are, are usually seen as pests. where as in Turkey, they are adored. even the stray/wild animals are really well fed, and it shows in the animals personalities towards people as well. as such, if any animal was suffering in Turkey, people will go up in arms to protect/save that animal. in Saudi on the other hand, if an animal is suffering 'it had it coming' is the usual response...harsh huh?







moving on. the pics and videos above were the end of Part 1 of the saudi adventures. the second part is taking place in medina:

Heading to medina. medina has a certain charm to it. its people are super nice and friendly. its environment is very relaxed and slow paced. no hustle, no rushing through things.

Medina, literally translates into 'city'. its former name was 'Yathrib' and was changed by prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

medina is the final resting place for the prophet (under the green dome). its also the resting place for the first of the two of the four Rashidun (rightly guided), Umar and Abu Bakar. its also home to the 3 oldest mosques in the world. 

this is why Medina is the second holiest islamic city, next to Mecca.





















those pillars you see to the right and left, they are about to transform soon. i have a video of it i'll post up later 


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## soliloquy (Jan 16, 2013)

let the awesomeness begin



































due to marble being highly reflective, and it having a nasty tendency of absorbing heat, these umbrellas are needed to provide any kind of shade. and they actually make a HUGE difference. early mornings are very cool and comfy. however, within an hour or two, that changes into a massive heat bowl. however, the shade reduces the temperature to a much more comfy, and bearable environment

to put things into prespective, Medina isn't too far from the red sea, thus it can get fairly humid here. to add to the heat, the tempurature usually soars around the 47 degree celcius mark. you remove the humidity like in Riyadh, and you wont feel a thing (dry heat. ignore what jeff dunham and watler say...), you add humidity, and it gets really hot really fast!


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## soliloquy (Jan 16, 2013)




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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 17, 2013)

I imagine the "mistakes" on the license plates are a result of a system that just needed to pick a latin letter to correspond with each arabic letter to facilitate entering the information into a system and/or sharing of information with departments in other countries that don't use the arabic alphabet, rather than needing to pick the most accurate english _transliteration_ of each letter. They _couldn't_ have a system with accurate one-to-one transliterations of each arabic letter, really. How would they decide which letter is represented with an "H," the &#1607; or the &#1581; ? Or which letter would be represented by "D," the &#1583; or the &#1590; ? Heck, what _one_ letter would they accurately use for letters like &#1588; or &#1579;, or letters that don't even have anything _close_ to an english/latin approximation, like the &#1593;? Arabic to latin transliteration and/or romanization has pretty much always been a hairy issue. Think of all the different ways you've seen &#1605;&#1581;&#1605;&#1583; written in English . I can totally see how instead of trying to make everything make sense phonetically, the Saudi DMV just said "Fuck it, &#1607; is "z" .


On a less nerdy but also related note, I've put some thought into moving to Saudi in a couple years, because it has a really good (and still growing) market for teachers of English as a second language, which is what I do. Once I've got enough experience under my belt to qualify for a decent position there, I just might go for it. It'd be a good opportunity to refresh my Arabic, if nothing else.

If I think I can do without booze for long stretches of time...


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## Chickenhawk (Jan 17, 2013)

Those transformer pillars are the most badass thing I've ever seen.

Seriously...and I've seen some shit.


Tim: You let me know if you decide to move. You need an assistant.


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## soliloquy (Jan 17, 2013)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> I imagine the "mistakes" on the license plates are a result of a system that just needed to pick a latin letter to correspond with each arabic letter to facilitate entering the information into a system and/or sharing of information with departments in other countries that don't use the arabic alphabet, rather than needing to pick the most accurate english _transliteration_ of each letter. They _couldn't_ have a system with accurate one-to-one transliterations of each arabic letter, really. How would they decide which letter is represented with an "H," the &#1607; or the &#1581; ? Or which letter would be represented by "D," the &#1583; or the &#1590; ? Heck, what _one_ letter would they accurately use for letters like &#1588; or &#1579;, or letters that don't even have anything _close_ to an english/latin approximation, like the &#1593;? Arabic to latin transliteration and/or romanization has pretty much always been a hairy issue. Think of all the different ways you've seen &#1605;&#1581;&#1605;&#1583; written in English . I can totally see how instead of trying to make everything make sense phonetically, the Saudi DMV just said "Fuck it, &#1607; is "z" .
> 
> 
> On a less nerdy but also related note, I've put some thought into moving to Saudi in a couple years, because it has a really good (and still growing) market for teachers of English as a second language, which is what I do. Once I've got enough experience under my belt to qualify for a decent position there, I just might go for it. It'd be a good opportunity to refresh my Arabic, if nothing else.
> ...




