Marriott Riyadh

... capability. Eventually, I use my MagicJack to call back to the States to Skyline Global Solutions to contact someone in Saudi and everything gets sorted and in a matter of half an hour I'm in a taxi with a friendly, strikingly handsome Arab guy named Mohammad who taught me my first few words in Arabic. I'm get to the Boudl Hotel Suites on the airport road at about 2 am and thank my lucky stars that there is a large suite at the end of all of this! <br> <br>

... outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, and served as the capital of the first Saudi dynasty from 1744 to 1818. <br><br>Also, we visited the famous Kingdom Centre (and Tower) and went up to the Sky Bridge. is a supertall skyscraper located in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia and the 45th tallest building in the world with a height of 311 m ...

... I met Waleed. He asked if I was settling in fine and asked if I was ready to have my cursory medical examination for my residency permit. I was happy to get things rolling as soon as possible so we agreed that he would have someone pick me up tomorrow morning at 9am. He took some photos from me plus some photocopies of my passport and visa and apologized for the electricity issue and said that it would be paid first thing in the morning. I had already found a big candle in ...

... their own cars, men that is as women aren't permitted to drive. But Glenn and a couple of his work colleagues like having a driver they know and trust to taxi them around. Makes life easier...<br><br>On the drive to the compound i had a chance to look at the scenery....buildings are large, I was surprised at how much english language is around, lots of new buildings going up. Kingdom Tower ...

... been closed. We looked around and saw spray painted on a concrete barrier, in Arabic only, "Ta'if" with an arrow. So we decided to give it a try, although who knew who painted it and what they really meant by it. We made it back into Makkah proper then asked directions from a couple of young Saudis in the car next to us at a traffic light. They told us the way, and then led us to the right road themselves, which was most kind.<br><br>On the way back ...

When you are entering Riyadh from the east, you pass a lot of agricultural spots -- date farms, dairy farms, fields with modern irrigation equipment. Leaving the city heading west it's as if you have come to the edge of a vast cliff and are now headed down into an enormous valley. Our ears ...

... entered the bachelors' entrance -- I had forgotten about the separate entrances thing. In the Emirates restaurants will often have private seating for families (like booths with taller dividers around them) if you choose to use them, but everyone has the same entrance and you can sit in private or in an open public room, your choice. In Saudi you don't have a choice, which I had forgotten, but the counter staff kindly redirected me. So out I went, around ...

... to prayer is heard over the loudspeakers. You can't interrupt a patient whilst they are praying. You must be ever so mindful of the female patient not wanting to expose her hair - and when transporting female patients, they like to put the sheet over their head to cover until they get back to the ward, where they are allowed to wear their headscarf again. Its a very different feel, and I'm getting there slowly I think! Certainly an interesting experience so far :) Kat

... closed all the doors for 40 minutes :P I'll try to put up some more photos of random things when i get that net working properly! Im having a bit of trouble with the connection that I bought... Big dissapointment, as I cant seem to get online a lot of the time, which means I can't use skype as much as I would have liked, which makes me sad :( Aaaaannnnnddd........Thats about all I can tell you for now, I think! Kat Ps - sorry for the long winded story... hard to shorten the msg, wrote too bloody much!

... as the "Christian bypass". We took this, did not find any sign of a hotel, and drove through the night to Riyadh, pausing for gas and a couple of naps,. We arrived safely back around 7 am and went to sleep for five or six hours. Thus ended our trip. James and the ladies returned that night. Overall, our trip to Jordan was great. We got to see the country close up, go where we wanted to go, see what we wanted to see, without the hassle of a prepackaged tour. Along the way we ...