“Maybe maybe it’s our nowhere towns” – Brett Anderson. In April 2018, I headed to The Hotel Show in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with the Young Pioneer Tours crew. To get the visa that time, we were supposed to be “working” there. It was a really difficult visa to get, easiest the hardest visa getation of…
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I spent 10 days backpacking slash working in Saudi Arabia in 2018. As the world of travel fades out of view from existance, it’s time to dwell on those halcyon days. Riyadh is the capital city. We had a total of three days backpacking in Riyadh at the end of that trip. We had lots…
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My backpacking adventures in Saudi Arabia continued with some day trips away from the humungous capital city Riyadh. It was towards the end of our trip that we ended up in Ushaiqer (which sounded like “U Shag Her” at the start). On the same day that we visited the Salt Flats, the village of Rabat,…
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“Little dune buggy in the sand, little blue dune buggy in my hand, little blue dune buggy” – The Presidents of the United States of America. I didn’t expect this to be enjoyable by any stretch. After all I grew up near a beach in Bangor in Northern Ireland and used to slide through the…
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“Hundred mile high city” – Ocean Colour Scene. As hard to believe as it may be, Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, is a modern up and coming metropolis. While the country is often dubbed “The Forbidden Kingdom,” once you arrive into Riyadh you will be pleasantly surprised by the enchanting list of activities within a…
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Backpacking in Saudi Arabia was a crazy adventure after being invited there in 2018 as part of representing Young Pioneer Tours at the Hotel Show. We started off exploring Jeddah and Old Town Jeddah before heading to check out the city of Taif for its annual Rose Festival and then we delved deeper into the backpacking…
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In 2018, I managed to get a Saudi Arabia visa as I was travelling there to represent a travel company at the Hotel Show in Jeddah. As a group we ended up spending 10 days in Saudi Arabia and we backpacked it pretty hardcore. Of course, I did struggle with Arabic completely, phrases such as فنادق شرم الشيخ…
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While backpacking in Saudi Arabia, we toured the old mud city of Shaqra. These days there is a main museum there (which we had a guided tour of) and the old walled city which has nobody living in It, but is open to walk around. It was an unusual adventure. I was on tour with…
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“I stand out from the crowd because I stand out from the crowd. But no-one stops to notice me, in over-crowded London” – Jonny Blair Poetry. Cities that are given random titles and monikers rarely live up to expectations. Don’t expect me to glorify excremental joints such as Venice (city on the water), Paris (city…
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“Work is the curse of the drinking classes” – Oscar Wilde. While backpacking in Saudi Arabia recently, I realised it was one of the rare countries I visited where I didn’t consume any alcohol. This is due to the strict law – alcohol is simply forbidden here and will result in imprisonment, fines or expulsion.…
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