Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the most, if not the most, difficult countries in the world to enter. It's a forbidden kingdom and even Muslims from other countries can only visit if it's for Haj. If you're a Western tourist, then a visa can take as long as four years to arrange. Saudis do not wear Western clothing. They like to see themselves as having zero influence from the West (besides oil) and being the most pure Arabs and Muslims in the world. Saudis are even suspicious of Muslims from other countries because they see them as having been influenced by the West, in some way or another. Saudi Arabia is after all home to the two holiest sites in Islam, Mecca and Medina. Women are also not allowed to travel anywhere without their husband or a male relative. Under no circumstances can they be alone with a male not related to them. Women cannot drive, vote, hold office, testify, or handle any legal matters without their husband or father. Saudi Arabia follows strict Sharia law. The muttawa (religious police) enforce the strict teachings. They are formally called the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and their status and authority is higher than of the regular police. Adulterers, Apostates, homosexuals, drug traffickers, murderers, etc. are all publicly executed either by beheading or hanging. Thieves have their hands cut off. Alcohol and pornography is completely illegal in the country. Pictures of women who are not covered is illegal and cannot be brought into the country. Even a TIME magazine with a normally dressed Western woman in an advertisement is deemed inappropriate. Relations outside of marriage are illegal. Cinemas and public music are banned. You can buy DVDs and music CDs but they will be heavily censored (although the censors never restrict violence in movies). There are no nightclubs. The internet is highly restricted. Prayer time (5 times a day) is strictly enforced. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that happens during the day revolves around prayer time. Everything closes for 30-45 minutes during the 5 daily prayers. Public photography is banned, as strict Wahhabi belief prohibits making images of any living creature. It's hard to find many pictures of Saudi Arabia because of this. Even government publications avoid pictures of people and often resort to mosaicing out faces if they have to use one. Saudis just do not like cameras. I always carry around several Catholic symbols with me. I have a scapular around my neck, and I have a rosary ring and a crucifix in my wallet, all personally blessed by the Pope in Rome. Occasionally I'll carry around some spiritual reading too. I had to leave all these behind in Dubai and make sure I had absolutely nothing that identified me as Catholic. Any signs, symbols, or writings of other religions is completely banned in Saudi Arabia. Absolutely zero religious tolerance. Saudi Arabia has very strict rules for what may be brought into the country: alcoholic beverages, pork, non-Islamic religious materials and pornography (very widely defined) are all prohibited. Computers, VCR tapes and DVDs have all been seized from time to time for inspection by the authorities and will be returned in a few days. There is also no free speech. Criticism of the government, Royal Family, or Islam is punishable by death.
Most of it makes it seem like the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian, oppressive regime. It's really not. The KSA is one of the closest (and few) US allies in the Middle East. We are after all the number one consumer of oil and they are the number one producer of oil. Saudis are very happy and approving of the royal family. Unlike politicians in the West, Saudis respect and trust their leaders and are not cynical at all of them. It doesn't matter too much that there's no free speech, because the Saudi people have nothing to complain about. They want their Kingdom to be strict and very conservative. People are free to leave the country as they please. The majority leave to study abroad and obtain their education in either the US or UK and then come back to Saudi Arabia to work. One of the Saudi princes was actually in my high school class. Saudi Arabia is a strict Muslim country and that is how it was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud, who said his Kingdom would be a land strictly for Muslims and Islam. As the keeper of the two holiest sites in Islam, Saudi Arabia has to be that way. The entire Muslim world has their eyes on them. They expect Saudi Arabia to uphold its high standards and to remain a pure Muslim country. Saudi Arabia is so sensitive about its identity that it will do anything to preserve its traditional culture. It seeks a first-class infrastructure so most can only enter for business. But the Kingdom doesn't want to share its sights (and it has lots) with tourists. The Kingdom thinks it should just be for the Saudi people and for Muslims. It could gain so much money from tourism but it chooses not to. It only allows about 6000 tourists to enter a year and only as part of a group because they do not want foreigners running around the Kingdom unchecked. When US forces were temporarily in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, Osama Bin Laden and many Muslims were infuriated at King Fahd that so many foreigners were on Saudi land. In return, Saudis scorned Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda for its radical Islam. In King Fahd's defense though, he had to make some concessions because this was a life and death situation for the Kingdom...Iraqis were massed on the border and about to attack. Iraq did attack into Saudi Arabia in 1991 at the Battle of Khafji and would have attacked further but were turned back by the US Marines.
