So. Here you go… Some are taken on trips and jaunts to Dubai and Bahrain. The rest were taken in and around Khobar where I am living.
It was quiet. Friday mornings always are. It is the day of
rest. A religious day. No-one works. Well, not until after midday prayers, anyway.
The photos I took do not reflect the bustle, but when you
look through them please appreciate that waving a camera in people’s faces in
Saudi is not something that is encouraged. Ignoring the potential for provoking
religious or personal outrage by snapping women or strangers, I was really
aware that I was heading into the poorer parts of town. My camera is worth more
than a month’s wages to many of the people around these parts. Maybe in time I
will increase my confidence and get more involved with the population… but this
was the first time and I was really conscious of flaunting my comparative wealth.
Readers: "Eh? We’ve seen the middle east. In brochures. It’s
incredible." Readers: "Hey! You keep posting amazing pictures of the seafront… What do you
mean?"
There are two worlds out here. The need each other so they
live on top of and alongside each other. They feed off each other. They are
symbiotic. They are both beautiful and ugly simultaneously.
First we have the exciting, planned, developments. Highways
and bold developments of shopping centres, hotels and office blocks. They are
built around landscaped parks and recreational spaces. They are built to
impress. They regularly succeed. I've been lucky; I've seen some incredible sights:
Dubai - From Grand West Media City
Bahrain - World Trade Centre
Bahrain - Movement
Saudi Arabia - Al Khobar Corniche
Bahrain - Lanterns... Where I spent my Birthday :)
I love these parts of the region. I feel comfortable. I
understand and relate to them.
No photo’s I am afraid, but a view the view of Dubai as you
land/take off from the airport takes your breath away. The palm shaped
residential developments and map of the world sculptured as sand banks in the
clear, still waters backed up with the tower blocks behind isolated and alone
in a flat, pancake desert stands out as one of my favourite views of all time.
But in order to have these, you need to have service. And I
have seen it. It shows the rougher, far less glamourous side of the countries.
They are not included in the brochures but I am finding them just as impressive
and – sometimes - more interesting and engaging from a life experience and
creative perspective. I am passionate about photography and geography, after
all.
Saudi Arabia- A mosque in a warehouse district between Al Khobar and Dammam
Dubai - Warehouses, Office Blocks & Trailers
So this is where I
got out to explore Al Khobar...
Khobar Back Streets
Clothes Drying and Low Cost Housing
Golden Hyderabad. Selling tea in plastic cups. Busy before Prayers.
Bridge over The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Road.
Where you can find beggars with missing their lower arms, hands and/or feet. Victims of Justice.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Road
Shop Front
Apartments
Cables
Decorated Truck. Many of the vehicles are driven by Pakistani and Indian immigrants. Most are personalised...
Abandoned Car. Remember... Khobar sits between the desert and the sea.
Anything that stays still starts to get buried.
Street Signs.
In all honesty, I took this as a reminder to help me locate a Malaysian Restaurant I stumbled across.
Used to eat Malaysian on Holloway Road and down near The Riverside in Newcastle Upon Tyne. I doubt either place are still there.
Love Malaysian food!
Offices? Apartments? I dunno.
I stuck my head in the doorway. You will be relieved to hear that it had the same rank, stale urine smell that it would attract in London, Berlin, Kiev... The whole world round.
This battered and grubby stair well was in a parade of jewellers which will explain the discarded cabinets.
I love the disparity between the rubbish strewn hall way and the apparent value of the cases.
Adverts.
Parking Rebel
This reminded me of The Lanes in Brighton... Joke :)
Never Back Dawn...
Too bloody right. What's Dawn ever done for me?
Not quite the same the word round.
There is a bit of graffiti around. On the walls or in the dust on cars. But I am yet to see a comedy cock n balls!
Street Scene - Khobar
Dereliction - Back Street Khobar
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Street Scene - Khobar
Street Scene - Khobar
To close, I experienced my first sandstorm on Tuesday. I flew back to Dammam from Dubai and dropped into into a yellow wasteland...
On the Apron at Dammam
On the road to Khobar
The wind was blowing straight off the desert. The four by four we were in was being brushed out of lane. The sand on the metalwork and windows sounded like the most torrential rain.
And, finally... back to the pretty.
The beach at Khobar.
Low tide in the Arabian Gulf. Egrets, Reef Heron and Flamingo grazed and hunted on the sand bar just off shore.
I was warned that it would and it didn't disappoint. The
first few days dragged along slowly. Not much to do. Shown the ropes by Stuart.
Reports and people. People and reports. In truth, it was less than four hours a
day. It allowed me to head home, relax, join the gym and plenty opportunity to
explore.
Then it all went weird.
The joy of working for a Saudi division of a British company
is that we rely on social media to keep communication costs down.
As the result of a Whatsapp message, I found myself over in Dubai for two days working in a cage thirty feet off the ground.
I told my fellow cage occupant that the last time I earned
money in a cage this high it was sometime in the mid ‘90’s at the Hammersmith
Palais; I was dancing, dressed in leather shorts and covered in baby oil.
Thankfully, his English was quite poor. I don’t think he understood.
After Dubai, I endured a nine hour round trip for a two hour
meeting in Riyadh. The journey is on a bleak highway through the desert. The
desert is not romantic. It is big and expansive. It is yellow, brown and grey.
It is hot and unforgiving. The edge of Riyadh – where I meet – is grim and
soulless and devoid of hope.
Wednesday, I encountered the frustration of Saudi working
for the first time. Everything is conducted at Saudi pace and on Saudi terms.
Best laid plans are worthless, as are – it appears - commitments. A lesson was
learned. The fact that my “old time” colleagues just laughed helped me realise
that some things will forever be the way they are and that it will never
change. Some things I will have to learn to just “get over”.
For a few minutes, I felt alone and a very long way from
home. I considered checking out flight times and calling it a day… (see the
note & picture below)
Finally, pulled off a crazy twelve hour shift on Thursday sorting
staff and travel logistics for a job that wasn't expected to start before Eid
holidays but needed to get sorted for a Sunday start in areas where my company
have no resource – out on the borders of Yemen to the south and Jordan to the
north. No mean feat when everything closes on a Friday and Saturday. But it all
pulled together sometime before 8pm. Tired but fulfilled!
But – aside a hop to Bahrain and a few emails and calls – I doubt
I will have to work more than three hours a day next week. Eid means that my
team have holidays and the office is closed. I will work from home. So I can’t
complain.
But that is work.
I'm here for the adventure…
So tune in next time.
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel...
Note – I wouldn't have gone through with coming home. The
desire was real but fleeting. I knew I would have moments where I was unhappy
and insecure. It is only natural. But I was prepared. A great guide book that
Paul Rose gave me emphasised the importance of bringing photos from home. I
have a series of landscapes and some “godlike hero” images but the most
important are those of my friends.
Gushy as it may sound, they are really
important to me… And they helped.
Check out my “Saudi Fridge of Friendship”
Beautiful, huh?
Fridge magnets!
Some of you dear readers will recognise your faces, torso's or knees. Those
missing, rest assured that I show no favouritism; your time for inclusion will
come.
