Anyways enough of the verbeage and on to neighborhood ramblings. Yes it is a foreign country but as all travellers now realize there are differences and there is also the "same same" as the world becomes more of a global community. We share more in common than many realize, although it is the differences or twists that add interest.
We will start this episode of our Blog with ramblings close to our home here, our apartment and neighborhood, then on to other further off destinations.
Our apartment is at the second balcony up from the left far corner.We are at the back of the building which is fortunate, as a busy street runs in front of the building, therefore quiet.
Joy has rearranged the furniture - living room with TV and decorative stone wall behind. The apartment comes fully furnished, aside from our decorative items.
View of living room with sliding doors to the balcony - nice in the mornings and evenings but hot during the day.
In any event it is off into our immediate neighborhood, to give some impression of the surroundings within walking distance.
One of our local fruit & vegetable stores a few minutes walk from our apartment. Yes some of the items in the front window are pumpkins - this picture taken close to the end of October, although we did not do a Halloween carving.
Surprise, if you don't want to buy locally there is this familiar outlet a few minutes away also - yes the world has become a global village with "universal delicacies". Yes a "Big Mac" is still a "Big Mac"! However my bias is to buy shwarmmas in the Lebanese restaurant a five minute walk the other way.
And yes here's a unique twist, they deliver too!
Another "Fast Food Delicacy" chain, although less familiar to us - but still popular in some circles.
However the one on the left, across the street from us, may be more familiar - ever wondered what "Subway" looked like in Arabic? The location next to it is "Pizza Napoli", which makes good pizza, either eat in or take out. Anyways enough of "chains", as they have now become a worldwide epidemic.
Also for those who wish some familiarity this is the "American Corner", a few minutes walk away for us, a combination coffee shop and restaurant serving the usual burgers, omelettes, bacon & eggs, etc for familiar breakfast or brunch. A popular place for expats and locals. Yesterday we were out for early brunch, each having cappucinos and Spanish omelettes, and sitting at the table next to us was a Saudi family, also having a western breakfast but with an interesting sociological twist. There was proud grandfather, dressed in National clothing, with his grandson, his wife fully covered, in the company of his son (or in law) who was wearing tee shirt & jeans, along with his wife (daughter or inlaw) with no face covering - a mix of the generations and attitudinal changes that we have noted among a number of the younger generation.A nice family gathering on the weekend.
A few minutes further down the street another coffee shop, although a chain enterprise. Coffee shops are popular here which suits us fine being "coffeeholics". As noted here the two dominant languages you see on store signs, menus, street signs, etc are Arabic and English - works well - Quebec should learn from this discovery?
Around the corner is "Danube" our local version of "Loblaw", a full service grocery store, carrying the usual groceries, deli counter, and household goods. As you can see on the sign it is open 24 hours which is convenient - people go to bed late here, particularly on weekends. Because of the daytime heat many businesses (stores) are open 10am - 2 pm then 5 or 6 pm until 11-12 pm. Yes I've had a haircut after 10 pm!
A little further down the street (about a 10 minute walk from the apartment) is this newer development with some specialty stores. Our neighborhood is a mixture of older lower level buildings with small businesses, more personal and culturally interesting, and these newer developments which are more like what we are used to at home. However it offers a mix during our strolls. Because of the temperatures here (down to the mid 30's now in later November) there are many large modern shopping malls throuhout the city, most larger than the Eaton's Centre in Toronto, where much of the shopping and walking take place - yes how essential air conditioning is here, as heated malls are during winter at home.
In this development for example is this specialty food store (eg. imports beef from North America) where we have bought some nice steaks and crabs legs (frozen, for steaming).
Also in this development is an example to discard any misconceptions of what clothing can be purchased in the Kingdom. The variety of goods is no different from what we are able to purchase both North and South of the border. Remember a black Abbaya is just a covering to be used when walking around outside in public - what is worn underneath it and in private social settings is the same as what we are used to, and in some cases even more daring.
On the stroll home we pass the minaret of one of our neighborhood mosques, a reminder that we are in the country that contains the cities of Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam. Both are within a two hour drive of Jeddah.
Just befor getting home we see Joy entering our local fish store - this is just around the corner from our apartment. As Jeddah is on the Red Sea coast, and has a long history as a port and fishing centre, there is lots of fresh seafood to be found.
The choices are many - tonight it's Tilapia. They will prepare it there (eg. filets) and even grill or fry them in the store. Today we had it fried there, and took it home (two minute walk), and had freshly cooked fish and salad for dinner (without the fish smell from cooking at home).
The window reflection from the fish store, with the buildings seen from across the street.
Home after our stroll. A view from our balcony looking South East.
The edge of the balcony is seen in the lower right hand corner.
Dusk from our balcony looking North East. The Red Sea is just out of sight some distance off to the left of the picture - about a ten minute cab ride.
