10 days in Saudi Arabia
Do you know someone who was in the Middle East? Most people who travel in that direction mainly go to Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, sometimes Israel or Iran. Do you know someone who was in the largest Middle East country? In Saudi Arabia ? No? Now you know. I was in this post I will present my 10 days in Saudi Arabia .
If you read about our hitchhiking trip to Brussels , you know that I ride a horse and I worked in a professional equestrian center in Belgium for 2 years. Thanks to this and some lucky coincidences for me, I ended up at the jumping competition near Riyadh, the capital of "Saudi". But from the beginning ...
There are 3 things that come to mind when you hear the slogan "Saudi Arabia":
- Oil, and hence - a lot of money;
- Religious extremism.
- Infernal heat and boiling;
All 3 are true
In honor of the former King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz , the King Abdullah Show Jumping Festival was organized at the NOFA Equestrian Resort about 80 km from Riyadh. It was a riding event of several weeks, mainly for jumpers (I write "was", because to my surprise King Abdullah died more than a year ago and the festival for obvious reasons is not continued. To be honest I have only learned about it now. the king was marked with the Order of the White Eagle). Only members of the so-called "Arab League", or riders - as the name suggests - from Arab countries. But the games played there do not end with these few days of competition. They are continued at a higher level (5 *). Many well-known, experienced and titled players from all over the world come there to fight for the highest positions, which guarantee very high financial rewards.
The rider I worked for comes from Bahrain . It's such a small island state, it is located in the east of Saudi Arabia. He was invited to this competition, which is why he decided to go for it.
Saudi Arabia is a typically Muslim state. They strictly follow Sharia Law . Women cannot travel alone (without a husband, brother or father), it is forbidden to drink alcohol, and you can lose your arm for theft (this right I like crime in many Middle East countries is almost zero).
I worked in my boss's stable as a groom (in English groom, person taking care of horses). However, I wasn't the only employee there. I shared my responsibilities with, among others, one small Mexican who did not speak English, as well as with a Spanish woman (I could already communicate with her ), who was the main person who went to the competition (show groom). It is a blessing in disguise that in Muslim countries life is much easier for men, so the boss was more on hand to take me than Paula. In this way I was delegated to go on a journey
A visa is required to enter Saudi Arabia. An interesting story is also associated with this. As my Bahrain boss was invited to the competition, we got the opportunity to get an accelerated visa. So we went to the Saudi embassy in Brussels to collect these visas. At one point my boss pulled out his smartphone and showed something to the secretary at the embassy. The one with a strange smile took her phone and made a call. After a while, with a completely serious face, she went to a room in the back. It turned out that the boss showed her on the screen a letter of recommendation from ... the king himself. Such a real one, scanned to PDF and sent by e-mail. An embassy employee checked by phone whether it was true. It turned out that it is And so, 2 days before departure, we got a visa.
Did you know that horses also travel by air? Ours flew from Amsterdam, where the largest transit point for transporting animals in Europe is located. The cost of traveling one horse is several thousand euros (they travel three on so-called pallets. I think you paid 12,000 e for one pallet, regardless of the number of horses).
Me and my boss flew out of Brussels airport, then we had to change in London, and then only a few good hours remained in the air and we landed in Riyadh. Unfortunately, our flight to the capital of England was a little delayed, so we did not make our flight to Arabia. Fortunately, after negotiating with the airport staff (or rather the manipulation of "Do you know what will happen to our horses if we don't collect them in Riyadh ?!" ) we flew other airlines (British Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines return).
It is worth mentioning that with these two flights I had probably the greatest bad luck in history. My checked luggage (where I had all my clothes, underwear, riding equipment) was lost. Return, or twice. Do you know another case? Let me know in the comment.
We arrived at the Warsaw airport in the evening. I will not lie to you if I write that there is an unpleasant atmosphere. Armed soldiers, distrustful service, a lot of paperwork - this is not conducive to a good first impression. However, my attitude changed 180 degrees as soon as I left the terminal.
It's competition time! Whoever first writes in the comment what this machine is and what exactly it is used for will receive a postcard from Georgia straight from us! Set, GoIt was the beginning of April. It was cold and raining in Belgium. All in all, I was already tired after the winter. The fantastic temperature after leaving the airport was salutary for me. At night it oscillated around 20 * C, during the day around 30. It was a very nice change in relation to the European climate at this time of year.
That's how my 10 days in Saudi Arabia began.
Unfortunately, it was not a typical travel trip. It was actually a business trip. The downside of my profession at the time was that I practically didn't have the usual "free time". Taking care of horses is associated with very frequent checking of the condition of animals, regular feeding, and continuous duties. Maybe I didn't have a lot of work on my mind (only 2 horses to look after), but I couldn't leave the center for a long time.
We spent the first night at the hotel because we preferred not to travel at night. In the morning we had a delicious breakfast, because by taxi (fuel prices in this country are ridiculously low, 38 grosze per liter! ) We went to NOFA.
Have you ever been in the so-called Olympic village ? No? Me neither. But I'm sure it looks similar to this place The whole resort is surrounded by a WALL, whose total length exceeds 17 kilometers! If you have ever visited a stud in Poland, e.g. Arabian Horses in Janów Podlaski , know that these two places cannot be compared. Over 700 people work there: grooms, cleaners, cooks. They have about 40 stables , many paddocks, carousels for horses, several racetracks, residential buildings, as well as ... swimming pools.
And so, my room was cleaned every day . I didn't buy this water from the table either.In addition to the typically equestrian part, there are 2 more that surprised me nonetheless. Safari and African village.
Safari meant such a zoo for African animals, but in more natural conditions. They had giraffes, wild cats, and a rhinoceros. It looked really interesting, with a typical Arabic flourish.
And this is what the car looked like after meeting one ... gazelleThe African spring shocked me a lot. It was a part of the resort stylized on the style of the Black Continent, built 100% from products of African origin! Every single board is brought from there! Shock. Very nice bungalows, small pools, dining room. Anyway, see for yourself
As I mentioned, the general atmosphere in this country is quite ... specific. I met several examples of her during my stay.
It is obvious that most women wear body clothing (e.g. burqas), but I have noticed some exceptions in the city. It turned out that without special clothing some European women walk, as well as so-called "Shakes." You've probably heard who the sheikh is and the sheikh is the women's version of the first one. Do you know who they call sheiks? They are members of the royal family, even those quite distant, "uncle's aunt's brother." My former rider from Bahrain is a sheikh (another curiosity, it is said "szech", not a sheikh). In contrast, members of the royal family in Saudi Arabia are said to be "prince" (pronounced prins). It's all a little complicated, but you'll definitely get over it.
I saw few women in the center, mainly European women. The only one who walked normally was dressed Fink luzaczka rider was from the host country, incidentally, a relative of the king
Another situation concerned me. Maybe it wasn't dangerous, but I felt ... discomfort. One of the few women I had contact with was a white reporter who asked me to take some photos with one of our horses. The next day I also met her during the competition and smiled reflexively. After a while I felt a few unfavorable eyes from the "natives" working in the center. It wasn't cool.
The last case is heard, but from a reliable source (confirmed info ). One of the center employees asked a woman for a phone number, and she called the police, who took the lowlas to the police station. This is how the pickup ends in Saudi Arabia
Despite some uninteresting incidents, I consider this trip very successful. I rested, the first time I had the opportunity to see the Arab country, I charged energy for a long time. This country is slowly changing. Did you know that women were given the right to vote in elections ? Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to see too much there, which hurts me so far, but I hope that someday there will come a time when we can freely enter this country and my 10 days in Saudi Arabia will look completely different.
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