What to do for a few days in Saudi – Riyadh

I’m off there on Saturday for work – booked in for 4 nights “just in case” but likely be finished by late Sunday.
TBH it’s the last place on earth I fancy spending any time, but happy to be proved wrong. Anyone spend time there?

Get shitfaced.

Get stoned.

Buddum-tsh!

😆

Well it’s over 35 years since I was there but I imagine the gold souk is still as good as it was. Other than that, erm!

Go in the lash….

kiss another man in public whilst pissed.

Shoplifting from the offie?

Bum a fag.

If you smoke, that is.

In case you’ve not guessed, nothing at all.

In Saudi, fun is banned.

You could always renounce whatever religion you’ve put on your visa to get in, they love that.*

*don’t do that, there’s a very real chance they’ll put you to death for it.

EDIT: Get an earlier flight out is what I’d do. FIFO FTW!

If anyone knows, sobriety will.
Don’t forget to take some M&S catalogues with you for entertainment, they don’t let proper porn in.

Chop chop square?

made me laugh, the religion bit of the visa application. Tick a box, muslim or non-religious

Pretty sure they’ll have a bottle of Cardhu in the hotel.. never yet been anywhere that didn’t.

Pretty sure they’ll have a bottle of Cardhu in the hotel

Good luck with that.

Seriously, earlier flight out, a minute longer that you need to be/have to be/can physically be in Saudi is a minute too long.

Pop over to Bahrain. Slightly less oppressive regime.

When I was in Bahrain working for short spell it was overrun with saudis on their “weekend” getting pished with hookers on each arm.

Go to Bahrain. No one spends leisure time in Saudi (I’ve been dozens of times, its a work only destination. Plus I wouod not regard it as safe currently to travel around the country)

Wonder what Saudis do for fun?

Wonder what Saudis do for fun?

They put big leather gloves on and fiddle with birds.

Seriously, earlier flight out, a minute longer that you need to be/have to be/can physically be in Saudi is a minute too long.

This. Couldn’t wait to leave when I was there previously

Look for a wasp, then tell us all if you find one.

Work on your tan.

After that, there’s nothing to do.

Dig for desert roses?

Well that was fairly unanimous!

So, no chance of racing a veyron and a mclaren ?

I saw it on the tellybox once…..

As above, make like Denver.

Saudi is awash with Scotch according to a Scotch whisky exporter I met, who told me it’s his biggest market. You’ve just got to know the right people.

^^ if you have money and power yes. US embassy has a Champagne Brunch every weekend, expats tend to spice up alcohol free beer.

@rickmeister hays why they have the 6 lane causeway to Bahrain, so you can drive your fast car there for the weekend

and crash it on the way back cause they’re still pissed

no cheeky trails then?
🙁

It’s a few years since I was there but head off piste. I remember small villages and crystal clear oasis’. There is/was a subsistence culture that goes back centuries. On a more sobering note I had friends who left after 30 years when they had to start wearing body armour to the souks.

I must admit; I do have a kind of romantic curiosity about the empty quarter. Dunno why, there’s probably nowt there. But maybe that’s the point.

I have no time for Saudi (the place or the people), having had the pleasure of dealing with Saudi clients in a previous job. Utter, utter, ****, every one of them. Greedy, selfish, lying, two-faced, hypocritical wnakers. Rules must be followed to the letter, unless it suits them, when they can do whatever the hell they like. We had some disputed expenses, that they’d incurred but did not want to pay. The client actually suggested that if he put the disputed amount in an envelope for me, in cash, that I should be able to remove it from the invoice. They’d demand urgent meetings in their London offices, then refuse to pay our travel costs because THEY had (deliberately) not issued the forms to approve the travel in advance. Because they have money coming out of their ears they think they can treat everyone like slaves. We had some teams of their people working over here. They had to have the best bit of the office for their exclusive use. They had to have the section of the car park closest to the building reserved for their exclusive use. They needed bathrooms reserved for their exclusive use. These bathrooms would regularly get flooded. On one occasion, an email circular was sent around the entire office regarding toilet etiquette, including a reminder not to wipe sh1t on the walls. Although sent to everyone it was obvious who this was aimed at. Religion was used as their reason for so many demands around working practices, yet at the weekend they’d go into London to get pissed and visit strip clubs (and more) and openly boast about it.

The company I worked for had an office in Al Jubail. One of the US ex-pats working there came over here on a recruitment drive. Extolling the benefits of working there – great weather, low crime, all living costs paid for, luxury accommodation in a secure compound, 100% uplift to your home salary (and it’s tax-free if you’re there more than a year), etc. He was put on a sticky wicket when asked why, if there is no crime, you have to live in a secure compound. Hint: it’s not to keep people out.

They find it very hard to recruit.

This rant is not anti-Muslim, it’s just that the Saudis have a knack of being massive **** about it.

bruneep – Member

jimdubleyou » Pop over to Bahrain. Slightly less oppressive regime.

When I was in Bahrain working for short spell it was overrun with saudis on their “weekend” getting pished with hookers on each arm.

This, my parents live in Bahrain, it’s by no means a paradise, but compared to Saudi…

And yes, every weekend (Thurs and Fri I think) it’s full of Saudi’s doing what Saudi’s do best, being massive hypocrites in the most brash and obnoxious way possible.

I’m told there is the odd tourist thing to do, 4x4s over sand dunes and the like, but I know a lot of people who have to travel there for work and all echo the same thing “what’s the best thing to do in Saudi? Leave”.

jambourgie – Member
Wonder what Saudis do for fun?

Mostly visit Bahrain or Dubai to have fun. Not sure what Riyadh is like, but even cinemas are banned, and I believe they’re having their first concert in years at some point this year. For the amount of time you’re there, probably not worth risking boozing, save it for the flight home.

I think the most enjoyable thing I did there was to risk a very local eatery where there was no cutlery. But I left early when the job was shorter than planned. Of course I wouldn’t say anything bad about the country, as that too is outlawed.

I’m amazed anyone can set aside their morals long enough to deal with a regime that treats its people so badly.

If you listed the human rights abuses they commit against their own citizens, never mind what they do to their neighbours it would seem like you were describing Hitler’s Germany, or North Korea.

But then, they do pay well.

As above

My main dealings with Saudi guys was at Sandhurst, few nice ones, but a lot turned up expecting to be waited on hand and foot, bit of a shock to a few princes when they actually had to pitch in. BUT, for a group of guys that didn’t publicly drink, their mess bill would be high where so many people signed their room numbers..But away from certain eyes, they would happily get pis*ed with the rest of us

I must admit; I do have a kind of romantic curiosity about the empty quarter. Dunno why, there’s probably nowt there. But maybe that’s the point.

I fancied a visit there when I was working in Al Khobar but I never got on with it. We used to look longingly at it on a map on the office wall and wondered if things were kicking off on a Saturday night in some backwater down there.