I cant speak for every teacher out there, but i can talk on behalf of my friend and his wife. My friend is teaching in an english medium school (meaning a school that teaches all/most of their courses in english). Hes teaching two courses, one in bio-chemistry and the other in biology (cant remember exactly what course) to grade 9 and 11. He works 4 hours a day. Hes making just over $4000 canadian dollars a month, tax free. 

His wife is teaching one course in liberal arts (history, or sociology or something) and is making about $2500 canadian, tax free. 

Some schools usually give you a house and/or a car, depending on who you are and what you bring to the tabel.

Again, not everyone makes that. It really depends on what you have to back yourself up. An honors goes much further there than here; masters even further






On a side note, a bit about the riyadh nightlife for the young people in their teens and 20s. 

There are three possible lifestyles that are typical for people to fall under.

1) the most common: you work during the day. You come home. If you want, you sleep or eat. If not, you go to a mall to shop, or a gender segregated restaurant (unless you are with family, with proof) to eat. If youre single then go to the gym. Come home to sleep. Very monotonous and mind numbing. Saudi doesnt really have theaters or pubs or anything of that nature. A lot of people hate this lifestyle but it pays.

2) this nightlife is a little leas impracticle, fairly dangerous, and not consistent. If youve seen "fast and the furious: tokyo drift" then you can expect something similar; just not an popular, and has a bit more to do with risk taking stunts such as standing on your bike, without holding onto the handles and not using any saftey equipment. There are several issues with this. First, it usually starts at about 2ish am to about 5ish am. For people with day jobs...not happrning. At the same time, they have parked cars as cameras there. Hard to spot them unless its too late. 

3) is a more hush hush thing. Its mainly tilted towards the american and canadian expats there. Its usually an invite only type of deal. They usually throw massive parties of 500ish people at the embessay, so technically international soil. You can find alcohol there



Alcohol isnt impossible to find there. Its just not easy. If you know the right people, you should be fine.


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## Eric Christian (Jan 17, 2013)

*"i found this fascinating. nitrogen gas in tires to keep the tires 'cool' and keep them from exploding. fact or myth? i'm no grease monkey, but from what little i do know, air has a lot of moisture in it; moisture is bad due to corrosion and rust; oxygen is not friends with tires and can eat away at tires slowly...so in theory, i guess nitrogen can save you some money in the long run...but to keep tires cool and keep them from exploding while you drive around in the desert? 

thats what that mechanic sold us...."*

Sorry, this is pretty much just a scam. Air is already 75% Nitrogen. Never mind the fact that the tread on an average tire will be worn out long before the inner carcass will degrade from moisture and oxidation.


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## Nile (Jan 18, 2013)

Not being a hipster retarded, but I'm just wondering. Is Marijuana frowned upon/impossible to obtain?


And I absolutely love this travel log.


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## soliloquy (Jan 18, 2013)

Nile said:


> Not being a hipster retarded, but I'm just wondering. Is Marijuana frowned upon/impossible to obtain?
> 
> 
> And I absolutely love this travel log.



i'm not sure. 
i was too young when i used to live there, so weed wasn't even a notion to us. 
and since i dont smoke, i never really tried looking it up there. but i do know there is a fairly substantial north american expat population there, and they're fairly young people. so i'm assuming they have weed there. as to where they get it from? i know in pakistan, weed grows randomly on the sides of streets (though their weed is supposedly much stronger) and people who smoke it there are usually considered the 'lesser' kind while cigarettes people have no opinion on. and since there is a VERY large indian/pakistani population there, maybe weed is imported there too? maybe through black market? 

again, i have no idea....


and you should have seen my travelog i made for Turkey. i wish facebook didn't delete my pictures  maybe i'll upload them again if there is a huge request by people as it is quiet a lot of work


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## soliloquy (Jan 19, 2013)

once again, to contrast this with artwork found in mosques in Turkey. Saudi mosques hardly use color. if they do, its minimal reds, or blues, or greens.





i cant remember the name of the mosque, but those who read arabic, correct me if i'm wrong, this translates as:
"praying in this mosque gets you the same reward as doing hajj''

hajj is the religious pilgrimage for muslims. happens once a year. its a requirement, but only for those who are a) able, b) can afford it c) have no one dependent on them. 

my memory is a bit rusty. and the name of the mosque?

