Saudi Arabian Travel Guide

I have just got back from Riyadh, central Saudi Arabia. I was there to perform a short mime act for a mobile communications company called “Mobliy”. Originally we had been told the gig was in Dubai, this was not the case!

I didn’t even know that I was going until Thursday afternoon, when our last minute visa applications were approved, and we were to depart Friday morning. When I found out I was leaving the next day I immediately got “Googling” to see exactly what I was in for and what I should take with me or leave behind. I discovered at this point that the country was an extremely strict Muslim country (and Riyadh one of the strictest cities) where, according to one website, public executions, beheading's and floggings were not uncommon. Apparently there is hardly any theatrical style performance over there (homosexuality is punishable by death (what if you’re an actor with bit of a girly laugh??????)) and music is forbidden. I immediately packed my most conservative clothes and really tried to take nothing that would offend anyone (lest I may be flogged until dead at customs). I didn’t even take any jeans in case the government frowned upon skate/ rap influenced fashion.

When I arrived at the airport the next day, it seemed my “holiday buddies” had done much the same research. During the required 3 hours prior to departure, we essentially compared notes, compounded our individual fears and basically resigned ourselves, before leaving Heathrow, to not leave the hotel for the duration of our stay! One particularly scary piece of information I hadn’t seen the night before, was that after a relatively recent multiple murder (of 4 French tourists who were out in the desert) the countries “terror threat” level had been elevated. Saudi Arabia was now the Middle East country with the second highest threat level after Iraq. Bowels suitable loosened!

My fears had been somewhat calmed that morning, however, as I had called the Saudi Consulate in London to ask about taking my iPod. I didn’t want to leave it behind but was also worried about the “no music” rule, especially as my iPod is full of foul mouthed gangster rap from the likes of Public Enemy, NWA, Dre, Snoop, etc. I didn’t fancy trying to explain to customs that I wasn’t affiliated with the “Eastside” OR “Westside”, nor was my blue suit any statement as to my being a member of the Crips. The conversation went something like this;



Hi. Can I take my iPod

Yes. Why not??

Erm, cos the Internet said…

…

I don’t want any problems at customs. Do you think they’ll have a problem with it?

No. Why should they



Simple as that apparently so I left it there. Packing my iPod and heading off. I also spoke to a friend whose parents live in “Saudi”. She said she loves it there and the people are really friendly. I was determined to enjoy my stay and not be ruled by any media hyped, irrational fears.

I can honestly say after breezing through customs and collecting our bags (mine arrived 2 days late, “happens every flight” the helpful attendant informed me) we had an amazing trip. The people were some of the friendliest strangers I had ever met. Granted we were performing a fun show that they seemed to love so were already popular, but everyone welcomed us. They asked us questions, wanted to spend time with us and welcome us to their country. I seemed particularly popular. I was complimented, flattered, and, at points, surrounded by interested Arabs. This prompted me to be dubbed “The Golden God” by my associates!

Some points of interest;

The Muslim people pray 5 times a day. Everything stops. All shops and restaurants close, their lights are turned off and service is stopped. The people go to a mosque to pray as a kind of “prayer song” is played out over huge tannoy systems all across the city. According to their faith, there is greater power in collective prayer so a mosque full of people praying is regarded as the best place to be. If for whatever reason they do not choose to go to the mosque, they can actually pray anywhere. Small groups would form in the convention centre where the trade show was held and they would literally pray in any available space. It was so surreal to be in a shopping mall at prayer time (midday ish). The mall was open but empty except for security guards. All the shops were closed, all the artificial light was switched off so it was unusually dark, the mini theme park inside was all flashing and moving merry go rounds, coke machines and video games but not a child in sight. Weird.

We were actually mid performance at the start of prayer time one day and we just came to a neutral position and left the stage. The audience knew what we were doing and respected us “Westerners” for respecting them.

Their days off are Fridays and Sundays. We arrived at about 2am on Saturday morning and ended up in 2 meetings that day. 1 mid afternoon the other at 10.30pm. Totally normal for a Saturday night in Saudi.

No alcohol is permitted or sold in Saudi Arabia. However, we were told that anything you want is available at a price. One of the people we met claimed a single individual has the monopoly on all “Black Label” whisky sales (a favourite out there). This can sell up to £500/$1000 a bottle.

One night, 4 of us ate at a Lebanese restaurant. We had drinks, loads of bread, 4 soups, 5 starters, 4 main courses and complimentary desserts that came to a whopping £20/$40 total! The food we ate on the trip was generally plentiful and very good quality and the price was always uber cheap.

The city is surrounded by desert. If the wind gets up it can make the sky “cloud” over as the sand/dust fills the sky. The sky looks exactly the same as that of a British sky as a storm approaches. It becomes dark. If you were stood in a doorway or at a window looking into the air you’d be forgiven for thinking there was a light drizzle in the air being whisked up in the wind. Being British, you step outside expecting to get wet but its still 30+ degrees, completely dry and you are just in a light dust storm.

Thursday night is the equivalent of our Friday night and the city seemed to come to life. There were tonnes of young people out and about at midnight the Thursday we were leaving for the airport. Parks were full, fast food restaurants were busy, kids were out in their cars and on their motorbikes. The road outside our hotel was 6 lanes (3 either direction). As we were leaving for the airport we saw 3 quad bikes burning up the road pulling wheelies in traffic and a small army of youthful rollerbladers weaving in and out of some crazy drivers. The pinnacle of these surreal visions was a young lad in full Arab robes performing 4 back flips followed by one straight back (back flip with no hands). He then looked extremely pleased with himself, ran on 50 feet or so and got back in the moving car he had vacated to perform his acrobatics in the equivalent of Friday night, city centre traffic.

All in all the trip was excellent. We were actually asked to stay to do another show in another city but we all had other work commitments in place so regrettably could not stay. By all accounts, the city we never made it to, Jeddah, is a great place to visit. Next time! Not all the information we found on the Internet was false, but it was full of isolated incidents and aspects that were blown out of proportion. As far as I can understand it, there is a certain element of western propaganda deterring potential visitors and keeping us distanced from Islamic nations and its people. According to some Saudis, there is also certain eastern propaganda from a proud nation who are eager to keep their country unspoilt and free from too many western influences.

Peace