Al Nimran Suites Al Khobar

... which had started moving ahead (full marks to the driver for keeping his momentum). I had at some point wondered why the driver wasnt speeding up- it was only later that I learnt that a few days earlier there had been an accident and that all drivers were given strict instructions to keep momentum. Well, I found myself getting in between cat naps, and when I was jolted out of one I realized that we were speeding past some great city - had to be Riyadh, all lit up and awake in ...

17/10<br>Time to be honest. We're heading home.<br>The last country is a stop-over in Bahrain (for 2 hours) as we fly through the night back to England<br>We wanted to surprise a few folks so have sneaked home quietly.<br><br>Never the less, Bahrain International Airport looked very nice at midnight, all lit up. This small island state lies in the Persion Gulf alongside saudi ...

Not much - just waiting at the airport for the flight! Bahrain was both nicer and more boring than I thought, the weather is a lot more forgiving but it's not worth more than about 3 days exploration tops.. Unless you like to get really nittygritty :P<br>

... and also not having any male family members with us [women are not allowed to cross solo, nor are they allowed to drive in Saudi!], we didn't even bother to attempt to cross the real border to go into Damman [although I wanted to..], so Saudi exploration will have to wait until I'm married :P [I have no brothers and my dad would much rather go anywhere else but a hot desert!]<br>

... old was about the same height as me! They were very cute though :)<br><br>We then drove on the Causeway to the Bahrain - Saudi Arabia border [that road in the middle of the sea on the map]. We couldn't cross the border [you need a visa in advance, which is tricky during pilgrimage and they don't just give out visas to lone women anyway.. too much red tape for our likings!] so we went to an observation tower and looked at Saudi looming on the horizon. There was a huge jam of ...

... place I wanted didn't speak English [I learned this by calling, speaking in English, getting hung up on, calling back, asking "titkallum ingleezi" (do you speak English?), and getting a "laa, laa" (no, no)].  Guess I would wing the car/driver AND hotel when I got to Seiyun.  Since I wasn't sure when I'd have the next chance to get food, I grabbed some quick McDonald's, which I think was probably about the same a in U.S. airports on price.  I ordered the #1 (Big Mac) so that I could ...

... that I could have sworn were gay----they definitely stood out in behavior and clothes style. Knowing homesexuality is illegal in Saudi, I tried to figure it out indirectly. I asked if he thought that the table next to us was &#8220;different,&#8217; which he said &#8220;yes&#8221; to but did not go further. Either way, it&#8217;s definitely possible---I asked if single men live with each other and he said single expats typically are ...

... and thoughtful Saad was more interested in espousing his perspective than analyzing others&#8217; views. I honestly have to say that I was more than somewhat horrified at his downplaying of the severity/existence of The Holocaust and the assertion that Zionist Jews deliberately tried to make Hitler and other people hate them to create a persecution that would allow the Zionists to convince them to go to Palestine. I tried a comparison to those that believe the U.S ...

... no school in the summer, and more free time). I planned on changing at the athletic club since I&#8217;d be sacrificing modesty for the shorts---did a quick change once there and a quick check in the mirror---definitely goofy-looking, but pretty sure I was going to be out of fashion here no matter what I did. I did manage to make sure my shorts were lower enough to cover my knees. I met Saad&#8217;s normal playing partner, Farhad (a Pakistani also from work ...

... I think it was the first time I truely ate a date, as opposed to those 'fresh from California'. Nevertheless - all was good and I learned much about the fact that world level life exists way outside of Medina, Washington USA. I had, for the first time inm y life, met and lived with [to a small degree] people from several nationalities, all simply triing to 'make house payments'. I do feel this trip open my eyes to much that followed in the ensuing years.