So now I'll start blogging about my journey in the Middle East. I'll go in chronological order from the first country that I visited to the last.
First real stop: Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
We departed Singapore, transited at Abu Dhabi airport and arrived at Doha, Qatar and took a 9 hour long bus to Dammam. In the Doha airport, the girls had to change into their abayas - the black dresses with no figure showing and the head scarf. Saudi Arabia insists on girls getting all wrapped up with the black abayas. Nonetheless, for tourists, the veil is not necessary.
Here's a map to let you better understand of the location and the place.
from Doha to Dammam9 hour journey!!! *slap forehead* It is similar to the length of journey from Singapore to Penang! But it was worse. We actually spent a total about 3 to 4 hours at the customs for both sides!!! I think the Saudi custom administration was definitely an interesting one. Everyone had to get down the bus to get their passports chopped. The men and women immigration was seperated - the men did it outside, whereas the women did it in a small room. For the women's side, it was seperated into 2 rows - Saudi and non-Saudi citizens. The immigration process is as such: first, hand over your passport. Then place your four fingers on your right hand on the fingerprint detector. Then, place your right thumb on it. If there is an error, do it again. After that, do the same for your left hand. After your hands are cleared, open your eyes big, and have both eyes scanned. After all these, you are cleared from the immigration process. Now you understand why it took soooo long.
Anyway, it was a big blessing when we arrived at our hotel room. Finally, a real room to rest in after such a looong journey! We were assigned 3 people per suite. A suite!!! The suite had 3 rooms each, so each of us took one room. :))) Oh, did I forget to mention that the Saudi segment of the trip is sponsored by the Saudi government? :P
my room! Two single beds...muahaha.I think I look like some character from Harry Potter, lol.
Room 2
Room 3, with attached bathroom
At hotel lobby (Golden Tulip hotel, and thus the tulips in the background) with roommate, projectmate and friend - Farah
3 comments:
nice!! =D
Like the harry potter pic XD
i wanna go to tennis too!! but it's so cold right now..=S
what's ur plan for this holiday? hee.
wow!!
did u have to buy that outfit???
can't wait for ur other posts!!
hehe...i'll keep dropping by. =D
have fun in pg! ;) take care!
Heyhey!
Rhi: Oh yar!! You play tennis too!!! It's raining EVERYDAY in Penang, and my tennis lesson today (I try to exercise everyday...wanna move ard a little more after 11 days of eating and eating in the Middle East) got cancelled...=.=
It's getting cold in Aussie ya? Do u do sports there anyway?
Oh, I'm going to do an internship, which starts next Mon...I'll be back in Sg by Fri..aiks.
Lin: Nope! Luckily don't need to buy...rented it from my Prof, haha. I wouldn't b using it soon man. For the headscarf, it was bothersome at times cus it keeps shifting, and my friend Farah always had to help me re-pin it...haha. The headscarf is held together by safety pins and broaches, :P.
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