First Time In Saudi Arabia (Part 2)

Curious and nervous I am ready to embark and discover what really lies within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

February 5, 2010, my journey to the infamous Kingdom of Saudi Arabia starts on a morning flight from Doha to Bahrain. Surprisingly, as the plane shuts its door, the cabin crew starts distributing boxes of light snack, or should I say breakfast. Inside were chicken sandwich, orange juice and slice fruits. Then everyone start opening the boxes and start consuming the contents.

Then I said to myself, “Aren’t we suppose to take off and reach the cruising altitude before we take these snacks?”

But before I knew it, the cabin crew is already collecting back the boxes as soon as the plane starts taxing to the runway. “What?”. I haven’t drunk my orange juice.

Like a choreographed dance, just in time the cabin crew finish collecting all the left-over, the plane is ready to take off.

Fifteen to twenty minutes upon reaching the cruising altitude of 23,000ft above sea level, I thought I can have a quick nap. But before I can recline my seat, the Captain announced that we are about to descend. Then the cabin crew starts checking everyone’s seats and windows for landing procedures. “Sir, please upright your seat”, said the crew. Obedient as a gentleman, I upright my seat. But whispering to myself “But I want to take a nap”.

We land at Bahrain safely and I realized that the flight just took forty minutes. Sooner than my wife’s night shower in a summer.

Checking on my ticket, I will be stopping-over at Bahrain for five long lonely hours. Though, there are places you can visit around in Bahrain airport, five hours is just too long to wait. My company said that this is only the flight they can get in order for me to catch up the start of our seminar / workshop on Saturday morning (February 6, 2010). To me it doesn’t serve the purpose of taking a plane at all. Doha to Riyadh by land would take you about six hours. Just before I board my plane from Bahrain to Riyadh, I could have reached Riyadh by then via land.

Good thing there are free internet access at the airport. Somehow I can kill the time without feeling the drag. I log-in to my facebook and wah-lah, I‘m chatting now with my wife. I also managed to get in touch to a friend back in Singapore who is now in Riyadh. At least I have arranged someone, and willing, to show me Riyadh around.

My friend asked me if I brought with me my lap top, external drives, flash drive or digital camera, anything where you can save files. He advised me to make sure that nothing “funny” inside these gadgets, otherwise I will land into trouble.

Good thing I left my laptop, not because there are “funny” things inside, but to be safe from all the troubles. With me are only a flash drive and a digital camera. I have nothing to worry on my flush drive. And to be 100% sure, I deleted everything in my digital camera.

One thing I noticed at Bahrain airport, which to me is peculiar amongst the airport I have been. They have there staffs walking around calling for passengers, shouting at restaurants and shopping entrances, “Riyadh”, “Doha”, “Beirut”, “Jeddah”, and so on. They even wake up people sleeping to tell that flight so and so is about to depart. Very annoying and irritating.

Checking on the flight information, we are to board at gate 13 in half-an-hour. Funny, we were told earlier to wait at gate 16. Me and my colleague rushed to gate 13, just in time the queue has started when we arrived.

The flight to Riyadh from Bahrain is about an hour, and so I thought I will quickly finish my snack this time to have time for a short nap. But I was wrong, the snack was served after take off. By the time we finished the snacks, we are already preparing for landing.

Naps are really elusive when you needed it most.

Excited and curious, I am about to see for myself what is it in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Only then I can tell, if what I’ve been hearing about are true or just a plain urban legends.