Anyway, Saudi Arabia is probably one of the most, if not the most, interesting places left on earth to visit since it has largely been untouched by tourism and outsiders. Saudi culture is still mostly in the 8th century. As a once completely forbidden Kingdom, it's kind of a last frontier for travellers and tourists today. I don't know when but I will definitely return to Saudi Arabia to see the whole country. Jeddah is like their New York City and one of the Saudi princes, the 3rd richest man in the world, has plans to build the largest skyscraper in the world at over 1600m (about a mile) tall. On a clear day you can see the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian Ocean from the top. The Saudi side of the Empty Quarter (the largest continuous body of sand in the world) would probably be interesting too since I've only been to the UAE and Oman part. It larger than the combined land areas of the Netherlands, Belgium and France. It is one of the most inhospitable places on earth, and entirely uninhabitable. I really want to go back.
King Fahd Airport, the largest airport in the world (by area) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Dammam, along with neighboring Dhahran, is the center of the Saudi oil industry. 25% of all the world's oil and the largest oil reserves in the world.
Under strict Wahhabi and Islamic law, public photography is banned in Saudi Arabia...
On its way to Baghdad...
Dammam and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia (the center of the Saudi oil industry) is linked to Bahrain by a 26km causeway across the Persian Gulf. They built 2 artificial islands in the middle. probably one of the coolest borders in the world...another bridge is planned to be built between Qatar and Bahrain. I didn't take this picture but i thought it was pretty cool.
Manama in Bahrain at the bottom. Dammam and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia at the top.
Bahrain
So The Kingdom of Bahrain would probably be the exact opposite of Saudi Arabia, even though they are only 26km apart. Bahrain is the most liberal Muslim country in the Middle East. They still take afternoon siestas between 1pm and 4pm, but alcohol and bars are everywhere. Women are allowed to do almost everything they're not allowed to in Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is best described as Saudi Arabia's Las Vegas or its Amsterdam. A 26km causeway (an engineering feat itself) across the Persian Gulf links the two countries. Every weekend it is quite normal for tons of Saudi men (but not women unless they come with their husband) to flood over the causeway and enjoy the many bars and nightclubs in Manama, the capital and only city in Bahrain. Just like Las Vegas, no questions are asked and what happens in Manama stays in Manama. Since Damman and Dhahran are right across the causeway and are home to the Saudi oil industry (the largest petroleum company in the world), its many Western expats also just head over to Bahrain to escape Saudi laws and partake in their many familiar pasttimes from back home, such as bar hopping and clubbing.
Manama, Bahrain...the capital and only city in Bahrain.
Bahrain showing its support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza...even liberal Arab countries like Bahrain (and the UAE) hate Israel and refuse to recognize it.
"Death to America"...most people don't like America too much either.
Osama Bin Laden t-shirt. i didn't buy it. the street vendors also sell his videos.
King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the al-Khalifa family has ruled for over 200 years.
Applebees and the Grand Mosque, the largest building in Bahrain
To convert to Islam, this is all you need to say:
La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasool Allah.
There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.
Muezzin before the call to prayer
Palace
Mall
Saudi
Sunset
souq
US military bar...packed with soldiers on R&R from Iraq and Kuwait
Saudi at the bar
Bahrain is the smallest country in the Middle East and many people have never even heard of it. Besides its nightlife, it's also well known among Gulf states for its large amount of history, which many Gulf states notoriously lack. Bahrain was the seat of the Dilmum empire and was mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Some scholars also believe Bahrain, and not Iraq, was the location of the Garden of Eden. It was also settled by the Greeks after Alexander the Great's army had discovered it. There are tons of ruins scattered all over the island. 5% of the island is also covered in ancient burial mounds...over 800,000 of them.
one of 800,000 burial mounds taking up 5% of the country
Tree of Life, alone in the desert. No one knows how it's survived for so long.
