Saudi Arabia dominates the Arabian peninsula and contains Islam’s holiest cities:
Mecca (Makkah) and Medina (Madinah) — where Muslim pilgrims throng during the Hajj. The Hajj, along with a few crops that grow well in oases, such as medjool dates, used to be the country’s main source of income before oil was discovered less than 100 years ago.
It is not possible for non-Muslims to see Mecca and Medina – no way – unless you convert.
The kingdom strongly enforces a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, though minor relaxations have been adopted in the last few years, the most notable being allowing women to drive.
It is generally an incredibly desolate desert landscape. There are significant mountains in the southwest and a wonderful eroded sandstone landscape around Al Alu.
Visas. Advance visas are required for all foreigners desiring to enter. Saudis prefer not to grant visas to unaccompanied women. Tourist e-visas started in September 2019 and are relatively easy to obtain online. Require at least one night of a reserved hotel and Covid vaccination. These are one-year multiple-entry visas allowing you to stay up to 90 days per entry. Citizens of 49 countries can get an e-visa online or get a visa on arrival.
Those not listed must apply at an embassy or consulate and provide additional documentation: proof of accommodation, proof of employment, proof of a return ticket, and a bank statement. The visa fee is SR570 (2021). Visas do not state their exact expiry date. While the validity is noted in months, these are not Western months but lunar months, and you must use the Islamic calendar to figure out the length: a three-month visa issued on “29/02/22” (22 Safar 1429, 1 March 2008) is valid until 29/05/22 (22 Jumada al-Awwal 1429, 28 May 2008), not until 1 June 2008. Depending on visa type, the validity can start from the date of issue or the date of first entry. This all results in fantastic confusion.
Covid PCR less than 72-hours old.
Tawakkalna App. Download from Play Store onto phone. Fill in your vital statistics and Saudi phone number. Cannot be filled out until after arrival in SA as need a SA SIM and phone number.
Required to travel around Saudi Arabia. Should be, but is not often asked for to enter malls, museums and stores. It also records your Covid PCR tests.
Muqeem form. Vaccination Registration form. Also required to enter but only asked for at flight check-in.
Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR). 1€=4.24 SAR; 1US$=3.75 SAR; 1CAD$=2.93. xe.com Dec 2021
Population: 33 million (2018)
Country code: +966
Language. Expect significant variations in the English spellings of place names in schedules and even road signs: Al Wajh and Wedjh are the same place. In particular, Q/G, E/I, and E/A are interchanged freely (Qassim/Gassim, Mecca/Makkah, Jeddah/Jiddah), H/A sometimes swap places (Al-Ahsa/Al-Hasa) and the definite article al- can be left on or off (Medina/Almadinah, Riyadh/Arriyadh).
Observations Saudi Arabia
1. Highways. Except for the thousands of inappropriate speed bumps, SA has the best highway system in the world. Almost all is 4-lane divided with wide shoulders and fast speed limits: 120 on main highways and often 110 through towns (although this gets limited by traffic). 98% is lit at night with light standards with 2-4 lights each often stretching for hundreds of kilometers. It is worthwhile driving at night to see it especially as many of the poles are lit with LEDs, sometimes in many colours. Good highways go everywhere.
The speed limit is generally 120 km/h but sometimes reduces to 110, 100 or 80. Most of the speed limit signs are in Arabic and one needs to know the numbers.
2. Speed Cameras. These are very common along the highways. They are not on the gantries that cross the roads (I think these are toll cameras) but are in small, rectangular, light olive green metal boxes to the sides of the road (most often in the center median area in the south but also on the right, especially in the north. When triggered by exceeding the posted speed limit, there is a flash of light. Thankfully their range if very short, probably less than 50 m, and it is completely possible to avoid tickets by being vigilant when driving. Between El Jawf and Tukut, there were 11 cameras and I didn’t get a ticket despite going between 140-160 all the way.
However I didn’t realize until about day 8 that they don’t use radar (at least not radar detected by my detector) and that these were the speed traps. As a result, I ended up with ~4500 SAR (CAD$1500) worth of tickets. Ouch. I did speed a lot.
3. Drivers. There is a lunatic fringe in every country and SA is no different. Here they can be particularly brazen passing on the left shoulder and passing aggressively on double solids. They also frequently zoom up behind you flashing their lights and then tailgate.
On the other hand, speed bumps are traversed so slowly, it can get tiring.
4. Prices are very reasonable. Mediocre hotels go for 150-200/night (about US$38-52). Food is likewise comparable to most places.
Gas is about 2.2 SAR – €.519 = CAD$.75
5. Wildlife. Baboons are easily the most common and especially in the southwest. Whole troupes sit on top of the highway cement barricades, cross the roads and mooch food. The important males have large red buttocks. Camels are not common and there are camel crossing signs. Once there was an elaborate overpass used by the camels.
6. Southeast Asians (Bangladesh, India) appear to be doing all the menial jobs – street cleaning, gas station attendants, fast food workers, construction. it seems that most are from Bangladesh or less often Nepal.
