I was fortunate to find a first edition copy of Judith Gilford’s book The Packing Book (1994) in my local library and have been reviewing the author’s advice for traveling with just enough personal items to have everything one needs to travel in comfort but without being weighed down with a lot of unnecessary stuff that probably […]
We recently visited the camel market in the desert just north of Hofuf in the al-Ahsa/al-Hasa district. Although the market is located in a desert area, much of the area around Hofuf consists of date farms that make up the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia. The area exports dates harvested from approximately 3 million date […]
Since I had some time off from work for the Islamic holiday of ‘Id al-Adha I took my family to Bahrain for four days. I was a little apprehensive about driving there because on previous visits I had always taken a bus. Since I had witnessed the chaotic rush of traffic as it squeezes through […]
Last week my family and I explored some of the sights of Qatif district, about a 45-minute drive north of Dhahran, where we live in the Eastern Province. Qatif is a geographically large area that includes many towns and villages. It has a colorful history dating back 5,000 years. Qatif was known to the ancient […]
I traveled back to Saudi Arabia with my family earlier this week. We have all been together here for a week now and I finally have had some time to reflect on all the preparations and efforts we went through to make the move successful. During the two weeks that I was in Houston we […]
On my way to Houston, Texas, I decided to stop in Doha, Qatar, for a couple of days. We live in interesting times. I arrived in the city in the midst of a major terrorist alert, with the U.S. having closed many of its embassies and consulates throughout the region, including in Doha. But if […]
In my search for high quality coffee drinking establishments, I have found Latasia Cafe at Al Nimran Hotel in al-Khobar. I visited the hotel and cafe last night in the hope of a unique Ramadan iftar experience, as well as to sample the coffee at Latasia Cafe, a European accented cafe inside the hotel. The […]
Two nights ago I took a bus across the King Fahd Causeway from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. As I mentioned in my previous article, this is my first Ramadan in the region and I wanted to witness the season in Bahrain. Ideally, I would have liked to have visited an old part of the city […]
It is my first Ramadan in Saudi Arabia. Today is the fourth day since Ramadan started and this morning I went to Lulu market on the al-Khobar corniche to see what special foods are available. I was a little disappointed to find that apart from large packets of chocolates and other types of sweets, and […]
Last month I visited London for three days as part of a week-long visit to England. Since it was a short visit I wanted to be close to everything on my list of places to see in the city, which was basically the Tate Britain art gallery. Other than that I thought I’d just let […]