We are back in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where things are just a bit different.
First of all, flights going into KSA, at least into Yanbu, leave from their destinations in the middle of the night. We were leaving from Istanbul to fly into Yanbu and that flight left at 1:45 am! It is inconvenient staying up until that time to take a flight. It is scheduled to arrive around 6:10 am, which is good, but we circled for about 20 minutes. There was no other air traffic, no planes landing or taking off. It was just us. I think that the control tower or customs or something wasn't open yet, even though we had a scheduled arrival. The pilot announced that he was going to "attempt" a landing. I asked Ken, "Did he just say "attempt a landing?". Interesting....
We got through customs in a very short period of time, which was nice. The young customs agents were very nice. We thought that we would be home in 20 minutes because it is not a far drive from the airport. Well, our driver was not there. With this car service company, you never know when they are coming. Ken called the driver and it turns out he was still in bed. He said that he lived 5 minutes from the airport and would be there in 5 minutes. Typical. So, we went to sit on the benches in front of the airport and wait. It was really quite pleasant. The temperature here is a little cool-upper 60's-70's degrees F. Since the air was very clear, we could see the outline of the mountains in the background with the palm trees in the foreground. A Saudi cab driver in his thobe ambled over and made idle chit chat, then asked if we needed a ride. Ken explained that we had a car service coming. The cab driver said, "Is it ____car service?" Ken said yes. The cab driver laughed and said "OK, but if you need a ride, I am right here." Such is the reputation of that car service. Ten minutes later, we see a car driving up very quickly, stopping and our driver running up, looking disheveled and probably in the clothes that he had slept in. Ken and I just laughed.
We got home and our gardener had planted several plants in the empty pots that I had at the back of the villa. They were all so pretty and it was such a sweet welcome home. We went inside and the villa smelled of a strong chemical smell. I think that they may have treated the roof for leaks. I went around opening the windows. Luckily, we had just had screens installed 6 weeks ago. When I opened the kitchen window, I had the view of the beautiful blooming bougainvillea. Life is full of contrasts.
First of all, flights going into KSA, at least into Yanbu, leave from their destinations in the middle of the night. We were leaving from Istanbul to fly into Yanbu and that flight left at 1:45 am! It is inconvenient staying up until that time to take a flight. It is scheduled to arrive around 6:10 am, which is good, but we circled for about 20 minutes. There was no other air traffic, no planes landing or taking off. It was just us. I think that the control tower or customs or something wasn't open yet, even though we had a scheduled arrival. The pilot announced that he was going to "attempt" a landing. I asked Ken, "Did he just say "attempt a landing?". Interesting....
We got through customs in a very short period of time, which was nice. The young customs agents were very nice. We thought that we would be home in 20 minutes because it is not a far drive from the airport. Well, our driver was not there. With this car service company, you never know when they are coming. Ken called the driver and it turns out he was still in bed. He said that he lived 5 minutes from the airport and would be there in 5 minutes. Typical. So, we went to sit on the benches in front of the airport and wait. It was really quite pleasant. The temperature here is a little cool-upper 60's-70's degrees F. Since the air was very clear, we could see the outline of the mountains in the background with the palm trees in the foreground. A Saudi cab driver in his thobe ambled over and made idle chit chat, then asked if we needed a ride. Ken explained that we had a car service coming. The cab driver said, "Is it ____car service?" Ken said yes. The cab driver laughed and said "OK, but if you need a ride, I am right here." Such is the reputation of that car service. Ten minutes later, we see a car driving up very quickly, stopping and our driver running up, looking disheveled and probably in the clothes that he had slept in. Ken and I just laughed.
We got home and our gardener had planted several plants in the empty pots that I had at the back of the villa. They were all so pretty and it was such a sweet welcome home. We went inside and the villa smelled of a strong chemical smell. I think that they may have treated the roof for leaks. I went around opening the windows. Luckily, we had just had screens installed 6 weeks ago. When I opened the kitchen window, I had the view of the beautiful blooming bougainvillea. Life is full of contrasts.
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