This is a continuation of my trip report, the first part is here:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/middle-east/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-trip-report-part-1-rules-people-etc

Now a few practicalities about KSA and later I will also do a post on the places that I visited.

E-Visa and entry - simple, straightforward, no problems. I won’t go into more details since there is enough information in other threads, for example here:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/middle-east/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-evisa-experience-e-visa-and-arrival-in-jeddah

Money - ATMs are everywhere, even in small towns in rural areas. International cards are accepted, never had a problem at an ATM. In cities it is often possible to use cards for almost all purchases. Most of the terminals support contactless payments so I was using my phone with Google Pay. In rural areas it’s mostly cash. In the north a lot of supermarkets and gas stations only accept local Visa Mada card and international cards do not work. Have some cash on hand.

Costs - I was surprised to find out that Saudi Arabia is not an expensive country to travel.
If you travel in a small group and share a car, stay in budget but decent accommodation and eat in inexpensive local restaurants, you can easily get by with 150 SAR a day. The cheapest budget aparthotels start at around 50 SAR for a single room, 80 SAR can get you a nice room. Doubles and triples cost a little extra. Kabsa (Saudi national dish - rice & chicken or other meat) can be eaten for 15-20 SAR in a decent local restaurant, the portion is usually big enough to feed 2 persons. Large bottle of water 2-2.5SAR, chai can be as low as 1 SAR per cup. Laundry 10-20 SAR depending on how many pieces you have, barber or haircut around 15-20 SAR. Most places where I went didn’t charge any entry fees but it’s hard to tell if it’s usual. A lot of historical sights were closed at the time of my visit (Madain Saleh, Ad Diriyah and other). Tourist services like organized tours are very expensive (half-day desert trip from Riyadh - 400 SAR), they are probably focused more on expat community that is willing to pay.

Getting around - this is a driving country, so renting a car is the best and sometimes the only option you have. Public transport in cities does not exist. It is possible to use Uber or Careem but it quickly adds up given the distances. Riyadh is building a metro network and a connecting bus network but that won’t be completed until the next year or later. There are trains from Riyadh to the north all the way to the border with Jordan, to the east to Dammam and the high speed train connecting Madinah, Jeddah and Makkah. There are also intercity SAPTCO buses. The terminals are not located in convenient locations, sometimes way out of town. Walking in the cities and towns is not really an option as everything is usually spread out and far away. It is difficult and sometimes even impossible to cross multi-lane roads with high traffic. Outside the winter season it will also be uncomfortably hot. Rentals start around 100 SAR a day. Most of the companies have a limit of 200km a day, Al Wefaq has the option of unlimited kms for extra 15 SAR a day, I think. Gasoline is very cheap, 1.5 SAR per liter. I rented the car as soon as I arrived at the airport and dropped it off when I was leaving and I was glad that I did that. In some places where I booked accommodation there wasn’t really anything else around. So in the morning I would drive to a place to get a breakfast/shawarma/sandwich then I would drive to a different place to get a coffee and then to yet another different place to buy water, fruits or whatever.

Driving - a little different than I expected but outside of Riyadh and Jeddah it was very easy. Roads are usually in excellent condition and there is little traffic on them. Sometimes I was amazed to see how little towns are crisscrossed by massive highways with almost no cars on them at times. Speed cameras and police patrols checking speed are frequent. I got a speeding ticket (150 SAR), others did too, so watch your speed. Despite that speeding is common, you see drivers doing 150 km/h on roads with speed limit of 80. Cutting across multiple lanes without using signal is a norm. It all sounds very dangerous but in reality it is not that bad it just takes some getting used to. Local people are used to bad driving and you will get away with things like going in opposite direction, crazy parking, u-turning across the highway median and other stuff :) The biggest annoyance is speed bumps. Sometimes there is a sign, sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes the sign is there and the speed bump is not :) They are poorly visible at night and can be very high and in unexpected places. A few times I hit them at high speeds and was lucky that no damage to the car was done. At night I usually followed other cars to see if they are slowing down or not. Riyadh is one huge construction site - lane closures, detours, closed ramps, traffic jams. Driving there was stressful. If you are not an experienced driver you should probably use taxis. Jeddah was a little better, the rest of the cities were fine. Parking is with a few exceptions (like shopping areas during weekends or corniches in Jeddah in the evenings) free of charge and easy to find.

