Saudi Arabia, Riyadh - First Impression

I will start this hub saying that for the most part we are hugely misinformed about the Middle East and the people there. I personally find them very nice and rather welcoming, a lot more than some other places in Europe for example. I normally prefer to make the first step in melting the ice – handshake, smile etc. This worked there. Pronouncing their names could be another story altogether.

Getting to Riyadh is not easy. I had plenty of trouble getting a Saudi visa with an overzealous Czech employee in the Prague Saudi embassy. If you are planning a trip there, plan to apply for a visa as early as you can. I had another trip right before this one so for me, it did look like an obstacle course at times with the short notice and all. Once I got to speak to a Saudi person in their embassy, they understood everything and I was admitted easy. Getting to that Saudi person could be a problem.

The first impression. Riyadh King Khalid Airport is an extraordinarily appealing building with what looked like a hand-crafted high ceiling and fairly small international flights terminal. Small as it can be the passport control lines can be really long even at 4am in the morning. The lack of duty free stores at the airport sends another rather quick message. Riyadh is a dry city – no alcohol is allowed, hence - no duty free. If you are planning to bring some booze to friends, give it up – you could get in major trouble for bringing in spirits. I brought plenty of chocolate – no problems there.

Riyadh has wide straight roads which at the time of my arrival were not too busy and looked very pretty. Combined with plenty of March sunshine and inexpensive price of gas, this makes Saudi Arabia a good place to rest after overcast, overpriced, diesel-smelling Europe. I stayed at a Holiday Inn in their Izdihar district and made a perfect call booking online. I wanted to be outside the city center and enjoy some peace and quiet even at the expense of a few extra cab fares. The hotel people arranged a pick-up for me at the airport. The Philippine person at the desk was fast and efficient – a good impression which lasted all the way through checkout.

Prices in Riyadh are lower than US and Europe. The exception here is airfare and hotels. Even at a fancier hotel, food was decently priced and cabs were cheap too. The most expensive ride was to the airport (north of town) – 100 riyals which was about 20 euros or 28 US dollars for example.

The traffic situation in the city could be a lot different than my initial impression during the day. Riyadh is a large city so traffic jams are a norm with no real public transportation available. Construction sites and roadwork are common too. Nevertheless, the traffic there has its own self-regulating mechanism with the local police riding in these supped-up Camrys and Sonatas.

Food is excellent and even in March the vegetables taste like vegetables as opposed to the plastic taste of their counterparts in Europe or some parts of the US same time of the year. Overall the cuisine is middle-eastern with some Mediterranean elements too. Hygiene did not strike me to be a problem and bottled water was widely available at reasonable price everywhere.

Riyadh is a multicultural city. There are many expats there and some of them live in gated compounds where they can continue to have the life style they have in their countries without disturbing the locals. In addition, there are plenty of foreigners who work in Riyadh and they are from the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Egypt etc. The Saudi people are rather-well adjusted to seeing foreign faces and the level of people who speak English in Riyadh is a lot higher than in Madrid or Rome for example.

Bottom line – do not miss a chance to go and visit. Having to move there and live could be a different situation requiring more research and better-qualified decisions. I may have another trip to there – a follow-up hub will be made available then.