EDIT: from wiki:
The Quba Mosque (Quba' Masjid or Masjid al-Quba, Arabic: &#1605;&#1587;&#1580;&#1583; &#1602;&#1576;&#1575;&#1569, in the outlying environs of Medina in Saudi Arabia, is the oldest mosque in the world. Its first stones were positioned by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on his emigration from the city of Mecca to Medina and the mosque was completed by his companions. Muhammad spent more than 20 nights in this mosque (after migrating) praying qasr (a short prayer) while waiting for Ali whose house was behind this mosque.[citation needed]
According to Islamic tradition, offering two raka&#703;&#257;t of nafl prayers in the Quba Mosque is equal to performing one Umrah. Quba Masjid is the first mosque built in the history of Islam and was built as soon as Muhammad arrived on the Hijra.[1]
Muhammad used to go there, riding or on foot, every Saturday and offer a two rak'ah prayer. He advised others to do the same, saying, "Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah." This hadith is reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Hakim al-Nishaburi.






my fascination with doors persists...


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## soliloquy (Jan 19, 2013)

bye bye bird-heee










both mecca and medina (more so medina) used to be lined with small mom-pop restaurants that used to be open 24/7. they had such great atmosphere, and great food as well. 

however, as things are expanding, more chains like KFC, Burger king and others are taking over. 

i took a picture of this guy as he was taking turns touching that piping hot stove top with his hands, and then alternating using a spatula. i guess your skin gets used to making pitas constantly. 

plus, me taking a picture of him made his day. he was a little grumpy, till i asked for his picture. the smile on his face went from ear to ear instantly.










Masjid al-Qiblatain. this is one of the earlier mosques of islam. this is also the mosque that has 2 facings. one that faces towards mecca, and the other towards Jerusalem. 

story goes that Prophet Muhammad was leading prayer, when he received a revelation to face Mecca instead of Jerusalem. in the middle of the prayer, he turned to face the opposite direction, and everyone else followed.





the second facing way up in the ceiling.


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## soliloquy (Jan 19, 2013)

inside the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. this is only a small portion of the mosque. on a normal day, supposedly it can hold over 600 000 people. during Hajj, its capacity exceeds 1 million. 

i would have taken more pictures inside this mosque, but for some odd reason, my DSLR really freaked the cops/security guards there. they checked everyone before entering, and they were letting people bring their point-n-shoot and phone cameras no problem. and looking around, there were tons of people taking pictures...none with a DSLR though...
















here you can see the umbrellas fully being utilized. the parts that are not protected by the umbrella really burn. even if you're walking from the shade, to the light, and back, those short 2 seconds really do make a difference between comfortable and 'ouch'..


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## soliloquy (Jan 19, 2013)

videos will come tomorrow...hopefully


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## anunnaki (Jan 19, 2013)

Nile said:


> Not being a hipster retarded, but I'm just wondering. Is Marijuana frowned upon/impossible to obtain?



Dude, Saudi has the death penalty for weed!

and to soliloquy: What is there to do for fun in Saudi? My uncle told me when he lived in bahrain and had to go to Saudi for business he just hated it. He said there was nothing to do except go out for a coffee.


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## soliloquy (Jan 19, 2013)

anunnaki said:


> Dude, Saudi has the death penalty for weed!
> 
> and to soliloquy: What is there to do for fun in Saudi? My uncle told me when he lived in bahrain and had to go to Saudi for business he just hated it. He said there was nothing to do except go out for a coffee.



I wrote above

On a side note, a bit about the riyadh nightlife for the young people in their teens and 20s. 

There are three possible lifestyles that are typical for people to fall under.

1) the most common: you work during the day. You come home. If you want, you sleep or eat. If not, you go to a mall to shop, or a gender segregated restaurant (unless you are with family, with proof) to eat. If youre single then go to the gym. Come home to sleep. Very monotonous and mind numbing. Saudi doesnt really have theaters or pubs or anything of that nature. A lot of people hate this lifestyle but it pays.

2) this nightlife is a little leas impracticle, fairly dangerous, and not consistent. If youve seen "fast and the furious: tokyo drift" then you can expect something similar; just not an popular, and has a bit more to do with risk taking stunts such as standing on your bike, without holding onto the handles and not using any saftey equipment. There are several issues with this. First, it usually starts at about 2ish am to about 5ish am. For people with day jobs...not happrning. At the same time, they have parked cars as cameras there. Hard to spot them unless its too late. 

