Dec 28 - There is some wind today and the sky to the east is full of dust. I look into the logistics of taking the city bus. I eventually find the routes online, tiny maps that I have to cross-check with Google to really have an idea how they work. Then I start reviewing what is really walkable here, and discover that the few pedestrian overpasses I saw yesterday are the only way to walk between whole sections of the city. In fact, the highway outside our window (Setten Road) has a concrete barrier down the middle, and has no lights or pedestrian crosswalks at street level for as long as I can see it. Googling this reveals that in fact it is illegal to cross these roads on foot, subject to a fine of between US $250-500. There are whole articles dedicated to discussing the lack of pedestrian thoroughfares in Jeddah. In order for me to walk to where I plan to rent a car tomorrow, I would need to walk the opposite direction for about 1 km, cross, return almost to my starting point, walk further away still, cross, and only then start to actually get to where I want to go. It would turn a 30 minute walk into nearly and hour.
I give up on the bus situation, despite the friendly website that makes it all seem easy. In order to get the bus in the direction I want, I would need to again cross Setten Road, which I’ve already abandoned any thought of. We go to reception and I have the doorman wave down a taxi.
We go to Corniche North, a strip of park lands along the coast. I get the driver to use his taximeter, and he spends the whole time on his phone, speaking in what I’m guessing is Urdu. It is 37 riyals to our destination (with some struggle).
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We walk a really long time and do not find a restaurant. Only candy and juice stands. While the coastal park is mostly completed, the seaside infrastructure behind it is nowhere near complete. Finally we find, in the basement of a building currently under construction, a lonely Pizza Hut. Not my preference but we are really hungry by now. We eat to the sound of jackhammers through the walls. Three pasta meals costs a total of US $30.
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The taxi driver on the way back to the hotel in the afternoon is from Yemen. We have some conversation in Arabic and he shows me some photos of Sana’a (his city). He says it is a beautiful place but too much fighting now. ‘God willing the problem will be over soon’, he says hopefully.
We blew the food budget today so its Ramen night with water from the hotpot. I go down to the local large grocery store (Noori Supermarket) and am impressed by the selection.
Saudi Arabia