“The complexity and vastness of the world is a gift. Its mystery ensures that the willing can always muster up new curiosity.” – Old Sean
Settling in Saudi
After a long languish in the United States, I’ve left the country once more. This time, I’ve hopped across the pond, angling slightly south to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Middle East is a portion of the world I’ve shamefully neglected. I’ve spent much of my life traveling through Asia, the Americas, Europe and a smidgen of Australia. But Africa and the Middle East are two areas where I’m lacking.
In an attempt to rectify this, I’ve found a consultation position at a university in Riyadh. Here, I reconnected with a dear friend of mine named Ahmad.
I landed in Riyadh in the deep of night following an extended and trudge-like layover in Frankfurt, Germany. The airport in Germany was surprisingly bare, with few locations for food or easy rest. I was happy to board my next plane, which brought me to the Kingdom.
That evening, I was quickly shuttled away to a hotel by a van driver, where I’ve remained ever since. My attempts at finding lodging have been fruitless, as my company apparently doesn’t have a department dedicated to settling new arrivals.
Since I’m bound to continuously walk, my options for lodging are limited to a scarce few blocks until I get a car.
Surprisingly, Riyadh doesn’t have a public transportation system. The city is currently undergoing a massive revitalization project which involves constructing a metro network. There’s also a scattering of tepid buses, shiny and new, lurching around the roads. But their routes aren’t common knowledge yet, and their timetables are difficult to utilize.
A Traveler’s Chuckle
Saudi Arabia, largely due to political animosity, tends to have a lackluster reputation in the American media. But I’ve learned long ago to dispense with such preconceptions.
There’s an old traveler’s joke:
A man visits Sudan and finds a lovely land full of lively people and glowing culture. After some time enjoying himself, he tells the locals his plans to continue onward to Ethiopia.
“Ethiopia!” They cry. “Are you mad? That’s a dangerous land where you’ll be robbed and possibly maimed!”
But the man, heedless, continues onward, forging to Ethiopia where he finds a lovely, thriving nation and beautiful land. After some time, he tells the locals of Ethiopia his plans to move onwards to Kenya.
“Kenya!” They cry. “Be cautious, young man! The cities are dangerous and hard to navigate. Be careful!”
But the young man goes on again and is again rewarded. He falls in love with the land once more, but after some months, he decides to continue onwards to Somalia.
“Are you foolish?” the people of Kenya cry. “Somalia is a den of criminals and strife! What are you thinking?”
But the young man, now wise in the ways of the world, carries on. He arrives in Somalia, where a dozen people look up at him with bright smiles.
“Young man, what are you doing here?” they laugh. “You’d better keep a hand on your wallet, don’t you know this is Somalia?”
End scene.
Naturally, I’ve never actually been to Somalia or other African nations. But the merit of the joke stands. To know the world requires seeing it firsthand. Anything less is blindness from someone else’s eyes.
So upon arriving in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I’ve widened my pupils somewhat.
A Kingdom of Impressions
Arriving during the summer was a trial of its own. Heat blares down during all daylight hours and the air quite literally tastes dry. Surprisingly, I don’t sweat terribly much, as the dryness lends itself to calmer sweat glands. But I can’t bear the direct sun for more than twenty minutes at a time, no matter how much sunscreen I slather on.
For all that, Riyadh is an impressive city. It has profound audacity. It’s a growing, prominent urban sprawl utterly thriving in a deep desert nook, built upon the wealth of a nation. Many buildings are lower to the ground, hosting every coffee shop, restaurant and amenity imaginable. But pockets of the growing city boast massive, modern skyscrapers, daring in their angled designs. These serve as navigable lighthouses in the city wherever I go.
The city is ruled by cars, which move with surprising grace and fairly little traffic. The long roads, which have few easy exits, zoom on for vast distances, zipping past backlight signs with gorgeous Arabic scrawl.
As for the people of Saudi Arabia, the nation has drastically altered in the past five years or so. The so-called Moral Police, who were credited with imposing religious interpretations on the population, have waned. According to my neighbors, the nation is far, far more open than it was ten years ago.
Women and men walk freely through public spaces, though social norms and traditions still require space between unaffiliated members of the opposite sex. For example, young men learn from male teachers and school-attending women learn from females. The burka is often seen sweeping the ground as women wander through malls. In other districts, where women tend to be part of a younger generation, hijabs and headscarves are more common. In rare cases, some women choose to walk around uncovered. There are also a fair number of expats living in the city, such as Filipina working women, who adopt the burka, hijab or no head covering at all.
In summation, it seems largely an individual choice.
A Tour with Ahmad
Ahmad and I attended the University together, where he and his brother were my temporary roommates during my graduation year. The morning after I arrived in Saudi Arabia, slightly dull from jet lag, he swung by my hotel in a Lexus to begin driving me throughout the city.
It would be fair to say that Riyadh, while only readily accessible by car, has numerous interesting features. The vast majority of these are new, added on during the city’s construction boom. The features which are older, once serving as national monuments or historical markers, are currently free to enter. Co-workers have told me that Riyadh is making a play to emerge as a recreational capital, as large swaths of wealthy businessmen fly to Bahrain on weekends to enjoy themselves.
Regardless, my first tour of the city involved a lot of coffee shops. Riyadh has an exceptional number of fine cafés and, while coffee was once an occasional treat, I’m getting used to sampling the beverage daily.
Beyond solid coffee, cafés in the region are dedicated to a wealth of ambience. With the heat outside forever hammering, pleasant interiors are vital to ensure repeat customers. كوفي ساجو (Sago Coffee) near my work has lovely chairs and a marble staircase where young men gather to play chess in the evening. Hanoverian is a coffee-and-chocolate shop with white walls, a stunning circular chandelier and a tree with leaves of delicately folded paper. Moroccan Taste is a drive-through tea venue offering minty-green-tea concoctions late into the night. Coffee Theory is a well-lit bookshop-game center coffee venue tucked behind a glass door. MIDWAY is home to modernist rooms with work tables and plenty of focused corners.
There has been a lot of coffee since my arrival. My caffeine tolerance has quickly built itself into a compelling hulk.
Aside from coffee, restaurants are a mainstay of life in Saudi Arabia. Ahmad has taken me to local fast food chains, local Saudi restaurants, camel-rice venues, goat-skewered meals, a stellar Indian restaurant and other profound eateries. Even in the absence of sweets, I still feel the pounds adding up.
Tourist icons in Riyadh are surprisingly spaced-out. Many of them are often overwhelmed by visitors, making parking and navigation a bit of a trick. I imagine that visiting Riyadh in just a few years, when the metro system is intact, would improve lifestyle here dramatically.
Regardless, I’ve spent time at sunset visiting KAFD, the large abstract skyscraper district currently being built in Riyadh. During coolish evenings, Ahmed took me on a winding drive through the Historic Diriyah Fort. While that’s all I’ve had time for during my first week of work, I’ve also been advised to visit YouWalk, Riyadh Boulevard, Tuwaiq Palace, Masmak Fortress and a fair number of desert sights further out.
As we’re still in the throes of Saudi’s summer, dry heat and color-leeching sun have limited mobility. But hopefully the upcoming weeks offer a chance to continue exploring.
Until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written July 17th 2023
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Ten years ago, I abandoned my military surplus store backpack for a Farpoint 40 Osprey Travel Pack. I’ve never replaced my bag since. Two years ago, I bought two more Osprey Backpacks for my younger siblings on their first tour outside the country. I have nothing but praise for Osprey Products.
