Adventure to Al-Hasa

The last city we visited on our first short trip during our two week vacation was Al-Hasa. We took a taxi from Dammam to Al-Hasa at night which was quite the experience, a nearly 2 hour drive. Our taxi driver only grossed about $50 from the trip but was nonetheless very professional and quite courteous. On the way there, we stopped at a mosque so he could pray and then get gas. He insisted on buying us drinks and treats for the trip.

Al-Hasa (also known as Hofuf) was a pretty neat town. We didn't realize it until we got there, but our first and only day in Al-Hasa was also the first day of the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha. Everything was closed! We wandered the town trying to find adventure, which was an adventure by itself, but the things we had planned on seeing were closed. We are planning a return trip.

This is the photo-journal of our wanderings in Al-Hasa:

Here we are waiting for our taxi driver in front of the mosque. 

 This is a huge fortress called Ibrahim's Palace, one of the sights to see in Al-Hasa. It was closed, so we just walked around it and admired its mud wall construction.

 This is a souq, which is one of the main reasons to visit the town. There aren't many souqs like this in Saudi Arabia anymore. It also was closed.

 Just imagine! This place is usually packed with people trying to find a deal or make a deal!

 Walking around the city was the main event of our day in Al-Hasa. I enjoyed this town because it seems much more genuinely Saudi than Riyadh and Al-Khobar which have been very modernized.

 Al-Hasa is reportedly one of the largest oases in the world! There are thousands of palm trees and it seemed like there was a date orchard on every corner. For many of the people in Al-Hasa, dates are the primary source of income. Too bad the date souq was closed too...

 We walked down what seemed like normally would be a very happening street with many businesses. But on this day, the first day of Eid Al-Adha, it was a barren wasteland with only garbage and a couple of men blowing around in the street like sagebrush.

 This is me at a low-end souq in Al-Hasa. I'm checking out those sweet couches over there trying to figure out how to get them home on the train.

This is the low-end souq. It was also closed. The low-end souq also reminded me of what it might look like if garbage were a retail commodity and people were to set up shops in a dump.

A quick little video of the low-end souq.

 This is the Intercontinental Hotel. We went here to get a snack at the cafe while we were wandering the town.

 The Intercontinental Hotel was super nice on the inside! I don't feel bad about taking a picture of these guys; they took a picture of me right before I took this picture.

 We found a restaurant that was open, thankfully. In Saudi tradition, you sit on a big rug to eat.

 Mark and I waiting to get started on our kappsa! Kappsa is the Saudis' favorite dish. I'm growing quite fond of it as well.

 To eat kappsa like a Saudi: 

1. Using only your right hand, pull a piece of meat from the chicken and fill the rest of your palm with rice.

2. Try to roll the rice into an egg shape.

 3. Stuff the rice and chicken into your mouth as gracefully as possible.
4. Repeat until full or kappsa is gone.

 I had to take this picture to prove to my nephews that there are adults that are more obsessed with Sponge Bob Square Pants than they are. We saw four cars like this.

Ladies, would you buy a dress here? Someone failed their marketing class...

The stitches in my finger were bugging me so I cut them out at the hotel.

Funny story: When the little Filipino man showed us to our room I saw a pair of sandals in the same place as these. I asked him whose they were. He just smiled, kicked off his own sandals (the ones pictured here), put on those sandals, and walked out of the room. Ha! I'm still not sure what that means! We left his sandals in front of the bathroom door during the entirety of our stay in memory of our quirky little Filipino bellhop. 

On the way home, we had to ride part of the way in the snack car of the train because all the seats were taken in our class. It was also where the prayers were taking place so it wasn't long before we were upgraded to first class.

Al-Hasa was a quaint, endearing little town. I plan on making it back to see some of the same things when they are open!

Adventure to Dammam

Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province and the third of the tri-city area we visited on our short trip to eastern Saudi Arabia. The Eastern Province, the largest of the provinces in the KSA (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is also well known for being the most liberal. It was a definite change from the Riyadh Province—well known for being the most conservative. Many say the Eastern Province is more liberal because it is near Bahrain and Qatar where such frivolous vices as drinking, dancing, and movie theaters are allowed. Others say it is more liberal because the province contains the majority of the oil reserves for the country and is where the foreigner-ran companies are based. Perhaps it's a bit of both mixed with the fresh air and beach life that makes it more liberal. Now I don't want you to think the Eastern Province is liberal like Massachusetts is liberal; I only mean that it is more liberal than Riyadh in terms of social behavior. For example, in Riyadh it is the norm to see Saudi women wearing a black abaya, head scarf, and face veil. I saw some women wearing the all-black attire in the Eastern Province, but I noticed that many women only wore the abaya and a colored head scarf. Women in the Eastern Province also were out in parks flying kites, having picnics, and even fishing. I saw men wearing shorts and reading magazines—both a first for me in this country. Pretty liberal, eh?

