Category: saudi arabia

i went to the kingdom of saudi arabia! i’ve wanted to go for as long as i can remember, mostly because it was basically forbidden until very recently. it was impossible to get a tourist visa until 2019, and then covid shut everything down again, so until now very few westerners have been there as tourists. saudi arabia is one of – if not the most – conservative and oppressive societies on earth, but is a country which is rapidly changing. since the ascension of the new crown prince mohammad bin salman, women have begun driving for the fist time, cinemas have opened around the country, justin beiber has performed for local fans, and females are technically allowed to walk around without covering their heads (though few do). all these things would have been unthinkable even 5 years ago. the regime also recently brutally dismembered journalist jamal khashoggi, disappears nationals who openly espouse dissent, treats women horribly, and has been bombing yemen mercilessly, so a case could certainly be made for not visiting, but i wanted to get a taste of the saudi arabia of today because it is changing so fast. visitors are monitored very closely – especially in the age of covid. i had to download an app which tracked me everywhere i went while in the country, and even after deleting it upon leaving my phone is still having weird glitches leading me to believe the saudi government continues to monitor me …

saudis are known for their hospitality, and even though i stuck to the big cities, most of the people i met were very friendly. i was amazed at how many of the young people spoke very good english, and were happy to chat with a foreigner!

riyadh is an ever-expanding massive city in the middle of the desert, with about 6 million official inhabitants. there are likely about 1-3 million additional undocumented inhabitants there as well. my first few experiences in riyadh were less than ideal, but par for the course. first, my baggage got lost and didn’t arrive until about 1 week later. i was going to rent a car to drive around the country, but they “didn’t have” my reservation and wanted double the price, so i deferred and decided to just take ubers and a few budget flights throughout the rest of the trip. and when i got into what i thought was my first uber ride from the riyadh airport, i soon learned the guy driving me had no connection to uber, and he ended up shaking me down for too much money with lots of yelling when we got to my hotel, but i made it!

a can’t miss thing to see in riyadh is the kingdom tower, which is the tallest building in the city, and is shaped like a bottle opener (ironic because booze is not allowed in the kindgom). there are great views from the top. i also went to see the ritz carlton hotel in the suburbs,  famous for being the location where bin salman imprisoned numerous of his rich uncles shortly after coming to power. and the national museum of saudi arabia was quite interesting as well.

downtown, there is a fortress called al masmak, which is the location where the house of saud won a major battle to create the modern kingdom. nearby is the large deera square, also called “chop chop square” by expats, where each friday, the state would decapitate people for the public to watch. special drains were built in this square to drain all the blood from this. this practice has now been moved out of sight.

overall, i had a great time in riyadh, medina and jeddah, and despite the clear problems with the regime, the saudi people are wonderful. i’d highly recommend anyone who is interested in changing societies to visit the kingdom while it remains very unique, as in the coming decades it may begin to look much more like the rest of the world.

this hotel, in addition to being opulent, is famous as the location where saudi crown prince muhammad bin salman imprisoned and shook down numerous of his own extended family over a number of months in 2017. it was also where donald trump danced and placed his hands on a ridiculous glowing orb with mbs during the former’s first international trip as u.s. president. it is not a tourist site, but i had a lot of fun exploring its opulence nonetheless!

this is a modern, airy, massive air-conditioned museum, telling the (albeit biased) story of the kingdom of saudi arabia, from pre-human history to the present. the culmination is large scale models of the 2 holiest mosques in islam in mecca and medina. everything was labeled in english which was nice.

i went to the city of medina, the second holiest city in islam. it is famous for being where the prophet muhammad is buried. until very recently, it had been haram (prohibited) for non-muslims to even enter the city limits, a regulation which was stringently enforced. while this policy was never officially changed, i had seen a few reports of non-muslims visiting without repercussions, so i thought i’d give it a try, and all went smoothly!

the city of about 1.5 million people is centered around the green-domed al masjid al nabawi – the prophet’s mosque – beneath which the prophet is buried. after mecca, this is the second most important pilgrimage site in islam, and countless massive hotels ring the area around the mosque and its huge courtyard, which can hold up to 1 million people at a time.

i stayed at the hilton hotel, and even got upgraded to a “mosque-view” room! non-muslims are still not allowed to enter the mosque courtyard, but can walk around the outskirts. as with elsewhere in the muslim world, the busiest time to be out and about is at about 2am. there are people there from all over the world, which is fascinating. one night i chanced upon a museum/exhibition on the life of muhammad, called the “international fair and museum of the prophet’s biography and islamic civilization,” an impressive new cutting edge audio-visual display, through which there was an english tour led by a smooth-talking saudi in a kaffiyeh. the tour was attended by multiple men from around the muslim world, and was punctuated by multiple tense theological debates between them. the entire tour was also live streamed and loudly over-narrated by a man who i can only presume is an aspiring muslim social media influencer. it was fascinating to hear this all play out in english!

jeddah is saudi arabia’s second city, and the most “liberal” city in the country. i spent a few days here. there is a massive new airport terminal, built to handle 100 million passengers per year. in the arrival lobby is the world’s largest airport aquarium tank! they are also building what will be the world’s new tallest building here, and also have the world’s tallest free-standing flagpole and the world’s tallest fountain – the king fahd fountain, which shoots water from the red sea 900 feet in the air. i had a good time, but beyond all these superlatives, there isn’t actually that much exciting going on for a visitor. there are multiple large malls, which i always enjoy. the red sea mall is the best one, followed by the mall of arabia and salaam mall. i also wandered around the al-balad neighborhood, which is jeddah’s old city, composed of crumbling multistory buildings built from coral, and visited the interesting historical tayebat museum.

the al balad neighborhood is jeddah’s old city. it is composed of many crumbling buildings built from coral from the red sea, with boxy wooden windows which allow the breeze to waft through the homes without anyone being able to see in. the area is rapidly gentrifying, and likely won’t be crumbling for long. in a country modernizing very fast, it was interesting to walk through an area which hasn’t changed much in centuries.

this museum was fascinating. it took what seems to be a saudi theme in museums – collecting and showing every iteration and variation of a given thing – to a new level. the place is a maze, and there are about 6 levels, and no one else there. there were rooms showing the lifestyle of saudis in different parts of the country, which was quite interesting. there were also rooms and rooms of random posters; seemingly any posters they could find. there were hundreds of variations of niqabs and other women’s clothing on display. and even all the variations of metal pipes used in saudi infrastructure. the building is built in the hejazi style.