I assumed that all me not wearing the white “dresses” and headgear, were not Saudis.
7. Houses. Saudis have large opulent homes spread all over the place – on top of mountains and spread evenly almost everywhere I go.
8. Vehicles. About 75% are Toyotas, the rest Japanese, South Korean and North American. Many are SUVs. I majority or all banged up and badly in need of bodywork.
GET AROUND
Internal travel permits are a thing of the past. The main exception is the many archaeological sites around the country, e.g. Madain Saleh, require permits. The National Museum in Riyadh no longer issues these and they referred me to my hotel or the Canadian embassy. Madain Saleh tickets are obtained at Winter Park in Al Abu, about 25 kms away. See only by 2 hour tour (1/2 hour bus ride on each side, Cost 85 SR)
By plane. Saudi Arabia is a large country, which makes flying the only comfortable means of long-distance travel. State carrier Saudia has the best schedules, with near-hourly flights on the busy Riyadh-Jeddah sector (90 min) and walk-up one-way fares costing a reasonable 280 Saudi riyals (SR) (or about US$75). Low-cost competitor Nas can be even cheaper if you book in advance, but their schedules are sparser, changes will cost you money and there’s no meal on board.
By bus. (SAPTCO) operates long-distance buses linking together all corners of the country. Buses are modern, air-conditioned and comfortable, but often slow, and the bus stations are more often than not several kilometers away from the city centre.
Special “VIP” services operate on the Riyadh-Dammam and Riyadh-Bahrain sectors. For a surcharge of about 50%, you get direct, non-stop city center-to-city centre services, plush seating and a meal on-board. They are quite good value if the sparse schedules match your plans.
By train. The railway network in Saudi Arabia used to be underdeveloped, but there has been a major push to expand rail coverage. The older line running between Riyadh, Al-Hofuf, and Dammam has been complemented by a new north-south line between Riyadh, Buraydah, and Al Qurayyat near the Jordanian border. In 2018, a new high-speed link, the Haramain highspeed railway, connecting Jeddah with the holy cities of Mecca (45 min) and Medina (2 hours), opened.
Confusingly, each railway is operated by a different company. The classic line between Riyadh and Damman is operated by Saudi Railways Organization while Saudi Railway Company operates the north-south railway. Haramain Highspeed Railway operates its own website. Online tickets are available for all services. It is advisable to buy tickets in advance as the trains are often sold out.
By taxi. Within cities, taxis are the only practical means of transportation.
Costs. Prices are generally fairly high: figure on US$50/100/200 for budget, midrange, and splurge-level daily travel costs.
Tipping is generally not expected. There are no sales taxes in Saudi, and for that matter, there aren’t any income taxes either.
ACCOMMODATION
Hotels of all types are available throughout the Kingdom. Most tourist cities (i.e. Makkah, Madinah, Taif, Al Abha) will also have very affordable and spacious shigka-maafroosha (short-term furnished rental apartments). Shigka-maafroosha owners generally loiter in hotel lobbies. Often, they will approach civilized-looking people (generally families) and make an offer. Prices for shigka-mafrooshas and small hotels are always negotiable to a great degree. Smaller hotels will only accept cash, normally in advance.
Larger, more expensive hotels are abundant in all major cities. After the lull caused by the insurgency in 2003, prices have been rising again, and you can expect to pay north of US$200 for a weekday night at a good hotel in any of the big Saudi cities. In exchange, you usually get excellent service and the ability to work around some restrictions (e.g. restaurants that stay open through prayer hours and daytime room service during Ramadan).
The yearly Islamic pilgrimage to the Holy city of Makkah is one of the five pillars of Islam and one of the most important and most ancient religious pilgrimages in the world. Until today, millions of Muslim pilgrims visit Makkah every year to accomplish this religious duty. Pilgrimage (Hajj) is a spiritual and psychological journey, where feelings are mixed between joy and sadness, longing and nostalgia, far away from home, family, and friends, winning and suffering, hope in Allah’s mercy, and mixed Human feelings. For centuries, the Muslim pilgrims crossed the Arabian Desert in long caravans that followed traditional paths and routes to reach the Holy City of Makkah. Pilgrimage routes were not only religious axes but also commercial axes favouring movement across the ancient world and the cultural and commercial exchanges with continuity over a long period of time. The Hajj land routes leading to Makkah from the neighbouring countries materialize on the land of Arabia this century-old, deeply rooted cultural and religious tradition, and constitute one of the most important material vestiges of the Islamic civilization in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian Hajj road perfectly embodies the cultural significance coming from exchanges and a multi-dimensional dialogue across countries as it permitted to bring together Muslim pilgrims from different ethnic groups and regions, favouring the cultural, religious, and scientific exchanges among the inhabitants of the region. The Egyptian Hajj road illustrates the interaction of movement, along the route, in space and time from the early Islamic Caliphate to the end of the Ottoman Rule in the early 20th century CE.