Arriving in Saudi Arabia and driving around town

Warning some of the information contain in the following observations may be helpful to people that wish to harm Westerners as their way of expressing extreme Moslem faith. Do not share these observations with anyone other than who the email attachments have been copied.

It is for security and safety of us Westerners that some of this information could be used to cause us harm.

I have been reluctant to mention or tell my family and friends my two year’s saga of living in a foreign land.

I arrived in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on 8 September 2014 in the dead heat of the summer. At 2 AM the temperature was over 100 degrees F. This extreme temperature was notice as soon as you depart from the airplane. At the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Abdulaziz_International_Airport), the plans land then taxies to the airport apron or tarmac, planned places alone the runways and taxiways where plans are parked for services and the boarding and exiting of passengers. Passengers are debarked into buses who then will drive you to the terminal. King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA)is actually two airports, the north Terminal and the South Terminal. The south Terminal is use by Saudi Arabian Airline (Saudi) is the national airline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the largest airline in the Middle East. It flies 12 billion passengers per year (http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Saudi_Arabian_Airlines.aspx). King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA)t is a busy airport due to its location to the two holy Cities, Medina and Mecca.

Thirty minutes prior to landing the Captain makes his announcement to prepare for landing. After the announcement you will observe many of the woman on the plan that are dressed as Western woman are going to the restroom and exiting wearing Niqab and abaya. I have spent many hours traveling in and out of the Gulf States where I have noted many Western Woman are clueless on what is expected they are to be dressed and require by local customs.  At customs it is common for improper dressed Western woman to be given a abaya and asked to ware it.

The plane in many Arab airports will taxi to large apron areas where passengers are asked to debark and to be ferried to the terminal in busses.   It is when you exit the plan that you realize you are not in a hot dry or humid (depending on the seasons).  It is a ten-minute trip to the terminal.  The south terminal is reserved to Saudi Airlines the national air lines of the Kingdom.

The Abaya (the outer garment) that covers the woman from shoulder to ankle and the head scarfs or Nijab.  The Nijab comes in several styles, the two most common forms are the half niqab and the gulf-style or full niqab.

The half niqab is a simple length of fabric with elastic or ties and is worn around the face. This garment typically leaves the eyes and part of the forehead visible. The gulf-style or full niqab completely covers the face. It consists of an upper band that is tied around the forehead, together with a long wide piece of fabric which covers the face, leaving an opening for the eyes. Many full niqab have two or more sheer layers attached to the upper band, which can be worn flipped down to cover the eyes or left over the top of the head. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niq%C4%81b#Styles).

Upon arrival everyone must clear customs, sometimes this can take a couple of hours.  Upon one arrival I was surprise that it took 15 minutes to clear custom.  I was told that the King had heard of the many complaints of the long time to clear customs and he order more men to be assigned.  Six month later it took over an hour to pass customs.  One thing you observed in Saudi is change is slow.

On the way home from the airport you observe the uniqueness of the Saudi Transportation System.  First, you notice the many cars on the road of basically two types, small compact or sub-compact and Large SUV of all makes and models.  You also notice that the smaller cars are almost all white and the SUV are almost always black.  Since the Saudi population is made up of many nationalities, this cultural difference is reflective in the driving habits of the drivers on the streets of Jeddah.

Driving in Jeddah is unlike driving in other countries.  In 2005 there was 158 cars per 1000 people, in 2015 the number of cars is over 450 per 1000 people. In the cities driving for a Westerner can be quite a challenge. For example, here are some of the challenges:

1`             1)     There are few stop signs in the City of Jeddah.  And when there are stop                         signs no one stops.  Tee intersections are always a place to use caution                           because the cars from the side streets believe they have the right o way over                   the cars on the main street.

2)     Speaking of right of way, no one in Jeddah knows what yielding to the person on the right is all about.

3)     When on a three-lane road and at a stop light, be mindful that the car in the far-right lane will turn in front of you to make a left turn.

4)     Everyone double and triple parks in the road making a two-lane road just narrow enough for a car to pass.

5)     Most major roads are divided highways but not a lot of left turns or cross over at main streets.  You must pass the main intersection and drive .5 or 10 km to make a U turn to turn left.

6)     There are no traffic enforcement officers so a lot of driver’s speed.  If you are in the left lane going the speed limit do not be surprise that someone will ride you bumper, flash their lights and honk their horn until you move over.

7)     With no traffic enforcement the local government resorts to use traffic cameras to ticket speeders and people who run red lights.  The average fine is 300 SAR or about $78.

8)     On the divided highways people will pass you on the shoulder and the shoulders are not a lane in width.  You must move over to the right for them to pass safely.

9)     All big SUV are bullies when it comes to driving on the road, they will cut in front of you, tailgate you, stop without notice or care of location to drop off and pick up passengers. Note: I had my first traffic collision by a SUV parking behind me and in my blind spot.  I backed up and hit their finder.

10)             Many Saudi driver are impolite, rude and will not give an inch when inline.  Merge is not some word Saudi drivers understand.

11)            When at a stop light the cars behind you will honk their horns as soon as the light turns green.  In Saudi Arabi the yellow light will flash a second before the green light giving you notice to take off as if you are on a drag strip, Red, Yellow, Green and Go.

You may not know that it is against the law (in 2014) for woman to drive in Saudi Arabia.  The king in 2017 has passed a law allowing woman to drive.  It is to soon to tell what impact this will have on Saudi woman as to their freedom and how they are treated by men.  To some this may sound like a good thing but the all-male drives in Saudi Arabia display some of the poorest driving abilities in the middle east.  The poor drivers will straddle the lane line taking up two lanes and will be going under the speed limit.  They will do this for miles and do not realize the cars behind them cannot pass (or maybe they do).