Tulip Inn Andalusia Al Khobar

... Nights. I am sure we were right in the middle of the desert - the milestone said 700 Km to Jeddah - and the desert was awesome! It seemed to me like some sort of a dream. The lay of the land here was basically little hills amidst sand with scattered shrubs. I was totally lost in the scenery, just looking out of my right and taking it all in. We kept going on further and I saw a town that we seemed to be passing by. I couldnt believe that Saudi had small towns like this ...

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

Apparently the Bahrain-Saudi border is on a little island [not sure if it has an official name], which hosts a rest point on either side of the border, complete with matching observation towers. The whole road, which is 45km long, is called the King Fahad Causeway on the Bahraini side, with a different Saudi name.. Interesting stuff! :) Due to it being Ramadan and us not being ...

Bahrain!

Got here yesterday, the flight in was only an hour and you got a really good view of all of Qatar from the air! [stupid wing blocked photo ops though]. No problems so far, immigration was a breeze, found the hotel OK and after relaxing some more [yes, we're lazy!] my mum and I hunted down a taxi to see the few sights in the built up north of the island

Firstly we drove through the big banking district, and I was reminded of a less-trafficy, shorter ...

... The security situation was deteriorating in Yemen and all Western nations advised against all unnecessary travel there.  There had been some small attacks and minor shelling of the U.S. Embassy and surrounding areas in Sana'a, an attack on a busload or Spanish tourists, a suicide bombing of 4 South Koreans and their guide in the exact spot of one of the places I was going to be, increased kidnappings in/around Sana'a normally safe, in addition to the normal kidnappings of Westerners ...

... 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 “different,’ which he said “yes” to but did not go further. Either way, it’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’ 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’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’s normal playing partner, Farhad (a Pakistani also from work ...

We landed in Bahrain a bit late, and in the middle of the night there. Had to rush through airport as we thought we only had 30mins to get on plane. Where Jim got the knickname "Grandma" because of his worrying. The airport was quite "western" but would recommend not wearing shorts and use American Dollars if you are buying stuff in DF.

... was Ramadan, the Holy month, which was also an experience. Much too much detail and intensity for a short memo like this. Get a book and read - quite the time. This was a business trip so I will also forgo those boring details. Dahran was where I fell in love with street side gyros. Even with the flys buzzing around, they were stellar. As was the other food, all completely different than what I had ever tasted before. After 5 days in Dahran, I flew to ...