After a nice dinner, too tired to read or to go out, we catch an episode of "CSI Las Vegas" on TV - here you catch episodes with Arabic subtitles, as you can see on our TV screen - a familiar show with a twist.
The next day is different, going from neighborhood ramblings to getting out of the city into the hinterland.
Although we remember that Jeddah is a coastal city on the Red Sea, its location also offers adventures of another kind - that of travelling into the desert, as that is what is envisioned by many with the term "Arabia".
Yes the desert is hot and dry, made up of rock and sand, with flat lands, hills and wadis (where water is to be found). Our drive out of the city is initially via a high speed six lane highway North, then heading off East onto a two lane paved road, eventially going off road via 4X4 's eventually going over some fairly rocky terrain.
I have been kindly invited along by Jim and Kelly (Americans), to have our expedition led by Sandy & Craig (Canadian & Kiwi) who know the desert well, along with some other expats in a third SUV. Joy unfortunately had to work and missed this adventure - next time.
Initial off road track, packed sand and gravel here, more difficult soft sand and rocky terrain further along.
Finally the desert - as some imagine it. Visions of "Lawrence of Arabia"?
This is a place where this commodity is more valuable than gold. In fact here more expensive than gasoline which in the Kingdom sells for about 30 cents a gallon - note this is "per gallon" at the pumps here. So dear readers tell me why in Saudi Arabia does gasoline sell for 30 cents per gallon, when in Canada, where a lot of oil is also produced does it sell for $$ per litre!? We should ask Steven Harper who comes from Alberta.
Anyways we used a lot of this clear cool commodity this day in the desert.
This is an old fort, Turkish Era, that was used to protect the long pilgrim route for people travelling to Mecca. There were apparently a series of forts set up along the route, usually close to Wadi's where water can be found. The pilgrims would set up their encampments close to these forts during their journeys.
Another view. Rock and some limestone to hold it together, with an amazingly smooth face to the wall - quite an accomplishment out in the desert with all that heat and little water.
The curved arches built against the insides of the outer walls.
Yours truly - not quite Indiana Jones! Maybe an advertisement for Tilley hats maybe?
A slightly different angle to get a view of the desert landscape going off into the distance. Those ancient pilgrims really must have been dedicated to treck through this wilderness. I don't need to remind you that it is seriously hot here, particularly with those rocks radiating the heat.
Our intrepid 4X4's in the distance ready to take us further afield. Our expedition leaders understand the desert and the risks out here - the heat, lack of communication and other people around if we run into trouble. We have lots of water, shovels," sand tracks" (roll out to put under the wheels if you get stuck), etc. Yes although we have GPS they simply show a point on a blank screen as there are no roads out here in the desert - GPS cannot guide us with respect to tracks or routes to take through the difficult terrain, unless one has been here before and loaded in coordinates. Yes it is an adventure.
We manage to find this Wadi where water can be found, hence the vegetation. As you can see by the terrain that it is not possible to drive in a certain direction, even knowing compass coordinates, as the terrain is not flat with hills, crevices, valleys, areas of rock, others of sand. Local knowledge or a guide is essential.
We stop for lunch on the bluff overlooking the Wadi. Of course one had to find the perfect tree to find shade under as most of the vegetation is limited with respect to producing shade to any significant degree. Our fire for cooking is seen in the foreground - it was fairly easy finding dry wood in which to burn as rain here is a very rare event.However most of the vegetation has thorns so one has to be careful in handling it. The camel's lips are set up apparently to nibble without being injured. We did see some camels in the distance but none close enough for pictures.
Lunch being cooked on the grill over the fire - steaks, ribs,and shish kabobs. All went down well with some nice salads and cold drinks (coolers are essential).
Further on in the Wadi after lunch - the bluff we are standing on has a steep drop off. We have to drive further to find an entry point. An oasis in the desert.
Water! More valuable than oil to the peoples of history on treks through the desert. The water was warm and slightly sticky, brackish.
Further downstream this opened into a small "lake" which would subsequently disappear underground.What was interesting was that there were small minnows swimming in the water.
Trenches dug by peoples of the the desert in the past whereby they could find water in underground sources.
Time to go. This 4x4 owned by Sandy & Craig has been well equiped for desert voyaging. Note the roof rack with spare tires and equipment. For vehicles travelling in the desert the wheel nuts are hand tightened, not by machine, such that if one gets a flat tire you are assured of being able to take it off by hand in able to put the new wheel/tire on. There is no AAA or CAA to be called in the wilderness, assuming you have a satellite phone.
In two hours we will be back in the city. Hard to believe that so close yet so far away from civilization. The historical dwellers of this part of the world were either traders, nomads & beduoins, or fisherman/ traders on the coast, yet today they are urbanized. Off the main roads it is difficult to find native inhabitants, a small number. Likewise the Red Sea, with some of the best scuba diving on the planet, will find very few natives partaking. In some ways a mystery, but in other ways more opportunity for us expats.
The adventure will continue - stay tuned.
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