3) is a more hush hush thing. Its mainly tilted towards the american and canadian expats there. Its usually an invite only type of deal. They usually throw massive parties of 500ish people at the embessay, so technically international soil. You can find alcohol there



Alcohol isnt impossible to find there. Its just not easy. If you know the right people, you should be fine


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## Xaios (Jan 20, 2013)

Some of that architecture is really quite stunning. The light denim blues, marble whites and gold accents have a really classy look to them, and the ornate carvings are beautiful as well.


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## soliloquy (Jan 22, 2013)

sorry for the delay...

this video demonstrates the attire men should wear before they go into Mecca for hajj/umrah. its just to symbolize that there is no difference between people in islam. you may have heard muslim people referring to each other as 'brother/sister'. and thats pretty much it. color, race, age, wealth, cast, blood etc mean nothing in islam. now, if people follow that, that is a different case altogether. 

what you dont see in this video is women (pretty much in most of my pictures from saudi, i'm not taking pictures/videos of women, on purpose). where men are recommended to wearing white cotton, women are recommended to wearing something that covers their hair, and every thing below their neck. so long as its not revealing, no one cares for what material or color it is. 

i still dont get why saudi women choose black more often than other colors to wear outdoors. women from other parts of the world usually wear a variety of colors. i know Iran, Afghanistan, even Uzbekistan and other far eastern countries wear light colors such as baby blues, khakis, and greens.


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## soliloquy (Jan 22, 2013)

this doesn't need any explanation


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## soliloquy (Jan 22, 2013)

this is a battle ground for one of the important wars fought in the early islamic history. its pretty much left as is


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## soliloquy (Jan 22, 2013)




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## GatherTheArsenal (Jan 23, 2013)

Awesome picture and video coverage of your trip to Saudia Arabia OP! Reminds me of 'home' a lot.

I was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, UAE so seeing all those pics was like a nostalgia flashback of the the Emirates. Thanks for sharing.

Also, I feel your pain regarding shawarmas in the West lol .... it's tricky finding a place that makes it like we grew up eating it. Last time I ordered a shawarma here in Vancouver I ended up with a Caesar salad wrapped in a pita


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## kamello (Jan 25, 2013)

for later


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## soliloquy (Jan 26, 2013)

/\ i'm in the middle of some stuff. but i have one more chapter to go 

and thanks for showing interest. with my Turkey thread, people lost interest fairly quickly into the game


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## soliloquy (Jan 26, 2013)

heading from Medina to Mecca, we ran into baboons. at least i think they are baboons. its fascinating to see these guys survive where nothing but lizards roam. no trees, no vegetation, hardly any bugs etc. 

just a headsup, if you guys do come across them, try to keep a safe distance from them. they can get fairly viscous when annoyed





































Mecca, the birth place of prophet muhammad. during Hajj, this place can expect about 7 million people. its normal resident population is about 2 million. annually mecca gets about 15 million visitors, making it one of the most heavily populated, cosmopolitan and diverse cities in the world. 

i would have taken more pictures, but the security guards were petrified of my DSLR. i'm pretty sure they dont have a 'no camera' policy as i saw tons of people with their point and shoot cameras, along with their phone camera. and there were plenty of them as well, and no one was hiding it from the guards. 

i guess the sheer size of the DSLR freaks them out?


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## soliloquy (Jan 26, 2013)

over the decades/century, the mosque has been expanded under several different Islamic reigns. each reign bringing in slightly different architecture that is commonly found back in their home. if memory serves me right, this wing was expanded during the Ottoman empire. similar to the architectural features found in Blue Mosque or others, you can see them here. 

there are other parts that were made during the Ummaiyads, the Abbasids, Fatimids etc.






demolition city. pretty much anything within 4 KM of the mosque is being eradicated. 

each year the mosque is expanded to accommodate more visitors.

due to this, finding parking here can be rather difficult. first, getting into the city is a pain by road as its constant gridlock. then finding a hotel is even more difficult. if you are looking for a room, then you may have to shop around. some of the prices don't make sense. you can get a decently furnished 3 bed room in one hotel for said price, then another hotel with HORRIBLE furniture yet the prices are triple of the first room. 

on top of that, if you do find a decent room, your parking will be found about 3-5 kilometeres from where you are staying. you have to drop the car there, then either bus/taxi/walk your way back.











all of those abandoned buildings.






another abandoned building





and they go as far as the eye can see


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