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.
