Duba ^ Tourak, Saudi Arabia

Wow was Saudi Arabia cool. Completely changed my view on women and them being under their galabeyas.

The country is one big desert. Goes on forever. All these Bedoiuns living out there in the sand, I just don't know how they do it.

We docked at the port in Dub and were escorted by piolice towards the city of Tarouk, the biggest city nearby and on the way to Mecca. There is nothing in between. Just Bedoiun camps for 2 hours. Rocks and sand. Trucks litter the highway where they have tipped over while crossing over a mountain pass. They are just left there, maybe as reminders for the other drivers to be careful. The roads, however, are very well maintained. Still people drive like lunatics, three in a row at times while passing and cross over into the oncoming lanes. Gasoline here is 20 cents a gallon and our guide is outraged as the people feel it should be free.

Upon reaching TArouk we have (I'm in Luxor right now and some Arabic people are arguing loudly next to mea nd its really hard to concentrate( a first stop at a city center where there are regular shops. We stayed about 30 minutes and I saw two women. Covered in black except for the eyes. There shops consist of mens clothing stores, perfume stores, drug stores, toy stores and that is it. There are no souveniuers to buy of any kind. There is nothing. Very strange. The people are so friendly though. They smile and greet you and welcome you. They are excited to talk with you and show you whatever they have, without harrassing you into buying something like a tourist market. They don't have anything like that so its quite nice to browse and be left alone.

Next we stopped at a shopping mall to use the bathroom. Apparently its the best bathroom in all of the city. Shopping mall is just like inside the states, except it only has shops that sell womens dresses and perfume. Thats it. All the stores look the same.

Next we are on to a flower factory. Saudi is known for its flowers and this region is known for its farm land. Literally, there is desert on every side of the road, and then there is a nice green farm land. I don't know where they get the soil, maybe the soil is okay with water, but they drill down 100 meters to get water for watering crops, another 300 meters to get water suitable for drinking. The country has plenty of money to spend on irrigation and therefore turns the desert area into farmland. They grow tomatoes, hay for the animals, and lots of beautiful flowers. The flower factory had several young women there working in their full galabeyas, and they were delighted to talk with us. They spoke good english and chatted every minute with us until we left.

Next stop, a Bedouin camp for lunch. The lunch is eaten on the floor with no utensils. Rice and lamb. Did I mention we are in the desert and its very sandy? And 90 degrees? And windy? And dusty? And I'm wearing a galabeya?

The BEdouins do not mix men and women, just like the rest of the Muslim culture. We were served only by the men and didn't see women until they brought us to another side of the camp where they showed us the women sitting in their tents weaving and milling corn for bread. The Bedoiun men did not go with us, but our men did. Funny how that works.

After lunch some of the men put on a demonstration of their skills and training of their ARabian horses. What a show. They raced eachother throught the dunes in front of us on these gorgous horses. Afterwards they showed us their stables. VEry impressive and they were so proud of their horses.

We were almost immediately called back to the ship and spent a long ride back home by bus through the desert. Nothing to see... I spent most of the ride drilling our Saudi guide for information about their life in S.A. He was very candid. English was not very good though so I'm sure I missed some of what he tried to explain.

My goal is to be able to learn how to make that shrill call that the arabs do before I leave the Middle EAst. Apparently not all arabs can do that. Its like learning how to whistle real loud with your fingers.