On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
arrieve
More pictures from the walking tour in Al Balad, the old town in Jeddah.
This set is mostly street scenes in Al Balad. This is one of main shopping streets.
I always love the byways and alleyways in big cities.
A cafe.
A couple taking a coffee break. (If you’re curious—I admit it, I was—she drank the coffee by lifting her veil just enough to bring the cup underneath it.)
Tourists are a new experience for Saudis, but the people were very friendly and would smile and say hello. But only the bold, beautiful teenage girls really approached us. They took our pictures, and we took theirs, and a few of the bravest ones asked if they could take videos. They wanted to know my name and where I was from and where else I was going in Saudi Arabia.
The guide yelled at one girl for bothering me and I said, “It’s all right. I told her she could take my picture.” The girl just beamed at me. Honestly I was happy to have them take as many pictures as they wanted—a little recompense for all the pictures I’ve been taking on the sly for the past twenty years.
As we walked through Al Balad, we constantly had to jump aside to avoid the golf carts that the construction crews and various official-looking types were driving at great speed through the narrow streets.
When the walking tour was over and it was time for us to meet the bus taking us back to the ship, we also went by golf cart. I took this picture through the windshield as we barreled around corners at a speed I hadn’t realized golf carts could achieve, while the call to prayer from multiple mosques echoed through the streets.
That’s one of my favorite memories of Jeddah.
The tugboat arriving to escort us out of the very busy harbor.
The lighthouse at the Jeddah harbor. It had been pointed out to us the previous afternoon when we were returning to the ship, and I thought it looked interesting but I couldn’t get a picture and we weren’t allowed to walk around the port area.
But the night we left, we sailed right past it, all lit up and doing its job, and fortunately I had my phone handy.
The last set of pictures will be from Yanbu.
Origuy
There are some archaeological sites I’d like to visit in Saudi Arabia. One is Hegra, built by the Nabateans, the people who built Petra. There are also some petroglyphs and a set of pillars at Rajajil thought to be 6000 years old.
A female friend and her mother visited Saudi Arabia some years ago. My friend had lived in Egypt and spoke Arabic, but they were frustrated by how limited they were.
Chris T.
Typical standard (electric) golf carts are pretty limited in speed, to 14 or sometimes 19 mph. There’s no physical reason for these limits and it’s possible to get (or create) a souped-up one. This is one of the ways Trump cheats at golf: he has one modified to go something like 30 mph and will zoom ahead and move his ball.
eclare
Interesting photos again! Those teenage girls look so happy, I hope the country changes for them.
OzarkHillbilly
Obviously you’ve never walked down a St Louis alley. Thanx for the pics, arrieve.
Dorothy A. Winsor
What an amazing place to visit. Love the teen girls.
MazeDancer
Great photos!
Lapassionara
Thanks for posting these. I love the one sign that had Arabic writing, and then the words “street food” in English.
Betty
@eclare: Based on Arrieve’s comment and that photo, my guess is that those girls will not accept the suppression their mothers lived with. Change is inevitable.
eclare
@Betty:
I also noticed that they have that wonderful window to the world: the phone!
Tenar Arha
I particularly love the photo of the girls and the lighthouse. But that zooming blurry golf cart shot really gives the sense of speed.
There go two miscreants
The lighthouse looks like a repurposed water tower!
arrieve
@Origuy: There was an excursion to Hegra that I signed up for. It was expensive because you had to fly there, so unfortunately they didn’t have enough people sign up and it was cancelled. I don’t suppose I will ever go back to Saudi Arabia, so not seeing that is my one regret.
J.
More great photos. Thank you for sharing them. Sounds like a fascinating trip.
Denali5
Did you need a visa or any special documents to visit Saudi Arabia?
arrieve
@Denali5:
Yes, you need a visa. You can apply online, and it was pretty straightforward. For me anyway–some of the people I talked to on the ship had their application denied the first time, no reason given.
JoyceCB
When I was young, if you said “Saudi Arabia” I would have immediately pictured sand dunes and camels. These days I would think of sheiks driving Mercedes amongst the skyscrapers. Great pics and thanks for some nuance!
pieceofpeace
Fun and interesting, thanks!
stinger
A great OTR entry!
cope
Thank you for these pictures and your story, I am really enjoying them.
Dan B
The architecture reminds me of India, especially Mughal era buildings. I’m reminded that friends from India took a Mediterranean cruise. The farther east they went reminded them of home and the rest of the passengers thought it was mire exotic.