16th Century Portuguese Forts:
In more recent times, however, it's best claim to history is that it was the first country in the Persian Gulf to discover oil. In 1932, in the middle of the island, British and Bahraini drillers discovered the first oil in the Persian Gulf. It's amazing to think that the Middle East and the rest of the world would never be the same after that. Bahrain is also the first (and only) Gulf state to have already depleted its oil reserves so it counts a lot on revenue from tourism and foreign businesses to invest in its infrastructure and keep the economy going. In about 100 years, the same will be true for Dubai and Doha. But from all the development I've seen from Dubai and Doha in Qatar, I don't think they have too much to worry about just yet.
Pearl Monument
Shiite Mosque
US Embassy
Bahrain Formula 1 Track
Beach
Dhow
KFC is popular in the Mideast
Mosque in downtown
Qatar
I'd make the comparison between Doha in Qatar and Dubai in the UAE in that it's a bit like the comparison between Chicago and New York City. Just like Dubai, Doha is undergoing its own construction boom although it's not as ambitious or as large. Nonetheless, I was still impressed with the amount of development going on. There are more buildings under construction than are already completed. And just like Dubai, the low-level workers (drivers/construction) are all from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc. and all the middle-level workers (waiters/hotel workers) are all Filipino. And of course, all the high-level workers (management/business) are all Westerners. Although, Doha does have a nice corniche along its waterfront, which took me over 2 hours to walk. Just like all the other Gulf states, Qatar was super expensive. My travel book said hotels would only be about $50, but it was published in 2004. I found the 2007 version of the same book and checked the same exact section on hotels in Qatar, and the price was now at least over $120 for the same hotels. Yikes.
beware of women in burqas.
Wahhabi Muslims.
in internet centers, all the Arabs play CounterStrike...no they do not yell 'Allahu Akbar' while they play...
Flags of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)...I've been to all of them
Doha, Qatar.
corniche
i really liked this minaret.
Qatari kid.
Like Saudi Arabia, the dominant sect of Islam in Qatar is Wahhabism, the most strict and conservative sect in Islam. All the men (and most kids) walk around in spotless white robes and the women are covered head to toe in black. Doha is also the location of Al Jazeera's headquarters, which gets a lot of funding from the Qatari government. It doesn't make sense how many Westerners are so against its reporting but at the same time they fully support bringing democracy to the Middle East. The Freedoms of Speech and Press are part of democracy and people just have to get used to the fact that it's a two-way street...you can say what you want and other people can say what they want. Qatar is also home to US CENTCOM (Central Command of all US forces in the Middle East). Like Bahrain, most Westerners have probably never heard of Qatar before it was in the Transformers movie.
Al Jazeera HQ
near US CENTCOM
do not swim in your burqa.
Pearl Monument.
corniche.
corniche.
Grand Mosque during Friday prayers.
Turkish Fort.
I tried not to write too much about my adventures on this particular trip. This post is long enough as it is. If you want to hear some of my stories in Saudi Arabia/Bahrain/Qatar, you're just going to have to come straight to the source and ask me.
Anyway, that's it for me and the Persian Gulf...for now at least. Since coming to Dubai on February 7 (exactly 3 months ago), I have been to more countries in the last 3 months than I have been to before my 19th birthday last December.
I am leaving for London, England tomorrow morning to meet up with my good high school friend, Frank Gleason. On May 13, we are flying together to Dublin, Ireland to meet up with my good Midtown Irish friend, Jonathan Doyle. We're going to do some serious pub hopping and clubbing. If there's one thing I miss in the West, it's Chipotle. But if there's two things I miss in the West, it's Chipotle and partying. I'll be going back to London on the 15th to meet up with fellow Domer Huong Ngo, who is studying abroad there this summer. I'll be back at Notre Dame on the 16th for my brother and Class of 2008's graduation.
