When I went to Saudi Arabia this most recent winter break, I had come across a lot of revelations that did not occur to me before the trip. Before, I overlooked the country for what it was, and only valued it for the history I needed to know about it. However, after visiting, I’ve been opened up to a world of possibilities that allow me to look at different places of travel differently. In short, no place is any more significant and beautiful than another.
Perhaps it wouldn’t occur to you that Saudi Arabia is littered with mountains and hills. Among the desert landscape, small oasis’ and even date trees can be spotted. In those places, wild camels roam free by the roadside or railways and deep inside the desert away from common view. The environment is maintained, protected, and safe alongside the industry of Saudi Arabia. In these deserts, you may stumble across one or hundreds of mountains in your view.
You can find literally all kinds of people in Saudi Arabia, from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, and numerous other Asian countries. Whether it’s a pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims do, or tourists, or even immigration to begin a business, thousands of diverse people make a living amongst each other. In fact, there are over 32 million people that live in Saudi Arabia. Of those 32 million, 10% are from afro-asia. That’s approximately 320,000 people. Though the number might seem small, when you’re standing in the beautiful marble square in Makkah, or walking the streets of Medina or Jeddah, the diversity is intensely apparent.
Saudi Arabia is slowly modernizing, making most of their money from their oil business. For example, some places in Jeddah are being demolished to be rebuilt as new, clean, and modern. Ridyah, Saudi Arabia’s capital city, is cleaner than you could imagine for the middle east. Some locals will tell you that it feels like middle east South Korea. The airports are grandiose and you will always see someone nearby these big places sweeping or mopping the floor; it never stops. The common train is like a bullet train, the ride smoother than airplanes. Not only is the process of entering the station so insanely simple for every foreigner to understand, sleeping on public transportation has never felt better!
Even if you can’t visit due to the country’s religious restrictions, it’s important to know the different features of a country that can exist. For countries notoriously one way, or stereotyped another, there is always something to it that won’t meet your eye. Sometimes, there’s no way of truly experiencing these
places for what beauty they have. Sometimes all you have to go off on is someone’s word and your own research, as long as you know. There are some cities out there that never sleep. Some places that are so insanely beautiful, words will never begin to describe it. And in its own ways, Saudi Arabia is one such place.
