Thread: Would you go on holiday to Saudi Arabia

Originally Posted by happynz

The Aramco camp is like another country.

Sure was..

Swimming meet 1958 Abqaiq ARAMCO camp..

Originally Posted by reddog

The Dakar Rally is on there at the moment,seems the Govt is buying a few sporting events to get a bit of good press.
Seen a few women wandering around the race control area with no head covering and also a few women are competing
on bikes,don't know if a lot of western tourists went to watch the race.

It was up at the new "Tourism City", Neom.

Which is now snowed under.

Originally Posted by aging one

Sure was..

Swimming meet 1958 Abqaiq ARAMCO camp..

National Swimming Championships Dhahran - (2001 or 2002)

Something to add... in Aus a lot of pools have heating to extend the swimming season. In KSA we had chillers to cool the pools down in summer.

Remembered this thread while I viewed a vid of a vlogger that I sometimes watch. I like his calm manner, and he presents the bad & good of a place, but is very respectful & not derogatory. He also tries to speak some words/phrases of the local language and meets up/ hosted by locals via couchsurfing.

The KSA has never been in my travel bucket list, but this vid made me think that it's somehow interesting. He's still in KSA at the moment.

Thanks for posting Katie.

Jeddah has grown in the 16 years since I left. The Mall of Asia wasn't built when I was there.

The fountain that he shows at the start of the video is just off the Corniche, and the kings palace is the buildings that you can see behind it.

The fountain is the largest in the world. Water is pumped approx 300 meters high.

I would no more set foot there than Israel- but at least you can legally get booze in Israel. One place on the Arabian Peninsula I would like to see is Yemen, if the Sauds ever finish bombing it.

Originally Posted by sabang

One place on the Arabian Peninsula I would like to see is Yemen, if the Sauds ever finish bombing it.

I went there a couple of decades ago. Fascinating place. Tasty food and drinks (coffee and tea).

KSA is still not a place I'd visit as a solo female traveller, but I'd consider it with a partner or in a group tour (but I usually don't like tour groups since they're very commercialised, so prefer DIY trips).

I liked this vid since the vlogger visited a market and saw some drum action/ dancing later. I like visiting markets wherever I go because they're so alive and full of local color. Ordinary people selling their wares, not pretentious.

It's a shame he looks like a creepier version of Conan O'Brien, if that were possible.

Its also a shame that he missed the Gold Souk while he was in Al Balad

These photos below were taken late last century, can't remember exactly when.
A group that I worked with and their families drove from Jeddah, up the escarpment, through Taif and out to the Came Races.
Not sure how long the track is, but a few minutes after the start of the race, they disappear into the distance in a cloud of dust, then about 10 or 15 minutes later they emerge again in a cloud of dust from the other direction.

The day is great fun. All the locals are very friendly.

Attachment 44488

The marshalling area prior to a race.

The starting line. Trying to get the camels under control.

And they're off. The guys in the back of the pickups race around the track yelling instructions to the jockeys.

Interesting stuff. I am flying to KL this week via Jaddah. Will post a flight report.

Athens to KL was £390 one way or £640 return, in business class. That made it far cheaper than anything from London so I'm treating myself to a couple of nights in Athens as part of the journey.

I was departing from Jeddah once over 20 years ago. In the departure lounge there was a single Singaporean woman, probably mid-20s.
She had bought the cheapest ticket from London to Singapore. It was with Saudi Airlines.
Having no knowledge of the mid-east, she was travelling as she would on any other carrier...
Dressed in the shortest of short mini skirt with a top showing a bit of cleavage.
Her stop over in Jeddah was spent sitting in the lounge with every pair of eyes within 500 metres staring at her.
Finally someone found a blanket for her that she could cover up until her flight was ready to board.

(so boring in Thailand, why not to enjoy in Mecca?)

Israel Allows Its Citizens Limited Travel to Saudi Arabia

26 January 2020,
Saudi didn’t immediately comment on the Israeli announcement
The decision comes ahead of Netanyahu’s Washington meeting

Israel said on Sunday it will allow its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia for Islamic pilgrimages or business purposes.

There was no immediate reaction from Saudi Arabia to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri’s decree, and Israeli visitors would still have to arrange for entry into the kingdom. Under Israel’s Prevention of Infiltration Law, Israelis have been prohibited from visiting the kingdom.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

The Israeli gov't can really be shit. No country should have the right to tell someone where they can't go. I do accept that countries' do have the right to bar entry to whom they choose.

Israel Allows Its Citizens Limited Travel to Saudi Arabia

whilst:

Saudi minister says Israeli passport holders cannot visit: CNN

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Israelis were not welcome to visit the kingdom after Israel decreed that Israeli citizens could visit Saudi Arabia under certain circumstances, CNN reported on Monday.

“Our policy is fixed. We do not have relations with the state of Israel and Israeli passport holders cannot visit the kingdom at the current time,” the U.S. broadcaster quoted Prince Faisal bin Farhan as saying.

Saudi minister says Israeli passport holders cannot visit: CNN - Reuters

I don't know if it has changed since I was there, but anyone with an Israel stamp in their passports wouldn't be allowed entry to Saudi. (except for high ranking officials).

Quite a few friends visited Israel, but were given their visa stamp on a loose paper which could be discarded before going back into Saudi.