My travels don't end there though. After Julian's graduation, I'm heading to the Philippines with my family for two weeks. Later in June, I'll be in Istanbul, Turkey (meeting up with Army ROTC comrade and Farley-ite, Marina Rodriguez) and then in Jordan before I make my way to Beirut in Lebanon for study abroad at the Lebanese American University, which includes trips into Syria. My Arabic professor from Notre Dame (Professor Bualuan) is Lebanese and will be in Beirut over the summer, so we'll definitely meet up too. Hopefully Hezbollah doesn't flare up again, and Israel doesn't invade Lebanon and bomb Beirut like it did in summer 2006. But Beirut is the party capital of the Middle East so it should be a good time either way. After that, I'll be heading to Israel/Palestine and Bethlehem in the West Bank for some volunteer work at a Palestinian refugee camp for a few weeks. I'll throw in some sightseeing and pilgrimages to holy sites in the Holy Land (Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Cana, the Jordan, Dead Sea, etc). Hopefully Hamas and the Palestinians don't start another uprising against the Israeli occupiers. But even if they do, at least it will make for a good story afterwards. So, it's looking to be an epic summer...even more epic than my spring semester.
Last Thoughts on Dubai
Each major city in the world has its own defining and unique character. New York City is brash and fast-paced. Beirut is the party capital of the Middle East. Washington, DC is powerful and the leader of the free world. Cairo is dirty and chaotic. Las Vegas is sin city. London is the greatest city in the world, according to Forbes. Los Angeles is glitzy and cosmopolitan. The Vatican is the capital of Roman Catholicism. San Francisco is laid back and liberal. Baghdad (once the greatest city in the world) is unforgiving and a craphole.
Dubai is still technically emerging. The city has grown so fast that it's still trying to discover itself among the world's great cities. After 3 months in Dubai and being a part of its fast and historic rise, I would say its two things: ambitious and eclectic. In my time here, I have met Greeks, Macedonians, Syrians, Britons, Iranians, Germans, Iraqis, Tanzanians, French, Malaysians, Egyptians, Russians, Peruvians, Australians, Danes, Afghans, Bedouins, Indians, Americans, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Japanese, Nepalese, South Africans, Jordanians, Omanis, Bosnians, Italians, Kuwaitis, Irish, Nubians, Palestinians, Turks, Lebanese, Mexicans, Kurds, Israelis, Emaratis, Bahrainis, Qataris, Sri Lankans, Brazilians, Yemenis, New Zealanders, Bangladeshis, Canadians, Indonesians, etc. It really feels like the whole world is here in one city. And every culture is mixing together into one. It's a modern day melting pot. Life in Dubai is exotic and familiar at the same time.
The United Arab Emirates is also the only...ONLY...Arab country with troops in Afghanistan. The UAE Army has been secretly operating in Afghanistan for over 5 years, and it was only revealed a couple weeks ago that they were present there. The big deal is that being fellow Muslims of the Afghans, in terms of "winning hears and minds", the small detachment of Emarati soldiers can do so much that thousands of US or NATO forces simply can't. Another reason why the UAE is so awesome...if only other Arab countries would just join the Coalition, Afghanistan might not be in such a mess as it is now...
Just the other day, I read a local newspaper article announcing more developments in Dubai. 12 of the world's 18 supertowers (skyscrapers over 100 floors) are under construction in Dubai. Dubai will have the 3 tallest hotels in the world (right now it has the two tallest). It will also have the two tallest buildings in the world. A few weeks ago, the Burj Dubai became mankind's tallest structure when it surpassed 629m. In a few weeks, it will rise to over 646m to become the tallest structure ever built in mankind's history. The Warsaw radio mast in Konstantynów near Gąbin, Poland (which stood at 646.4 m (2,121 ft) holds this record but it collapsed in 1991. The tower already amazes many and it's still not even close to its final height, which will be over 800m when it is completed next year. And to top things off, the Burj Dubai will have the world's largest mall, the Dubai Mall, next door to its base. I went by the Marina today and so much progress has been made there as well, in only 3 months. After visiting Dubai, my brother described it as the "Greatest City Ever Constructed by the Hands of Mankind"...
It's hard to see it now, but when I come back to Dubai in 2-5 years, I'm pretty sure I will say the same thing.
You stay classy, Dubai.
Viva la United Arab Emirates. Cheers.