Accomodation - most of the time I stayed in aparthotels - it’s a short name for apartment hotels, self-contained units for short-term rent. The unit has a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom/bedrooms and sometimes even a living room. This is what Saudis use when they travel or when they stay outside of their homes - wives can stay at home and don’t have to go to public. These places are everywhere and can cost as low as 50 SAR for a single room. In larger cities where’s more competition and business travel (Hail, Yanbu, Madinah, Taif) many of them are listed on booking.com and can be booked on a very short notice online (a few hours before you show up). All have a reception and usually some English is spoken. The quality varies but photos and reviews on booking will give you an idea. Some of them are actually very nice for a price below 100 SAR.
In smaller towns (Al-Ula, Umluj) there were almost no online listings. It makes it seem like there is no accommodation but these places are there as well. You can find them on google maps labeled as apartment hotels, furnished or serviced apartment buildings or similar. All signs are in Arabic and some of these google entries are obviously out-of-date or inaccurate. The other way how to locate them is to look for colorful neon stripes on the buildings. I was told by Saudi friends that the stripes are there on purpose - to help you reliably and easily identify an accommodation if you drive around the town. So if there are neon stripes, it’s an aparthotel. It may take a bit of searching and trying, since some may be family only or not ready to accept Westerners, but you should eventually be able to find one.

I will post more and in more detail when I get home in a couple days, but as I sit here in my room at the Venus Hotel in San Ignacio I wanted to advise folks to avoid staying in hotels near the central/downtown area of the city. There is now a block-long section of Burns Ave. which is closed to pedestrian traffic and is mostly loud bars and restaurants. Two nights ago a very bad karaoke crew tuned up at about 10:30PM. There were only maybe two people in the bar but we had to share their caterwauling until they were asked to stop and go home. Last night it was only thumping bass from about 5:00 until 11:00. Now, at 6:30, there is a deafeningly loud children’s dance competition. I have air crew technician-grade plugs in my ears and it is still hard to ignore.

I love Belize— this is my sixth or seventh trip here and I will certainly come again. But I will not try to sleep (or read or do any other activity) in a downtown hotel in this city. It is really a pity, because the Venus is otherwise a very very nice place to stay. Clean, reasonable price, comfortable bed and even AC. But the noise, which they can’t control, is too much.

. My husband and I are housesitting in Nizwa and needed to extend for another 30 days. I know this isn't where many people would probably do this so not sure if it works exactly the same as somewhere like Muscat but thought the information could be helpful. We were told we needed to get a copy of our passport photo page as well as the visa stamp. There was also mention of some sort of letter. There was a small van outside where you were able to make copies and receive this letter--it was in Arabic so not sure what it said or if it was something you would be able to get online. The renewal fee was 20 rial and they ONLY accepted Visa credit card with no cash, which I thought was interesting. No photos needed, no paperwork to fill out. Very fast process. In the event you do it in Nizwa, there is a group of buildings next to the Grand Mall, and you would enter the one marked 'Passports and Residence.'

I have just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia. Since there is still not much information on independent travel within the country, I have decided to post a trip report to let everybody have a better idea of the country. Hope it helps. I will do a few separate posts - first the current situation with all the rules and changes happening in KSA, then some practicalities like accomodation etc. and then the places that I have visited and my impressions.

The trip took 2 and a ½ weeks, I rented a car and followed roughly this itinerary - Riyadh, Ushaiger/Shaqra, Buraydah (Qassim), Hail and Jubbah, Al Ula, Umluj, Yanbu, Madinah, Taif and Jeddah. It was a great trip and I had a lot of fun. The main highlights:

• Awesome desert and mountain scenery around Al Ula
• Beaches around Umluj and Yanbu
• Beautiful old town of Jeddah
• Interacting with both Saudis and immigrants living in the kingdom
• Just being there during this special time of opening up, changing society and seeing it happening in front of your eyes

Before I went I had some concerns about dress code, interacting with women, strict sharia laws, driving and other things. Most of them proved wrong. As a visiting tourist, it is expected that you are not familiar with the specifics of Saudi society and if you make any mistakes they are tolerated. You can go about with your standard travelling routine just as anywhere else. If you have been to other Arabic or Middle Eastern countries before you will find it very similar.

People - Saudis are some of the most welcoming and hospitable people you will ever meet. Westerners are not a novelty, especially in Riyadh and Jeddah, but tourists are. In some more remote places and establishments I was actually the first traveller to ever visit and was greeted with a lot of respect and excitement. Sometimes people having a picnic in a park will run to me just to say: Welcome! and to bring me a cup of coffee and chocolate, other times in a restaurant somebody insists on paying for my meal explaining that guests in Saudi Arabia are always invited. A lot of times strangers I just met are asking me if I’m fine, if there’s anything they could do for me and giving me their phone numbers to call them anytime I need any help. All was very genuine and you can tell that everybody is trying to make sure you have a good time and you enjoy being there. Really nice.

Non-Saudis - ⅓ of the population of the country are immigrants working here, the majority being from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Philippines and Indonesia. They work in low-level jobs and most services so you will deal with them a lot more than with Saudis. Their knowledge of English varies widely but on average is better then Saudis. It’s common for a Saudi to ask his Indian colleague or employee to help translate when their English is not that good or they don’t speak it at all. Some of them are very helpful and interested where you are from, what do you do etc. and I had very interesting conversations with them about what it is like to live in KSA.

