Tulip Inn Andalusia Al Khobar

... lap of the journey was very picturesque, with a totally different desert scenario. It was basically a mountainous desert terrain.The highway took us along myriad ranges, and at one point I even saw a plateau out yonder.<br><br>It was at around 3:30PM that we finally cruised into Jeddah, and I saw Manoj had come to receive me. Well, he and his family looked after me and gave a great time, and Jeddah was a great city................... but that would be another story- a story of a city!

... to the west and Qatar to the east. We didn't know where it was until we were due to fly home via the island. It's interesting to note the road bridge (King Fahd Causeway) which links the two countries and is 17 miles long. Soon to be surpassed by the Bahrain to Qatar 'Friendship Bridge' currently under construction at 25 miles - it will be the longest bridge in the world.

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>

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 ...

... being Ramadan pretty much everything was shut! And it was roasting hot, if cooler than Dubai would be, so I grabbed a few provisions from the supermarket and retreated to the hotel room!<br><br>We might go explore the restaurants later tonight [will probably end up in Hard Rock Cafe.. when it comes to Arabic food we're not the most adventurous!] and we'll see what happens tomorrow! Leaving tomorrow night though.. It's a nice little country though. If a bit small and empty :)<br>

... about 8 girls that I think were Philippino, because they were asian and what they spoke sounded like Spanish, sat across from me.  They were definitely talking about me and laughing---not sure if thought I was cute or just making fun of my lame attempt at a beard, haha.  One of them had no issue with staring at me and making it obvious when she talked about me, seemingly wanting attention.  I was too tired to really get involved, but thought of a few phrases to say if they got any more ...

... or maybe he wanted a break from greasy food since we&#8217;d be having lunch delivered 5 days straight. <br><br>Saad and Ziad (the marketer on the project) wanted to have dinner that night, but the engineer I had been working with to get the process working (Erwin, a Phillipino) had a night off (since his wife was working the night shift at the hospital, with their 2-year-old daughter being taken care of at the hospital by another nurse) and offered toshow me ...

... his opponent (rather than a lower level of competition).<br><br>I tried my hand and games too, getting beat 9-2 by Farhad (though ahead 2-1 for one tiny glimpse of hope) and 11-2 by Saad. Not even my tennis experience could help me against these guys. I was surprised at how little these guys sweated in their polos while my sweat was showing through my t-shirt (I later learned the secret of an undershirt as Farhad changed his overshirt). I was really surprised at ...

... yellow pepper sauce, croissants, and cheeses. Not so great were the cooked sliced zucchini (?), beef hot dogs (?), and beef bacon. <br><br>Was a little unsure of how I'd get picked up, but figured my contact Saad [pronounced "Saawd" as I would find out later that day when confused with Ziad ("Zee-awd")], who is the Dammam plant operations manager, but figured he'd call up to the room, which he did. Picked up at about 8:45. Saad's ...

... womens prayer areas. There are people of all types here, lots of veiled women and men in various types of islamic and/or arabic dress. There is this huge electronics store with the simpsons playing on a plasma tv to the sounds of the song: A Woman in Love by Streisand and the Bee Gees. Two Arabic men in full garb staring at the Chris Rock comedy on the other plasma with provocatively dressed women ...