A picture taken upon entering Dammam. You can see the picture of King Abdullah on the billboard. The more I learn about him the more I respect him and appreciate what he is doing for the country. 

Our first stop in Dammam was a restaurant that was recommended to us. Most restaurants in Saudi Arabia have seating that is segregated not by race, but by sex. If your group is only men, you sit in the "single section" or "bachelor section". If you have women (of course, only mothers, sisters, and wives) with you then you can sit in the "family section". 

 The food was great!

 We told our taxi driver to take us to the beach. We were a little confused when he brought us to this beach. At first we thought maybe Dammam only has a dirty fisherman's beach but we later learned that we simply were taken to the wrong beach. I'm actually glad to have been able to walk a mile or so up this beach to see what the uncommercialized beach looks like here. 

There were a lot of fishing boats waiting to be used. Most of them were made out of wood.  

 The sand in some places was rolled up into little balls like this. I wonder how this happens?

 These are fish traps the fishermen put in the water with bait inside. There's a wide, funnel-shaped entrance into the trap so the fish can get in easily, but can't figure out how to get out.

 There were a lot of people fishing on the seashore, a lot of families just spending time together there too.

There are cats all over the place in Saudi Arabia. They're all searching for a gift of food from the humans. This cat was thrown a small fish.

Adventure to Dhahran

When we were in the tri-city area of Al-Khobar, Dammam, and Dhahran (the name of each city has a variation of transliterations) we knew we had to make it to the Saudi Aramco Exhibit in Dhahran. From what we gathered, the exhibit is the only thing to really go see at this point in Dhahran anyway. Dhahran is a city that has been built up to support the Westerners who have come to work for Aramco; it is where Aramco is based. 

To help explain a little bit about why visiting the Aramco Exhibit is important, I'll tell you about an interesting discussion I had with some of my students when they asked me why only Saudis call the "Persian Gulf" the "Arabian Gulf". I was able to lay out the little bit of history that I know about the area to help them understand. Persia has for thousands of years, on and off, been a major world player. There were times in history that it was even the top dog economically and militarily. Arabia, however, before the 20th century, had never held such a position. Even during the Islamic Golden Age the centers of academia, economy, and military were in Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, and Cordoba. This is why all maps say "Persian Gulf" and not "Arabian Gulf". Before the mid-20th century, the area we now know as Saudi Arabia was a land of Bedouin, camels, and sand whose meager economy was supported mainly by the export of dates. Now Saudi Arabia is a major world power economically and, more recently, militarily. King Abdullah was recently featured by Forbes as the world's third most powerful person, behind only China's President Hu Jintao and America's President Barack Obama. How did a nation built on dates become such a powerhouse in a matter of decades? Saudi Aramco. Oil was discovered here by Americans in the 1930s. Because of WWII, oil sales didn't really begin until the late '40s. In the '70s the Kingdom experienced historical economical growth. Now Saudi Arabia is the world's leader in oil production and it appears it will have oil for years to come. Saudi Aramco is the wallet in the Kingdom's pocket. Oil brought this nation from antiquity to modernity. That's why we had to see the Aramco exhibit. It made this country what is is today.

 Dhahran was a short drive from Al-Khobar. You can notice here the cement-factory-like desert scenery.

 The building is bigger than you can see in this picture. When I first saw it, I wondered what they would fill the space with. The museum is very well done with information and activities for all ages. The museum proceeds in chronological order. I learned about the history of man's relationship with petroleum, how it was formed, how it was discovered, and how it is harvested and exported today. We watched a 3D movie about the history of oil production in Saudi Arabia, and even went in a simulator that took us to the bottom of an oil well and back.

This is one of the stations teaching about the history of man's relationship with petroleum. Yep, they used it centuries ago to burn their enemies ships from a distance.

Funny enough, one of the most interesting things in the museum was only on display for the men-folk.

Here's a list of countries that will be providing fuel for petrol-addict countries like the USA for a long time. How are we doing with making friends with the countries on this list?