Authorities - police and uniformed personnel are present near entrances to park, important buildings and road checkpoints, coast guard is present on most of the beaches. Mostly young guys, who don’t speak much English. If you approach them, they are helpful, friendly and polite. My impression was that their primary objective with tourists is not that you follow all the local rules but that you are safe and fine, although they may sometimes hassle locals. Mutaween, the religious police, had their rights greatly reduced to the point that some people will tell you it doesn’t function anymore. You will not meet them.

Interacting with women - in Jeddah, you see women working in services, driving, drinking coffee in mixed male/female groups, walking around without covered hair and sometimes even not wearing an abaya. It’s apparently something that was unthinkable just a few years ago. You can talk to them, ask them for directions and just act normally as in other muslim countries. In Riyadh and other big cities less so. In rural areas it’s still all male society and separation of sexes. You don’t see women much. If you do, they wear an abaya and niqab. They may even completely avoid you as dealing with you will make them uncomfortable. The same applies to the opposite situation - single female travellers will face difficulties, especially if they don’t wear an abaya or cover their hair. The men will be uncomfortable dealing with them.

Singles/Families - This is how separation of sexes works in practice. Most of the restaurants, cafes and other businesses have two entrances and two sections. Singles means single man, families are for families or mixed groups (or groups of women). The families section is usually upstairs or in a separate room to allow for privacy. Entrances are clearly marked so there is no danger of walking accidentally on someone’s wife in family section :) If there is no sign it is a singles section. In fastfoods, cheap eateries and in rural areas there is only one section. You don’t see any women there, all males. Some aparthotels or hotels only rent rooms to families and singles are not allowed.

Safety - in one word, perfect! Sometimes I would leave my stuff unattended at the beach or on tables in restaurants. I left my car running and open while I was taking pictures nearby. I didn’t bother locking my hotel room when I just went out to get something from a nearby shop. I don’t encourage that kind of behaviour but it shows how safe I felt in Saudi Arabia. The lack of tourism also means that there is no hassle typical for other Middle Eastern countries - annoying touts, street vendors pushing you here and there, markets with ugly cheap trinkets nobody wants, little scams, overcharging foreigners etc. It was a bliss.

Dress code - wearing shorts is fine, nobody will look at you or comment on it. You see people in Jeddah wearing shorts quite frequently. Outside of Jeddah you will be the only one in shorts, but still fine. The only exception is shopping malls - the security at the gates will not let you in unless you cover yourself. Women travellers don’t have to wear abaya and cover their hair. This is something very new so it’s accepted in the cities but outside probably not as much yet. It may be easier for you if you are prepared and have one available.

Visiting mosques - it’s unclear if you are normally allowed or not. I was able to visit the Grand Mosque near Masmak fort in Riyadh with a Saudi friend but he had to convince the security guards at the gate first. Other travellers told me they haven’t visited any because they were convinced it is not possible. So I guess the best way is to first ask somebody around and see what they tell you. Again, in Jeddah, it could be fine, while in the north it won’t.

Prayer times - all places close for prayer times. It used to be enforced by religious police in the past and offenders were reported and fined. Nowadays it’s gone, but the prayer time is still respected. You have to leave the shop and wait before it opens up again. Restaurants will let you finish your meal and you can sometimes leave through the back door, other times you have to wait before they reopen. Gas stations do not operate.

With all that said, the most important information is that the society is changing and I got the sense that it’s happening fast and it creates an ambiguity of what the norm is now. Young Saudis, especially the ones educated in the West, are pushing the norms. Things were different six months back and could be even more different six months from now.

Hello!

I have a two-month scholarship (1500 euros) to study spoken Arabic in Palestine and I am currently mapping my options. Initially my plan was to study in Betlehem University, but I have recently heard some bad feedback about their course so I am looking for other options. Birzeit was the next option I looked into, but unfortunately the start of their semester starts too early for me since, I am only able to begin the studies in next October. Other options that I have looked into are Sebil Center in Ramallah, but I have not found any feedback from their courses outside of their own website, Al-Najah in Nablus, though I would prefer Ramallah or Jerusalem over Nablus as a place to live and the Excellence Center in Hebron from which I have also heard mixed reviews. Another option would be private teachers, but for them I would need personal contacts. Any tips or advice?

As a background information, I have studied fusha for two years in Uni as well as studied it independently. Last autumn I studied the basics of the Palestinian dialect in a small group with a private teacher in Tel-Aviv, so I would not be starting from the very basics. I am looking for a place or a teacher who could help me to learn the spoken dialect.