Taken from our hotel garden.

We are currently in Jeddah for a long weekend, although I had my doubts this morning if we were really going to make it here because after working quite late, eating at midnight and not getting to bed until after 2 because of last minute packing, I didn’t hear the alarm and was woken up by Tim 10 minutes before the motor pool driver was to take us to the airport. Somehow I managed to get it all together (after announcing I simply wasn’t going to make it) and we got to the airport in time.

The airport in and of itself was quite interesting – there is a separate room for women to pass through security, and the place was full of pilgrims on their way to Makkah (Mecca) via Jeddah to do umrah, sort of a mini version of the Hajj which can be done at any time of year. You couldn’t mistake them for anything else because they were all dressed in white cloth – hard to describe, but reminds me Gandhi’s attire. The flight itself was fine but packed and before we left, a prayer said by the Prophet Muhammad before he traveled was broadcast.

Jeddah is just marvelous, more laid back and certainly more attractive than Riyadh. It sits on the Red Sea and is the commercial capital of Saudi Arabia. Weather right now is balmy and somewhat humid; I understand that in summer, the temperatures may be lower than we get in the center of the country, but the humidity is almost unbearable. That’s why we wanted to visit now.

We were picked up at the airport and were driven around the city for four hours to get an overview. The driver was very accommodating and stopped when I wanted to for picture taking (although it wasn’t always possible). Tomorrow will be an eight-hour day with a driver, and we hope to visit the fish market (no pictures allowed, unfortunately due to its proximity to some security installation, I read) and then walk around Balad, or old Jeddah.