Olaya House (Standard) Riyadh

... over the place. I have NEVER been sooo unprepared for a major trip abroad. <br><br>Finally catch the airport bus and my clothes are soaked and my flight is at 9:15 am. I get charged 396,000 won in excess baggage fees (which I learn very quickly I could have avoided paying if I wanted to be dishonest). The check-in counter and the counter where you pay were in two completely different areas and there was no confirmation or communication made between ...

... 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 ...

This is my first entry into a sort of journal for all my family (that includes you too, la famille Coguiec). I had hoped to have started earlier and posted some pictures and info online but there were two major set-backs to this.<br><br>First of all, I forgot my camera in England with Rachel in Bournemouth. Silly me! Until I get it sent over then I will just use the camera on my phone which is perfectly adequate for daylight shots. Anything that requires a longer exposure time ...

... arriving at that time of the evening means u are in for a long wait in line to get through customs....<br><br>My one and only bag got concertinered in the crush with other bags and the carosel...<br>and the heat once out the doors...amazing.<br><br>Met Glenns driver...Noor...call him Mr Noor. Very nice man from Pakistan.<br>Most expats that stay in Riyadh for any length of time apparently ...

... to repeat it several times. After visiting the "watercloset" we went to the abutions area to perform wudu'. My 4 year old daughter sat and played in the water and gave a constant commentary ("Mommy, this water is hot! Why is the water hose pink? What is that in the drain? Can I put soap on my nose? Can I clean the drain? Yuck, this soap tastes terrible!") while I finished my ablutions, and when I turned I saw that there was an entire half-circle of ...

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 ...

... small barrier to the families' entrance, and back in again. I shared a small chuckle with the staff as they were the same people, they had just shifted down the counter a bit. I was also the only customer in the store, on either side. <br><br>Large mocha chip Frappucino in hand I felt ready to face the next ten hours or so of drive time. We drove quickly along the city highway, not much traffic but still considerable winds and a lot of sand blowing around.

... spinal anaesthetic, must remain in recovery UNTIL IT HAS FULLY WORN OFF!!! I feel sorry for the caesar patients who just want to go back to the ward and be with their babies, but can't because "no, you cant move your legs properly yet". And we transport our patients back to the ward after they are recovered. We also quite often look after royals and VIP's - there is an entire ward especially for these patients. The rooms are amazing, like 3 separate rooms ...

... and are either racing against time to cover places they have not been to or simply going to Bahrain again and again for lack of better ideas), contrary to my typical behavior, here I am in the Saudi Air flight to Cairo (chocks off). The original deal was to hit Cairo by 6pm to get into a late night sleeper train to Aswan by 8.40 pm, but that now seems ...

... finally made it to the border. End of the story, pass into Jordan, right? Wrong. First, we went through the preliminary customs check - passports, multiple exit-re-entry visas (which you pay for!) in the passports and valid, istimara (ownership papers for our Trooper). From there we were sent on to the second stage - actually passing out of Saudi into Jordan. Oops - all the computer systems were down! We parked in line and waited, where I met Mahmoud, a Lebanese ...