A short stint in Saudi (and QR Doha Stopover)

[Major]

Did you notice any relaxation of alcohol restrictions anywhere ?

 

[SydneySwan]

I guess he thought I was a pilgrim ...

Well you are in a way. I remember being told by an Orthodox priest in Israel many years ago that all visitors are pilgrims whether they are Orthodox or not.

 

[Pushka]

Well you are in a way. I remember being told by an Orthodox priest in Israel many years ago that all visitors are pilgrims whether they are Orthodox or not.

I dare say that instas and influencers might change his mind now.

One thing that struck me in your photos and when we were in Oman in particular was the extreme cleanliness of the floors everywhere. Is that the case here as the marble looks sparkling despite the foot traffic.

 

[RooFlyer]

Did you notice any relaxation of alcohol restrictions anywhere ?

No, I doubt that will ever come for just general travel. I think the most that might be expected is alcohol served in foreigners only (expensive) resorts.

 

[RooFlyer]

Chastened my my faux pas, I retreated back to the hotel. I approached the Duty Manager and asked him about the situation with the courtyard and the mosque. Yes, the courtyard is considered part of the mosque but he assured me it wasn't a big thing. We got chatting - he was probably the most hospitable Saudi I had come across to that point. Impressed that I had come from Australia. Observed that I was Platinum and said he's have some coffee and dates sent to my room.

I went to my room and did some TR and other stuff. A short while later my coffee etc arrived. I'm not sure if it would have been sent as a welcome amenity anyway or only as the manager arranged it, but very nice. Nuts, sweet pastries, macaroons (I think they were stale!), fruit, dates and Arabic coffee.



By now it was early evening and the mosque and courtyard was filling up. Not that the umbrellas had folded up, and others on the way.





A fair sea of devotion:

 

[RooFlyer]

I had booked 'half board' which meant breakfast and dinner included, so I went along to the buffet restaurant. One of the best buffets I've ever come across! Huge spreads of all types. About 10-12 baie marie mains dishes. I could only take a few discreet pics, which don't do it justice - there is more off to the right in the first pic, and 365 degrees around the pillar in the 2nd and 4th pics. And really nice too!









Afterwards, the mosque kept really busy. Fortunately the calls to prayer were barely audible - even the one at 4:45am the next morning!

 

[RooFlyer]

Next morning, out by 7:30 for a Careem out to Madinah airport to pick up an Enterprise rental car to drive to Al Ula. Fairly straightforward - reservation sheet, driver's licence, Int'l DL, eVisa. Fortunately the guy next to him spoke good English so I was able to geta refresher on the basics of driving here. When we drove around in 1994, I recalled 2 main things: The over-the-top freeways, multi lanes going nowhere in particular and the awful behaviour of drivers. Turns out nothing had changed.

Driving (LHD): at any time, someone 2 lanes over on your left might cut across in front of to you to turn right, including (or especially in) a round-about. Trucks or cars backing out into the street back straight out, without looking. If a road is 1 lane each way, there will be a good paved shoulder of about 2/3 lane wide. If someone wants to over-take you, you pull over onto that 2/3 lane so they overtake you without going 'too much' into the oncoming lane. This has 2 benefits. First, you can overtake when there IS on-coming traffic (they simply move across to their shoulder ). Second, as happened to me, if you are over-taking someone, then some-one can over take YOU at the same time - three abreast. I nearly shat myself. Of course you can overtake on blind curves and pay no heed to lanes - that's pretty basic. The way you spot a foreigner driving is that they use an indicator. No one indicates for anything. Ever.

So off I go, led by Google maps and of course early on I miss a turn and end up spending 20 mins more in Madinah traffic than I planned to. Then on the highway to Al Ula - about 4 hours.



Once out onto the highway, it was easy driving, with 4 or 5 lanes to choose from.



But after about 90 mins, that ended and we abruptly changed to 1 lane each way, with the wide shoulder I mentioned. It became a very monotonous drive; not much traffic and scenery much the same. Only a couple of towns and maybe 2 petrol station stops along the way (middle-east type dunnies).

There are ground-level speed cameras at regular intervals and also overhead speed and seat belt cameras. One police check-point, but seemed to be for trucks - they waived me through.







One of the towns along the way.



And as I turned off to Al Ula, we graduated back to ... 5 lanes each way. They have big plans for this place!



Not very helpful.

 

[RooFlyer]

Choosing accommodation at AL Ula for 2 nights proved a bit of a task. There is an Accor place here, but a careful look at the reviews showed a few deficiencies. There are a couple of really flash places, like the Habitas

https://www.ourhabitas.com/alula/

but not for me - too much (about double Cloud7). I eventually landed on Cloud7 Residences, for about SAR3,800 for 2 nights (A$1,500) - yes, that's considered not bad!! Of course many very cheap places but again, not for me.

Luxury Hotel in AlUla | Cloud7 Boutique Desert Stay

Discover Cloud7 AlUla, a luxury boutique hotel in the desert. Book your unforgettable stay today.

cloud7hotels.com

After my first day and night, I can say its ... not quite what they market. To be unkind, it reminds me of a luxury mining camp - self contained dongas with a couple of central eating places. Its very large (300 rooms!), mostly ground level, but some 2 level blocks (I'm in one - the upper stories are the same, but 'deluxe' - that was a mistake). Golf carts for staff to get around with bags etc. My 'luxury bungalow' is reasonably comfortable, but small. The bedroom is tiny. There is a kitchenette and a poorly designed 'living room' - the desk has one chair which you can't sit in unless you pull the desk out. The aircons are way over-sized for the room sizes - they produce an arctic gale which I guess would be useful in summer, but its been about 22 degrees here today - typical for the time of year. No low fan for night; yes, I turned mine off of course but not really appropriate.

Al Ula is ripping ahead - more on this later, but its being heavily developed by the Saudis as a tourist destination. Hopefully other 'mid tier' options will be developed.

So the deluxe bungalow. Blinds open out to the balcony and walkway. Have to keep them closed for any privacy, esp at night.



Check out the desk/'dining'? table



Kitchenette. Has all pots and pans etc



Bedroom. Check the width!





View. This makes it a 'deluxe' bungalow, not just a standard one.